I’ve recently became a Holistic Core Restore ® Coach specialising in Women’s Health. You can find out more about this here. I wanted to start by introducing the work I’m going to be doing by giving you a bit more information on your Pelvic Floor. It’s something you’ve likely heard people talking about often around pregnancy, after having a baby and in older age however, it’s not exclusively related to these stages in a Woman’s life. How much do you know about your pelvic floor?

What is your pelvic floor?

Let’s start with a bit of anatomy. Your pelvis is made up of a boney structure that keeps some of your vital organs safe. From the front of your pelvis; known as your pubic symphysis, round to your hip bones (iliac crest) and to your sitting bones, you can feel them when you wriggle around on your bottom. Your pelvis is connected to your legs and your spine.

To keep your pelvis connected to the rest of your body and functioning properly there are three layers of muscle making up your pelvic floor along with pelvic fascia (tissue) and pelvic wall muscles.

Your pelvic floor muscles act like a sling or hammock in layers. They stretch from your pubis symphysis to your coccyx (base of your spine), your pubic symphysis to your rectum and your pubic symphysis to your vagina and back.

What are the functions of your pelvic floor?

To support - your pelvic floor muscles keep your reproductive organs, bladder, colon and rectum where they should be.
Pelvic organ sphincteric opening and closing - in more simple terms they allow your bladder and anus to open and close to empty when needed and just as importantly stay closed.
Provide sexual function - the pelvic floor must relax for penetration but also provide deep contractions for orgasm.
Provide stability - to your pelvic gurdle and your spine.
Acts as a sump pump - many systems travel through our pelvis including lymphatic tissues. The pelvic floor muscles act a pump with deep breathing, contractions and relaxations.

That gives you a brief overview of your pelvic floor muscles and why they’re so important to look after. I’ll be following on this blog post with a few others soon, discussing dysfunctions of the pelvic floor and how it’s related to your core and breathing.

If you have any questions or think this is an area where you need help and support please do not hesitate to get in touch. You can email me on chinupcharles@gmail.com or fill out the contact form here.

The Low Down on Your Pelvic Floor