Just discovered uterus is on way down

Just thought I would jump on with some quick support, while we wait for the other side of the world to wake up. I'm new too, and not far along in my journey also. Sounds like you have the basics down pat. Have you found it hard to get used to the posture?

If you google the downward dog, cat etc you will find how to do them. I believe the downward dog is good for rectocele as I have seen posts from others talking about this. I have tried a version of this kneeling, forearms on the floor and bottom in the air. I also rock gently backward and forward. I find this helpful. Please get this validated with others as I don't want to mess up your progress. Also, sitting cross legged on the floor in ww position is advocated.

Years ago before kids I was told I also had a retroverted uterus. A modern malady perhaps. Did you ever do physical culture? There were clubs everywhere. I remember being encouraged through the exercise and marching to stand tall and I had a lovely deep lumbar curve. As I got older (and no longer doing PC) it was all about stand up straight, shoulders back, chest out and tuck the bottom in. I wonder now how I ever managed to walk!

Good luck with your journey. This site is testament to patience and persistance paying off.

Ausy

while they are sleeping ...

Ausy, all you have said makes good sense. The reasons for downward dog and sitting cross-legged are largely to stretch your envelope a bit. Sitting cross-legged is good for building up the muscles around your hip joints. It is the way humans have sat for aeons. Downward dog is a ready made yoga move which we have adopted as useful for allowing pelvic organs to move deep into the body aided by gravity, but also reasons of stretching and extending a lot of muscles that do not get stretched in the elbows and knees way of doing a similar posture.

Wholewoman work is so good for us because it is whole body, not just about repositioning our pelvic organs. Muscles that are not used through their whole range and length of movement become weak (lose their elasticity). They also lose their stretchability, so they end up being seized up and weak. They need regular stretching and contraction, and they need to be loaded, which is why we do most of our exercises not lying down. And they need moving through their whole range of motion in terms of 3D movement.

Of course some people have injuries and medical conditions that preclude full range of motion, but even the arthritis therapists stress that movement is what these joints need, so we urge women to move them as much as they can and no further. Persistent movement to the limit often does result in an increased range of motion, because most joints of the body are governed by a whole group of muscles, not just one or two. Unless they are all strong and elastic they will each contribute to limiting the movement of joints. The more movement we have in our joints the easier Wholewoman posture is to maintain. And it is work! We only need to see what happens to the posture of people who are not striving for good posture. They end up drooping like thirsty flowers.

Louise

Hey Soul Sis – Firebreathing is done standing, with hands placed just above the knees. Or it can be done on hands and knees. I sometimes do it on forearms and knees.

Pelvic organs are always on the move, and they are all connected. Rarely do you have just one of them prolapsing, and “degrees” of prolapse are an ever-changing thing. Doctors’ diagnoses can be all over the place.

My guess is that prior to your rectocele discovery, you weren’t checking where your cervix was at any given time. Now you are. I wouldn’t recommend it! You have prolapse, and the management of prolapse is the same regardless of which type(s). Those of us with primary cystocele and/or rectocele, probably have at least a stage 1 uterine prolapse at the same time. The ‘celes tend to keep the uterus from coming down too far (“nature’s pessary”).

There are women who “check” a lot, and many of them have figured out that it isn’t productive. Personally, I practically never check anything. I know my cervix isn’t as high up as it used to be, but I really don’t need to monitor its daily fluctuations. Don't lose confidence. - Surviving

Hi Soul Sis

I think that has been the awesome thing for me about Wholewoman techniques. I just have to do them as a part of my every day life. I don't have to fit them into my day, be dressed in special clothes, live anywhere in particular, adopt special foods at special times, etc. Yes, I can now see that strength and flexibility exercises are very important too, but it all just fits in to what I do with my life. I don't have to fit in to it!

Dear Soul Sister, I'm having the same problem with my right hip - it feels like a dislocation but not really painful at this point. It's only just started a few weeks ago and i have no idea what it is or what caused it. With me as well, it happens as i turn to change direction or when i stand up from the sitting position, then i stretch really tall and it rights itself. At first i thought it could be connected to my osteoporosis.
When i read your post i couldn't believe that someone else is having the same problem. My other hip will probably follow in time. If anyone else has this issue please tell us about it, what it is and what can be done.
Love to all - Mishek

Hi Mishtek and Soul Sister,

Although there is no way to know for sure, what you are both describing sounds like hip snapping syndrome, caused by a tendon catching on the hip. It is felt and heard, but rarely symptomatic - although it can become painful in some women. There are actually 2 types described: the lateral snap (most common) where a sudden slip of the iliotibial band over the bulge of the greater trochanter (very top of thigh bone) occurs; and the anterior snap that orthopedists think results from a sudden slip of the iliopsoas tendon over the anterior edge of the pelvis.

There is much research going on at WW with regard to the hip joint, and I feel confident we will eventually be able to describe normal anatomy of the hip as well as common disorders, just as we have with prolapse.

I will always talk about the hip in very general terms, with the understanding that hip anatomy is diverse, and disorders of the hip broad and varied. However, there is a bell curve of “normal” that most of us fit under and the great lion’s share of hip degeneration is postural and lifestyle related.

Hip snapping syndrome is a good example. It is most often found in female ballet dancers who train for years with a strongly tucked under pelvis. All degrees of pulling the belly in and tucking the tailbone under shorten the major ligament that connects the pelvis to the thigh bone (the ilio-femoral ligament, which is the strongest ligament in the human body). Over time, other surrounding ligaments lose their tensile strength - or you might say elasticity. It’s not surprising they become a bit wobbly and able to snap over bony prominences that would otherwise hold a taut ligament in place.

I will just mention - and this is not a prescription, because I can’t know if this is what you are experiencing - that stretching the anterior aspect of the hip has been scientifically proven to improve chronic contraction strain on the ilio-femoral ligaments. I just put up a short exercise set in the Village Post that is perfect for this purpose. An even greater stretch for the anterior hip is obtained from the modified cobra pose I do in WWYoga - the first wheel.

Understand that if you are going to do these exercises, they must be performed in correct alignment. It does no good to lift your leg to the back with a bent knee and hips rotated toward the extended leg. Keep your knees straight and both hips aligned to the front at all times. If you can’t do this, it is evidence that the ligaments around your hips are excessively tight.

A full-radius lumbar curvature is what properly seats the torso over the hip joints. Well covered hip joints are protected from osteoarthritis, which affects far more women than men. Women have a more pronounced lumbar curvature than men, and it is this curvature that balances the trunk over the hips. This is a head-to-toe posture, though, so don’t try to get there simply by trying to curve your lower back - ouch! (WW 101!!)

Hope this gives you food for thought.

Christine

Dear Christine, this is great news to hear that research is in progress at WW in regards to the hip joint.
I have been living in WWP for over a year now therefore i didn't expect this hip problem which only started about a month ago. I admit to not having done much WW exercising lately apart from when i first joined.
I have had great success with the WWP bringing my symptoms to a minimum level and most of the time i have no symptoms at all which makes me very happy indeed.
It just goes to show that what we sow we reap and i am forever thankful to having found this wonderful website.
Thankyou Christine for putting up the excercise set - i thoroughly enjoyed doing the workout with my batton - hadn't used it in awhile but i will certainly do these every day along with the cobra pose and see how it improves the hip joint and the strenthening of the ligaments.
Many thanks for your most helpful reply Christine.

I hope this helps you as well Soul Sister - Mishek

I get so elated reading about Christine's work with hips, because this has been such a huge revelation for me personally in the last few months of my WW work. Like Soul Sis I am bursting at the seams with joy. There is simply no more room for doubt, that this is the way women were meant to walk and carry themselves. We who found our way to this place are indeed the lucky women of the world. - Surviving

Yay! I can honestly say, after two years, my book lives next to the bed. Despite all the readings, I still grab it over and over and over.

so glad your bundle has arrived!