Hi.
I’m female and have had two children, the last one 22 months ago. I have about a 1cm diastasis rectus. And I suspect that I am pretty weak in the pelvic floor muscles now, despite continued lifting weights and lots of yoga. I only recently realized that I am not engaging the lower abs (transverses abdominus) and pelvic floor muscles, and when I started becoming aware of it and trying to engage it constantly in yoga practices (and in the gym), I noticed improvements instantly, like being able to squat heavier in the gym, and during yoga: bend forward deeper, being able to twist deeper, and holding core poses and headstands longer. But I am still weak though, and I am hoping that over time the diastesis will close too. If there are any instructors who could teach on how to engage or re-engage the TA and pelvic floor muscles, especially post pregnancy, that would be awesome. Or even maybe certain cues that can be used to remind to do this.
Hi, there.
That’s great to hear. The pelvic floor muscles play such an important role in many aspects of our lives, including spinal stability and post pregnancy care. Have you gone through my (David’s) series on the breath, the bandhas and stability in the poses? I believe they are exactly what you are looking for. The first video is The 3-Part Breath and Ujjayi Breathing, the second is Integrating the Breath and the Bandhas and the third is Finding Stability in All Poses.
After those you can work on strengthening your core muscles with another 3-part video series, Establishing Core Strength I, Establishing Core Strength II and Align, Stabilize and Stretch
I also have a series of videos in our Yoga Tutorials section that teaches you how to properly engage your core muscles in 8 steps. Fiji and Sarah-Jane also have a few postnatal classes, in case you haven’t seen them. You can find them by choosing ‘Pre/Postnatal Yoga’ under Yoga Styles on our Yoga Classes page.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
This is perfect, thank you. No, I haven’t gone through any of those series, but I’ll start tomorrow.
hi i have question for this, im pregnant now 3months now is it ok i will go for yoga or is there a proper training… my best friend tried it but im worried im gaining a lot of weight now
Hi there. It’s best to do classes called prenatal yoga. You can find quite a few on our site if you go to our Yoga Classes page, click on the Styles filter and choose Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga.
Take care,
David
hi… thanks a lot for your response… i will definitely visit the link… GOD Bless