bladder drift

Hi Strongbladder, I haven't heard that term before, was it used by a practitioner of some kind? Post-hyst, things can certainly move around; if you are feeling something there, I would think there's a fine line between "drift" and stage 1 prolapse. Interesting terminology. Keep up the walking but be sure to do it in correct posture.

Since my prolapse, and starting the WW Posture and doing the exercise tape, I have limited all other exercises that I used to do. Even walking, and I am afraid of doing any exercises that have to do with the belly. I read were you should take long strides when walking. I have a mind set that walking will make my prolapse worse, so I just haven't done it. I have some semi-good days and then some not so good days. I try to keep a postive frame of mind, but since my prolapse, I feel my life has been turned upside down and inside out. My focus is constantly on whether my prolapse is staying up, or if it will pass the boundry of being uncomfortable or getting worse. On the fire-breathing, can I do this as many times a day as I want? Thanks for all the inspiration.

Hi Harrison - I can assure you that we all can identify with that “life turned upside down” feeling of panic. You are doing fine! It can take awhile for the posture to become second nature….I was well into the second year when I finally didn’t have to think about it every minute. In the meantime, you don’t have to limit your activity as much as you are now, as long as you do things that allow you to remain in excellent WW posture, that don’t strain your organs and make you feel worse while you are doing them, and that don’t place your body in that obtuse angle that is so bad for pelvic organ support. The longer you work on this, the better you’ll be able to judge when something isn’t good for you. Walking is excellent, if you don’t try to speed-walk, but rather, stay in the absolute best WW posture that you can, and take long deliberate strides, leaving your back foot on the ground as long as possible. Do the firebreathing as often as you want, but make sure you are doing it correctly (when learning, I kept getting the breathing sequence reversed!). Keep telling yourself that you are doing all the right things to keep this from getting worse; but remember that you DO need to move, in order to see improvement. Don’t fear it! - Surviving

Hi Harrison, Surviving is right we can identify with that "Life turned upside down" feeling of panic. She is right about everything she has told you. She has helped me many times. I just wanted to share with you something I read about walking that has also helped me. I even wrote it down on a index card so I could read and reread it. This is a quote from Christine. "Take nice long relaxed strides leaving your back foot on the ground for as long as possible before lifting it. Keep belly relaxed and your chest raised a little. Raising chest will stretch your abdominal muscles out and make them tauter. Your pelvic floor will also tighten. This will also lift your perineum. If there are any stretched nerves in there which are causing you discomfort it will help relieve that irritation. This also helps to stretch the Hip Flexors and pulls your Lumbar Spine forward which will Tilt your Pelvis Forward a bit and move your Pelvic Organs Forward, where they are further away from your Vagina and better supported. Speed is not important but Stretching out and Opening up, with Big Movements are both Important Factors." This has motivated me to get walking and not to be afraid. Hoping it does the same for you. Hope this helps you. All the best to you Harrison!!!

Hugs, Jaylove

Great description and thanks Jaylove for hunting down this quote. Everything we need to know about walking is right there!

Thank you Surviving60 for your words of encouragement. Sometimes I feel so alone in in this new journey of my life. With this forum I don't feel so alone. I WILL start walking and follow the walking instructions as you mentioned, and keep you posted. I visited my Chiroprater yesterday, and wanted to share with you. Since my spine is involved with my healing, I decided to talk to him about my prolapse. I explained what was going on, and told him about Christine and the WW posture. He listened, and gave me some advise that he thought would help. Please tell me if this is good for my Prolapse or not good for it. I told him how we have to lift up from the bottom of our ribs so our chest is up and out, and them relax the lower belly. I told him how it would take time to actually "Get It". He said to try and pull the navel in, just slightly, not putting pressure on the lower belly, then lift up from the bottom ribs, then proceed to relax the lower belly. (kind of a flowng ongoing motion) I did this all day at work, checked and re-checked my posture, and to my amazement, most of the day my prolapse stayed above the opening of my vagina. I was on cloud nine. It was when I left work and sat in my truck for the ride home my prolapse seemed to fall. Again, please let me know if what my Chiroprater suggested is a good thing !!

Thank you Jaylove. I am going to start my walking tomorrow. I feel so much better knowing I won't hurt myself by walking. I just need to change my mind set. Before my prolapse I exercised all the time. When I stopped, my body is begiinning to not be in such great shape, and that doesn't feel so good. Thanks again for all the wonderful information and encouragement. Will keep you up to date on my progress.

Hi Harrison - I believe that any degree of pulling the navel in, contradicts WW posture. The belly can't be relaxed if navel is pulled in. When it happens during firebreathing or nauli, it is serving a purpose, but it is not part of normal posture. This is one of the things that differentiates Christine's teachings from the mainstream. It's tempting to try and combine everything that we hear from every expert, thinking that the more advice we apply to the problem, the better the chances for improvement. I prefer not to compromise with WW posture principles. - Surviving

to bring awareness to your body- and it's only when pulling up into posture I can't see the harm :)
I pull my navel in many times throughout the day in my dynamic movement- there is no way around it.
Just know that it's not a component of the posture in a vacuum.
but in your life, when you are moving around, and you stop to make sure you are holding your body properly, it should be totally fine, if it helps you understand how your body moves.

I have been reluctant to exercise. As has been mentioned here by others, I was very active and since my prolapse has come to the fore I've sort of just stopped. It seems like everything I was doing was wrong or potentially exacerbating to the pop. I feel kind of perplexed into inactivity as I have to reassess all the ways I used to move and much of what I used to do. I'm 11 years post hyst, I have osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis and I'm two years a widow. I feel suddenly old. I even misstated my age on this forum. I said I was 57. I'm only 56! I haven't made that sort of misstatement since I was on the other side of 18! I have an appointment with a gyno a week from Friday. Perhaps I'll have more of an idea of what is going on after that. It feels like my bladder has slipped. I have that bulge, but it's only sometimes. I notice I have good days and not so good days. I find hope in that because it's not 24/7. It feels like things are moving around. I also notice a dull ache almost like a pulling. I'm trying to adopt the posture and I feel like it will be more and more helpful. I find it almost impossible to relax my lower abdomen--I'm so used to trying to pull it in. It's almost like finding out you've learned the wrong alphabet. Every time you go to say something you have to reconfigure to new letters. I have Christine's dvd and I found the exercises in it to be tremendously challenging. With my knee replacement I can't actually kneel. I've actually only tried to go through it once. I've had company; my son came to visit for the holidays and ended up staying a lot longer. He has two dogs. I love them, but they're often in the spot I would use to watch these videos and try and learn the exercises. I don't feel comfortable discussing my condition with him. They're leaving this weekend and so I think I will get my space back and maybe be able to make more progress. Frankly I don't feel comfortable discussing my condition with anyone but you gals. I have to remind myself: there are lots worse things. I have to remind myself: focus on what you can do; not on what you can't do. Thank you for listening to me rant.

Owess, you are a lady to whom I can totally relate! When the commotion at your house dies down, then it will be back to “me-time”, so be patient and kind to your poor self until then.

If you have a bulge, but only sometimes, then that tells me that what you have is manageable and most likely capable of being stabilized once you get this posture down to a science. Whatever modifications you need to make to the DVD exercises are certainly fine. Once you’ve learned what’s good and what’s not, you can modify most any movement. Staying in posture throughout your day, that’s the single most important thing. Don’t ignore the little things, either. Get in the habit of putting support behind your lower back when you drive (car seats + prolapse = bad combo). Stuff like that.

We are finding that post-hyst members can be helped with this work. Your organs can still move forward over the pubic bone, even if the process is a bit more challenging than for those of us with a uterus and round ligaments to aid in the process.

Relaxing the belly was definitely the hardest thing for me. I was into my second year before this actually became second nature. Even now that my body has long since adopted this as the norm, there are still times when tension takes over and I have to loosen up. That’s just life. Maintaining posture is the perfect vehicle for monitoring stress and tension. Muscle tension anywhere can work against posture, so relax!! Hang in there! - Surviving

Actually that little rant was good for me. I went to the gym yesterday after a serious hiatus that began before the Christmas holidays. I got in thirty minutes of cardio between the stationary bike (the upright one) and the elliptical. I set the elliptical so that it was a forward climb. I took it easy and I did it. Called myself successful at that and spent the rest of the time stretching. It felt good to climb back on the horse. Son and dogs are taking off tomorrow..so I can revisit that dvd and hopefully make some more progress. Surviving, you know it surprised me how quickly I got used to living alone. I appreciate your insights and encouragement.

I can relate to needing my space, Owess! Baby steps. Starting again is the hard part. Be kind to yourself.

Louise