setback

Submitted by daughter on May 5, 2016 - 8:01pm
Body: 

In Sept 2014 I wrote “Success! It has been a year since I first had the sensation of a very, very misplaced tampon … Now a year later with Whole Woman walking and sitting posture and exercises, my prolapse is being successfully managed and urinary frequency urges I have had for years are gone. I was able to do a 2-hour mountain hike with no symptoms 2 months into this. I also am enjoying the posture. I have never been able to successfully correct my lifelong bad posture. Within weeks of learning this posture, I was no longer slumping my shoulders. It feels so natural compared to what I had been trying to do. Totally changing my wardrobe was a bit of a challenge. Maternity pants work for me. The first time I put them on and let my stomach area be free of pressure, the whole woman posture became so much easier … I happen to be a person that has no body fat and have been frustrated by my stomach pouch. Now I know it is a very natural part of my feminine body. I also no longer mind the stretch skin I have from two pregnancies. I love my feminine body more because of you.”

Now May 2016 Symptoms came back … not sure why … and I am having an experience I didn’t have before. In the standing fire breathing position I can just stand there and after 5 plus seconds feel everything slowing sliding back into place. I had never used that position before because I just can’t get it to work and always fear I am doing more harm than good so I’ve always done it on the floor on my elbows. I also had never held that position that long before so wonder if all this time things were not in place but not just to the tampon feeling I had described before in 2013. Anyway as soon as I stand I have symptoms again. Maybe I haven’t had the lifting my chest part of the posture right.

I have pulled out the book and watched all the DVD’s again and read all of my old notes and do have some relief but I am particularly bothered that I can stand up from the standing fire breathing position where I feel everything sliding into place and immediately have symptoms again. It makes me not want to do the exercises when in the middle of them I can bend over into the fire breathing position and feel organs sliding into place thinking I am doing more harm than good if I exercise with organs out of place.

Any encouragements or suggestions?

Forum:

Aging gracefully

May 6, 2016 - 5:58am

Hi daughter,
Set backs are all part of this journey, and the fact that you have gone so long without being symptomatic is great. Remember, there is no cure for prolapse, but with the Whole Woman work, we can manage our prolapses very successfully.
So, yes, going back over the materials is a great idea, and you may want to boost up your use of the tools and exercises available, to get you back on the right track. And, don't give up on the firebreathing, it is one of the best tools available to us. You may want to start out on hands and knees, and then move up to the standing position. That really helped me. Also, jiggle your organs back into place before firebreathing; that is very helpful in your success of the technique.
Just hang in there and best wishes to you.

daughter

May 6, 2016 - 9:17am

Thank you Aging Gracefully,

To clarify, over the last three years I have often had my misplaced tampon feeling and feeling a bulge and would get more diligent with my use of the tools and exercises. I am having 2 experiences now I haven’t had since this all began. First, my symptoms are more constant like before I found this wonderful site. Second, in the standing fire breathing position I can just stand there relaxed and after 5 plus seconds feel everything slowing sliding back into place, which feels great but I can stand up and immediately have symptoms again. It makes me not want to do the exercises when in the middle of them I can bend over into the fire breathing position and feel everything sliding into place thinking I am doing more harm than good if I exercise with organs out of place.
In my recent readings I came across “Remember (when firebreathing) not to push your belly out on the in breath. If you push it out you will push your pelvic organs back and down instead of the diaphragm massaging them forward and down, and they will be pushed down further into your vulva during the out breath.” I think I have been possibly pushing my belly out on the in breath so I am correcting that at least on my hands and knees. In the standing position as soon as I try to do fire breathing I can’t be confident I am doing it right so I just stay in the relaxed position and can feel my organs sliding into place. After my present rereading I had started the jiggling and as you recommended will now do it before firebreathing. I am also working on pulling my chest up as I think I haven’t been diligent in that.
Questions:
1) After 3 years is it ok to feel like you are at square one again? It feels scary to me.
2) Is the sensation of feeling everything sliding into place when relaxed in the firebreathing standing position an experience anyone has had? It gives immediate relief to all symptoms but never having had the sensation is a little unsettling.
3) Should I continue to do the exercises even when at any moment I can get in the relaxed firebreathing standing position and realized organs were out of place?
4) Reading and watching the videos on firebreathing, I am still left uncertain about the in breath and how to be sure I am not pushing my belly out. I have to pause after the out breath and returning to the cow position to be sure all is relaxed and I am not pushing my stomach out before I do the in breath. Anything I do other than nothing but stay relaxed on the in breath feels like I tighten the abdominal muscles or am pushing my belly out. Any suggestions? Especially in the standing position as I would love to master this to be able to use it throughout the day as the hand and knees position doesn't lend itself to that.

Aging gracefully

May 6, 2016 - 10:53am

Hi daughter,
It does sound like you are not quite understanding the breathing sequence of firebreathing, but you need to know that this is the more intense version of the kind of breathing we are suppose to be doing with everything we do with this work: breathing in while expanding the belly out and breathing out letting belly relax back.
With firebreathing, you are breathing in deeply, really expanding the belly out, and then breathing out through pursed lips, pulling belly in. Do you have the First or Third Wheel Yoga DVDs? These both show really good examples of firebreathing on all fours and how to hold your body properly during the sequence.

I can tell you that I came here with a severely prolapsed uterus and went right into firebreathing right away. I was frustrated at first, because the uterus would just slump right back down no matter what position I did it in, no matter how much jiggling I did before, but I just kept at it until slowly but surely I could feel it going in the right direction.
So feeling your organs moving is a very good thing actually, because then you can gauge what you are doing and how it is working for you.
It is hard to explain things precisely here on the forum, so your next step, if this isn't clicking for you may be a consult with one of our practitioners. They could give you more of a hands on example, especially if you did it with a Skype session.
Hope that helps some.

p.s. I want to add that I have been doing this for over 3 years, and I go back to square 1 once a month with my periods. My cervix sticks right out and everything, but I have found that it is easier every time to get things back in order after my period. I am hoping that after I am done having my monthly's things will even out, but even if they don't I have this work to support me through it. So, don't feel bad about setbacks, just pick yourself up and start again. It is very doable.

Surviving60

May 7, 2016 - 6:39am

Hi daughter - I don't know if you are post-partum or post-menopause, but either way, yes, setbacks are absolutely normal. It can take years to really internalize the posture and breathing, and it sounds like you are not there yet; you are still in the stage of having to think and analyze a fair amount. There is no cure for prolapse and Christine stresses this all the time. There is only lifelong management and it can be a joyful experience once you let go of the fear. Prolapse will change over time and will require renewed efforts if we let ourselves get lax in management. But it all starts with a thorough understanding. So keep studying, immerse yourself, and do take AG's advice to try a practitioner session. Best of luck to you! - Surviving

daughter

May 8, 2016 - 1:04pm

Thanks Aging Gracefully & Surviving 60 for your words of encouragement. You are what I needed to persevere since I hadn’t experienced this much of a setback before. I think there has most likely been an earlier stage of prolapse I had for years (before my experience of the bulge and misplaced tampon feeling 3 years ago) that I am now just becoming aware of as my misplaced tampon feeling is back with a vengeance. In the process I am discovering that I haven’t really been raising my chest adequately either. And yes being able to experience the symptom of organs sliding back in place is a good gauge to figure out what I am doing wrong even when I don’t have the bulge and misplaced tampon feeling because without those feelings I can still get in the firebreathing position and feel a minor moving of organs back in place. Rereading the book and watching the DVD’s has been very helpful and I am considering purchasing the yoga DVD’s and looking into a practitioner session. (I am 64 years old)

So thankful for Christine and this support group.

Thanks again for your time and thoughts.