When I first “cracked the code” on stabilizing and reversing prolapse, and wrote and published Saving the Whole Woman, I set up this forum. While I had finally gotten my own severe uterine prolapse under control with the knowledge I had gained, I didn’t actually know if I could teach other women to do for themselves what I had done for my condition.
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louiseds
September 4, 2008 - 11:39pm
Permalink
Lose Your Tummy Mummy
Hi Karen
Having a big tummy after giving birth is a bit of a pain, both clothing-wise when you are sick to death of wearing sacks and want to start wearing your pre-pregnant clothes again; and in the brain, which wants to see a non-pregnant tummy when the eyes look in the mirror. That's apart from the desire and the need to have a strong body. Some women's bodies do revert quicker than others to non-pregnant shape. You see them wandering around town with their baby buggies, looking slim and smug. I used to secretly hope their babies kept them awake at night so they would get bags under their eyes. ;-)
Your body has done a lot of stretching for nine months. Isn't it natural for it to take at least nine months to go back to size again? You may find that your tummy will always be bigger now you have had a pregnancy. That's just what happens! If you use Wholewoman posture, lose weight slowly back to somewhere near what you were before the pregnancy and have breasts of any size you will find that your tummy will probably not stick out past your boobs (especially while you are lactating). You might never easily see your pubes again without the help of a mirror, but hey, are pubes that great to look at?
The main problem with Pilates seems to be the crunches, and the amount of intraabdominal pressure they generate, which sends the pelvic contents and everything else they can pick up, south. Also, much of the work is mat work, which flattens the lumbar curve which is so necessary in keeping the pelvic organs where they belong, by controlling the direction in which intraabdominal pressure acts, and keeping it at right angles to the vagina.
When you are lying on a mat your lumbar curve is straightened out and your vagina is too, cos your tummy is effectively tucked under and your belly is flat, preventing your pelvic organs from sitting low in your extended belly, resting on the front abdominal wall where they are safe. When you are lying down your bladder is resting back on your vagina, just where you do not want it to be! It is literally poised to move straight towards fresh air through your vagina!
What is the point of exercising muscles lying down, when they are designed to work best standing up??
In the Wholewoman Dance Workout exercises, the muscles of the trunk are exercised while standing and exercising in Wholewoman posture. Leg lifts are an important part of this, cos they are basically crunches turned through 90 degrees, ie you are lifting the leg, not the upper body. You will get the same workout without the intraabdominal pressure on your pelvic floor. If this is not clear, post again. It can be a bit hard to get your head around. And don't worry, you will get strong!!
Eventually, when you do a new movement you will be able to feel your pelvic organs being pushed down your vagina as soon as it happens and amend however you are doing the task/exercise so it doesn't happen. Just be extra careful for now, cos your body is still reverting and will be for another 9 months. You will not realise until your last child is just about at school how much the body keeps tightening up on the inside well past 12months postpartum.
I think women who do Pilates to extremes end up with a massive upper body that is arched, almost hunched like a man's, with the shoulders forward. She also has a small, tucked in butt and a flat belly, just like a man. I couldn't help looking at the posture and physique of Olympic athletes. Most of the women were so masculine in their build, probably how they were born, and it is probably the body structure that is needed to go faster, higher and stronger, which they do very, very well. However, does it keep a woman's pelvic organs safely tucked forward in her relaxed lower belly? No.
Choose your posture, choose the position of your pelvic organs. It is as simple as that. hope this explains it a bit.
Cheers
Louise