Posture While Pregnant

Hi Proverbs and welcome. First I want to say something about PT. Post-partum prolapse often resolves on its own, at least for a period of time (and comes back eventually if measures are not taken). Nine months of pelvic PT may not have helped at all, and in fact may have aggravated things if it was a kegel-based program (as most are). So I hope you will look more into the Whole Woman work. The dynamics of the pregnant body are the same as the non-pregnant.. the organs are held forward. Logically it seems like a great time to start studying the concepts. That being said, I'm not sure it's really that easy of a time to learn it. I couldn't say, as I did not start dealing with my prolapse until much later. I had significant post-partum bulges but did not really know what they were (no internet back then!).

Your doc is mistaken about things having to get continually worse; they can stabilize and improve if you learn what to do and then do it. If you are physically unable to relax your belly, possibly it is a pregnancy thing. Hopefully other young moms can chime in.

Prolapse tends to start moving out of the way in late pregnancy and for labor and delivery. So don't be afraid of that. Aim for a gentle birth in a natural position with minimal intervention. - Surviving

Hello Proverbs and welcome,

Like so many other unique bodies of work, Whole Woman has been a work in progress.

The instruction to “breathe into your lower belly” was replaced several years ago with “breathe into your midriff - below your breasts and above your navel.” Initially I was trying to help women understand that the human abdominal wall is held out - not flopped out - but pulled *up* by strongly lifting the chest, and breathing deeply into the lower belly seemed descriptive.

Look at your young children and see that they hold their midriff out and the rest of the abdominal wall just follows. This never changes until we are told to pull the belly in, which in turn pulls the pelvic organs back from the abdominal wall. The midriff is the leading edge of the abdominal wall because the breath (intraabdominal pressure, really) is moving into that area first.

It took a while to dawn on me that concentrating on breathing into the lower belly can cause a simultaneous contraction of the upper abdomen, which is probably what you are experiencing. It confuses the body, which you have rightly expressed.

My sincere apologies and we will see to editing that instruction asap, which we should’ve done years ago. We have an endless to-do list!

Wishing you well,

Christine

Welcome to the forum:) I don't have experience with post partum recovery because my prolapse happened when my kids were 4 years out. However, I wanted to address the back ache. When I started the WW posture my back ached for months. I had pretty terrible posture and standing up correctly really felt terrible. I kept with it, and now my back feels great! I was also told surgery, and it's not acceptable. I've worked hard to get the posture down and build up my core muscles, which has worked for me.

That is awesome to hear, militarymom...you will use this postural work for the rest of your life because it cures a thousand ills. Even I continue to be amazed. Proverbs, you ask a very important question. Clearly the lumbar spine is the most vulnerable area of the body in terms of loss of natural function. And when it degenerates it takes the rest of the body with it. Work slowly and carefully to restore full, wide radius lumbar curvature. Trust your body and trust the experience of women like Militarymom. When the lumbar spine is weak we must use the abs inappropriately to rise back up from bending at the hips. Gently work toward using "exclusively" (nothing in the body works alone) your glutes and back of your thighs. You should not be using your back muscles or abs (much). Pregnancy alone strengthens the glutes because they must strengthen to balance the huge belly. Hope this is legible...typing on my phone on the way to Santa Fe to go Scottish Country Dancing while my darling hubby holds down the WW fort.

I have been everywhere and cannot find a definitive answer to how to get down and pick something off the floor, paper, dog dish, etc. Do I breathe in or out when I stand up. Also what's the best way to get up out of a chair. Do I exhale when I am getting up to stand. I have been recently diagnosed with uterine prolapse. I am 65, live alone and really don't have anyone to help. I've gone from taking care of the house and all yard work. I have bags of dog food to pick up. I am soo dispirited and can't get mind around this.

Yes, while you are working into this you can bend your knees, but understand that the goal is to be able to hinge at the hips with totally straight knees and come back up effortlessly. The common yoga instruction to always hinge with bent knees is not anatomic. The load should be born evenly by gluteals and hamstrings. When you bend knees you transfer the load from gluteus maximus to the medial hamstrings. Eventually, the hamstring tendons become thick and tense, while GM atrophies. What is needed are long hamstrings and strong gluteals. Work slowly and carefully. Eventually bending over with straight knees and coming back up using buttocks and backs of thighs will feel great. Keep one long line from crown of head to tailbone.

I have just returned from a long day of dancing and need to go to bed. I have ballet class in the morning (my wonderful teacher lets me stay in WW posture!), but will get back to the forums tomorrow afternoon to address all current questions.

Love to all...

Christine

I’m so glad you are beginning to understand WW posture and movement! I grew up with very wonky knees - even dislocated one when I was sixteen years old…ouch! - and I can tell you (I know my ballet teacher would attest to this) I now have bomber knees after 20 years of WW. This is what results from natural human alignment, where the center of gravity is habitually positioned over the hips and knees.

First of all, the knees must be strengthened in natural posture. When the acetabula are balanced, the femurs and condyles of the knee are well-aligned as well. Walk with your feet pointing straight ahead and never hyperextend the knees! I used to walk with external rotation and stand with hyperextension - no wonder my knee dislocated. It will take time to make these musculoskeletal changes, especially when the bones themselves are misshapen. Wide-radius lumbar curvature has everything to do with knee alignment.

Another personal verification of WW posture and knee strength was when I started running up on my toes (metatarsals). My knees reacted so much that I thought I wasn’t going to be able to run that way. However it only took a very short while (couple of weeks?) before my knees adjusted, as they were already very strong from being well-aligned. And the amazing thing is that they stayed strong. If I don’t go out running for a few weeks, which happens sometimes, my knees do not have to adjust all over again.

Old injuries are tough. However, from my perspective we still should do what we can to pull soft tissues into normal human positions, rather than having muscles and ligaments stay short and tight. I took a bad spill a few years ago down three steps and onto the tile floor in my kitchen. My left ankle was bent underneath my body as I landed, and I felt certain the loud *snap!* I heard was bone breaking. To my astonishment it was only soft tissue damage, but soft tissue damage can be very severe. It took an entire year to heal completely and it still hurts if I spend too long sitting on the soles of my feet. However, I still sit that way to keep the tissues normally lengthened.

All that said, in many cases (particularly in older people) the very ends of tendons and ligaments ossify, making stretching pretty impossible. On our early morning walk today, my husband and I saw a man walking at almost 90º. There was someone who had severe soft-tissue ossification, causing him to be permanently bent over. Certain tissues in the body, like the anterior ligament of the spine, are especially prone to ossification. So, keep moving!

I hope this helps. Once we understand the general principles of WW posture and movement, each of us must experiment with our own body to find what works best.

Btw, I think it’s wonderful that you are raising babies, animals, and vegetables on your farm! We’ve helped many farm women become strong and well-aligned.

Christine

I would like to say something here about belly breathing. When I started this work 7 years ago, I realized the difference between belly breathing and chest breathing, and how our incorrect posture reverses natural breathing. For me it was a simple matter.......if I remembered to keep the belly soft, the breathing mostly took care of itself, and chest breathing became a thing of the past.

I realize that some members have had more trouble with breathing. It may be helpful for them to focus their breathing on that spot between navel and breasts. Others may find this confusing and difficult to incorporate into the work, when it may not even be necessary to think about it at all, as was my experience. WW posture is pretty simple and basic. I learned it by focussing initially on only a couple of elements. Of course I have tweaked lots of things over the years. But the only time I really had to concentrate on breathing patterns was during exercise and firebreathing when the ins and out were critical to get right. - Surviving

Proverbs, I believe your pregnant belly will definitely pull your bladder forward. Please keep us posted!

Pregnancy does affect the workings of the lungs - until lightening occurs when the baby moves into the pelvis. You are already in WW posture, so concentrate most on keeping shoulders pulled down (not back!), chin pulled in and down, and feet pointing straight ahead when walking.

hi Proverbs31Mama,
In my observation of how I hinge forward at the hips, I tend to ground myself, by feeling the soles of my feet evenly and strongly on the floor. I breath into the upper torso and hold that as I hinge forward.
I tend to do that to stop myself from unconsciously falling into the old habit of breathing out to hinge forward, which compromises pelvic organ support.
To come back up I ground my feet and I notice that I push upward from the bottom (sole) of the front half of my feet, feeling the whole sole on the ground as I rise.
After doing that with my feet my muscles in my bottom and back of legs take over. Using the stability of the ground/ floor, this gives the feet a small but powerful kind of surge of strength to start the upward movement.

I hope this helps,
All the best with much love and many blessings

Aussie Soul Sister