Best Chair to support POP

Hi Dzmortz7 - chairs,
In general a straight backed chair, with the seat flat so that the chair is a 90% angle.
Your knees when seated are not higher than the hips, and feet comfortably on the floor with all of their soles touching it. If it is a hard seat you can put an even width chair pad on it as long as the criteria above is not put out of kilter.

When I started to strengthen my torso, I did roll up a jacket or whatever was available and place it behind my back to help keep my redeveloping lumbar curve developing and as a reminder how to sit and also relax into when fatigued.
Eventually you will find that your torso doesn't need any support and now I feel so much natural strength.
I have worked with little ones and with everything on a small scale, if I needed to lean over a table I put my back into the lumbar curve, hinging from the hips.
If I squatted it was in WW posture on my toes and after a while it is so strengthening, developing balance and foot strength.
I know there are different kinds of chairs available and maybe someone else has experience with them, but as long as you can sit in WWp as above, with the desk high enough as well, that is the criteria to work from for any chair...

All the best,
Aussie Soul Sister

This isn't a real easy position for many of us, because it is hard to maintain the lumbar curvature, at least until you have built up plenty of strength. If you are talking mainly about lifting....you will find this in First Aid for Prolapse and also on the forum. Here is one good thread with pictures - check it out. - Surviving

https://www.wholewoman.com/forum/comment/28001#comment-28001

I squat by staying up on my toes. This keeps the lumbar curve in place and protects the organs from being pushed backwards.
That’s the way Christine does it on Yoga First wheel.

Hi Dsmortz7, yes you do need a bit of strength and balance which builds up gradually to do the squatting on toes for any length of time.
I practice it at home - up on toes when accessing low cupboards/ drawers usually with bare feet, and love Christine's foot exercises!
I used to do it when working in disability before Whole Woman when two of us were changing adults who were on a standing walker.I thought it better than leaning sideways with legs splayed like others did, as that was hardly back friendly!

One of the disadvantages it that I tend to split the soles of my shoes after a while, and comfortable clothing is an advantage also. I also wear through the top of the shoes with my big toes, so I wear wide school shoes most of the time and my toes still wear the inside, but not right through, and I discovered lately that my soles are split, probably for years, so time to get another pair...!! I can squat in school shoes....would love some minimalist shoes...

Getting down to young children's level can be challenging, however thinking about this since you posted, you could also take around a small cushion and kneel on it making sure no-one trips over your legs/ feet.... I just also thought you could carry around a small stool but to lean forward from it as it will be the height to suit you, you would need to widen your knees and hinge from the hips making sure your chin is slightly tucked..if you can wear longer skirts or loose trousers you could get away with that. ...You will work out a way to think outside the conventional approach box... something that WW has taught me to do over the years.

All the best,
Aussie Soul Sister

I don't have prolapse as far as I know, but I suffer from pudendal neuralgia, a very painful condition that affects the pathways of the pudendal nerve in the pelvis and female organs. The reason I am concerned about prolapse is so that I don't end up with it. Lifting (as in the photos shown) is a real no-no for me as the mechanics would affect the SIJ (sacro-iliac joint) and my pelvis could rotate on the SIJ and entrap the pudendal nerve, which enters the pelvis between two ligaments along the SIJ, in a place called the Alcock's Canal.

Without getting too technical, I usually lift lighter weights, no more than 5 or 6kg, and I usually put a cushion on the floor and kneel on it. Then when I lift the object, I hold it as close to my body as possible--from around the waist area (do not lift while object is hanging below waist height). Basically, it's like hugging the object to me. I then bring one leg while still kneeling, with my foot firmly planted on the ground, and I gently push myself upright by using both legs and straightening them. Sorry, it's difficult to explain without a photo/pic. Anyway, one thing I do is engage the core muscles gently but ensure to keep my pelvic floor relaxed.

The above is only for small things I pick up. If it's a package that is delivered to my place, or something heavier, I have a small trolley with a flat tray. I then kneel and gently lift and slide a corner of the package onto the tray, and with another gentle sliding movement the whole package follows. I then stand up and wheel the trolley to wherever I'm going. I unpack the package while it's still resting on the trolley tray rather than try and lift it onto a higher surface.

It's complicated, I know, but I guess we all have our own way to lift and mitigate any potential damage to the pelvis.

Hi Bowie Chick,

It sounds like you have been given conventional advice about how to live with your symptoms, rather than work to restore the underlying anatomy responsible for pudendal nerve compression. When the pelvis is nutated (tailbone lifted), the ischial spines/tuberosities are widened and the pudendal canal is decompressed.

In the lifting photos shown here, the sacrum is kept in its position of stability (horizontal) and not allowed to rotate backward. Our way of “engaging the core” is to brace the abdominal wall, never pull it in. This way the pelvic wall, which is really an anatomical extension of rectus abdominus (the two sets of muscles contract and extend together), is broad and the pudendal nerve, positioned between sacrospinous and sacrotuberous ligaments, is decompressed.

You might want to check out our Fundamentals video here: https://wholewoman.com/newstore/ to learn about the wide-reaching benefits of natural female posture.

Wishing you well,

Christine

Christine,

What exactly do you mean by "brace the abdominal wall"?

And, I have noticed while in posture if I am lifting or twisting or doing anything with exertion that on the out-breath there is a natural pulling in and up of the abdominal wall and slight spring board up of the pelvic outlet. But, it is a feeling of strength or stability that comes along with the out-breath, as long as one is in posture. In so doing, it's like my body is bracing and pulling in (and up) in the abdomen all at the same time. It seems impossible to erase that action the body does. What do you think about that?

...the innate gift of intraabdominal pressure.

Hi UnCloudyDay,

What makes the WW work unique and challenging is un-learning many concepts that we’ve been translating into bodily movements for a very long time.

I do the exact opposite of what you have just described. I exert on the in-breath, which makes available to me the full strength and stability of my lumbar spine. When I lift, my abdominal wall is forward and very firm. In reality there is a great loss of strength and balance when the gut is pulled in.

I understand this is in opposition to yoga, Pilates, etc. etc., but nonetheless it is truly anatomical. Yes, women have been taught for years to contract their pelvic floor while lifting, but it is not a reliable type of closure. As I’ve said many times, the round, drawstring closure of a kegel is far inferior in terms of stabilizing the pelvic organs than flattening the vagina and sending the pelvic organs into the rounded lower belly. Tightening a hole in an imaginary floor is simply a backwards concept. When you lift on the out-breath you are trying to draw strength from an abdominal vacuum. We are the only species who learned to brace the abdomen by utilizing intraabdominal pressure to stiffen the body walls. This way we could sit upright without wobbling, work with our hands, etc. It is a miracle!

In order for this to become intuitive for you, you must practice WW breathing all the time. Then when you lift, it will seem “impossible to erase that action the body does.” This is the marvel of coming back to our natural breathing and body mechanics. Many women, myself included, cannot even remember doing it any other way.

:-) Christine

P.S. Please know, everyone, we are working like mad here to finish the FAFP addition. We have other essential projects in the pipeline that we must be working on as well. However, I can't wait to get this new breathing module into your hands, and estimate it shouldn't take longer than another week. Thank you with all my heart for your patience!!

That makes sense! So, the abdomen coming inward and the slight spring upward of the pelvic outlet upon out-breath is natural ? I was trying to establish if you thought that was natural. But I hear you saying that it is natural- it just isn't our point of strength. It's not the moment we will be exerting ourselves with the most strength. Rather, the in-breath is our point of strength. You are right about that. I just did some tests and that seems so right. In the PT world the advise is to never breath hold, and to breathe out before exertion.....but you just turned that on it's head. And it makes sense! But, am I right that you agree it is natural for the body to have the abdominal wall and the pelvic outlet both to contract a bit inward and upward with breathing out? Thank you for reading this!

...both body walls contract. I prefer to think of the pelvic wall moving in and forward on the out-breath.

I have some heavy weight lifters and gymnasts over here so we’ve had some very lively discussion on this topic today. I have come to the conclusion that the typical abdominal hollowing taught in most “core stability “ fitness classes makes no sense in light of what real athletes do upon extreme exertion. This article is very interesting and is just one of many I saw on the subject, including one nih study I saw.

https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/how-are-we-still-getting-it-wrong-abdom...

Thank you, Christine , for your research. I continue to be impressed the more I study.

Well, we’ve been talking about abdominal bracing since 2003, and our anatomical model and method are vastly different from Stuart McGill or the Canadian PTs you linked to.

It’s so amazing, but they (and I mean the PT world) simply will not let go of the flawed anatomical model of the pelvic floor being positioned opposite the respiratory diaphragm. In reality, they sit at right angles to each other, which changes everything.

People are still being taught to “brace” the abdomen by pulling it in slightly and then stiffening it. This is evidenced in how they teach people to breathe - by “breathing into the sides of the ribs”. You cannot expand the rib cage sideways on the in-breath unless you are holding the abdominal wall in. When you breathe fully into the midriff, the natural movement of the diaphragm is to rotate the front of the rib cage up, not expand it out. I have licensed an amazing anatomical video showing this very movement.

The PT blogger talks about how the heavy weightlifter moves all intraabdominal pressure into the belly, then proceeds to gerrymander that reality by giving erroneous concepts about “bracing” and unnatural movements of the diaphragm and rib cage.

You cannot talk about the abdominal wall and exertion without couching the entire anatomical truth within a holistic model that includes breathing and posture.

Thank you for being with us!

Christine