Reconnecting with the Pelvic floor and Mindbody Wellness with Anya Hayes

Jan 15, 2020

Anya Hayes is a Pilates instructor, Mindfulness teacher and author of many pre and postnatal books, including ‘The Supermum Myth’ and ‘Pilates for Pregnancy’. She’s on a mission to empower women with the tools to navigate modern motherhood with pelvic floor and sanity intact.

I believe that we all deserve to thrive, not just survive motherhood. Our energies and vitality not only benefit us, but also model good self-care habits for our children to help us all to feel better, feel more alive.

 

• Anya has worked with pregnant and postnatal women for many years
• Initially she was more focussed on physical strength, but after her own pregnancies and births she changed her approach to be more mindful and address emotional resilience
• Even a smooth, straightforward birth experience can still feel like a trauma
• The physical and mental are so linked, especially in early motherhood
• The impact of depletion
• Pressing pause, acknowledging the need for rest
• Worked with Emma Cannon as editor of her ‘Baby-Making Bible’
• The vocabulary around birth - praise if you’ve had a drug-free birth and the sense of failure around abdominal birth
• Needing to be kind to yourself and not judging yourself
• Slowing down 
• Not being in control
• Fundamental inner strength 
• The ‘bounceback’ gets prioritised instead of real recovery
• Aesthetic instead of longevity prioritised 
• Exercise in the first trimester: listen to your body. Fatigue.
• We’re taught to override what our body is telling us
• Different for each individual 
• Trusting your gut
• What’s nourishing for you and what makes you feel healthy and well?
• “There’s so much toil going on inside”
• Our society doesn’t hold rest in high esteem
• The isolation of being in early pregnancy and feeling like you’re not meant to share
• The need for open discussion in a safe space
• Miscarriage is really common, yet it’s not talked about 
• The trauma of not being able to share and how it stays within you
• An internal examination with a women’s health physiotherapist
• Kegel’s exercise emphasises the squeeze, but it’s also important to learn to soften and release - which isn’t easy to fathom
• The link between the diaphragm and the pelvic floor and using the sensations of the breath to connect with the pelvic floor
• Linking the pelvic floor with everyday movements such as lifting a bag of washing or toddler, so it isn’t another ‘to-do’ and it’s a functional movement
• Giving yourself an internal examination with clean hands, place your finger inside your vagina, squeeze effectively and it should feel as if there’s a baby sucking on the finger
• You can’t strengthen something you can’t connect to- you need the softness and awareness to be able to feel
• “I’m a living, dynamic, moving being: everything I’m doing is exercise”
• Every movement in the body influences and is influenced by the pelvic floor
• Pelvic floor health declines with age, particularly if it isn’t maintained with exercise and awareness
• Changing the vocabulary around the pelvic floor - e.g gently undulating so it can adapt to our daily life
• Accessing specialist postnatal care
• All women who feel safe to do so, should have an internal check postnatally
• Massage, breathing and movement for scar release
• Women’s health physiotherapy should be available to all  
• Gentle pelvic floor awareness and diaphragmatic breathing can be done within 24hours of birth
• Avoid high-intensity exercise until you’ve had a pelvic floor check
• Pelvic tilts, spinal mobility and stretching whenever you feel able
• Reframe exercise to movement 
• Pelvic floor recovery will also have a strengthening effect on the abdominals
• Massage for diastasis recti (separation of the abdominal muscles)
• Alignment and posture have an impact on healing a diastasis, so you have strength for your centre before you put load on it
• Don’t feel guilty for needing space - it’s never selfish to step back. You can be there more for others if you’ve given yourself space.

Resources:

 

Anya Hayes, Author of ‘The Supermum Myth’

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supermum-Myth-overcoming-imperfection-mindfulness/dp/1910336343

 

‘Pilates for Pregnancy’

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/pilates-for-pregnancy-9781472951083/

 

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mothers.wellness.toolkit/?hl=en

 

Twitter

https://twitter.com/thesupermummyth

 

https://motherswellnesstoolkit.wordpress.com/