In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with internationally-acclaimed yoga educator and pelvic floor specialist, Leslie Howard. We speak about the importance of a healthy pelvic floor and how things such as constantly tightening the pelvic floor and abdomen can be detrimental. Everyone deserves a healthy, functional body and Leslie’s insight into creating balance in the pelvis is remarkable.
In this episode:
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- The importance of understanding and investigating one’s personal pelvic floor since everyone is different with different issues.
- The difference between hypotonic and hypertonic.
- Why Kegeling is not the answer for most pelvic floors.
- Incontinence and the hypertonic pelvic floor.
- The detriment of always holding one’s abdomen tight.
- What is a paradoxical breather and why it is not good for the pelvic floor and abdominal health
- Lifestyle choices, exercise regiments, and other factors that could contribute to inbalance in the pelvic floor.
- What you can do daily to help have a balanced pelvic floor.
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About Leslie:
Leslie Howard is an Oakland-based internationally-acclaimed yoga educator who pioneered the growing field of yoga for pelvic health. Son-ima Health named her one of the top 50 yoga instructors in the USA. Leslie leads Pelvic Floor YogaTM certification trainings and other workshops across the United States and internationally. Her teaching is informed by over 3,500 hours of study with senior Iyengar yoga teachers including Manouso Manos, Patricia Walden, and Ramanand Patel. In 2013, Leslie, with contributions from Judith Lasater, co-designed two successful studies at UCSF medical center that demonstrated the effectiveness of her yoga techniques for incontinence and pelvic pain. Leslie’s own struggles to heal her hips and pelvis led her to intense study of the anatomy, physiology, cultural messaging, history and energetics of this complex area of the body. Her new book, Pelvic Liberation, is available through Amazon. To find out more about Leslie, go to www.lesliehowardyoga.
Download this episode on iTunes or Stitcher
