How we breathe is primarily controlled by the diaphragm, along with other accessory muscles of respiration. You have probably heard of the diaphragm before. It's the muscle that has something to do with how you breathe, right? While the diaphragm is a critical part of our lives for respiratory function, it is also a critical part of our pelvic health too!

We depend on our nervous system to help us interpret the world around us. Our autonomic nervous system is the part of our body that gives us ‘fight or flight’ or ‘rest and digest’ responses. Fight or flight responses are directed by the sympathetic nervous system, while rest and digest responses by the parasympathetic system. However, in our modern day world, this part of our nervous system is challenged in an unprecedented way...

Dr. Ashley Newton now teaches a weekly 60-minute LYT Yoga® Class for Pelvic Health via Zoom every Friday morning. This online class is designed to weave pelvic health concepts into the LYT framework. Concepts that are focused on include: coordination of breathing, pelvic floor contraction and relaxation, and core stabilization within the yoga flow.

Chronic Pelvic Pain (CPP) is a multifaceted condition affecting 20% of women in the United States. Treatment includes pharmacological interventions, physical therapy, and lifestyle modifications. Studies have shown that yoga is an effective intervention to help both improve pain and quality of life in women with CPP. ‍Many times those suffering with chronic pelvic pain experience high levels of both anxiety and stress.

"Inhale into the low belly, then exhale"... We hear about diaphragmatic (or belly) breathing in yoga, fitness, relaxation techniques, and improvement in lymphatic flow. But why? There are several anatomically related reasons why, here are two...

Have you ever had back pain? Have you tried stretching and doing some core exercises, but the problem persists? If so, you're not alone. The "old" way of correcting back pain is out; breathing is where it's at. What if you are not breathing correctly? Yes, that is a thing.

After recently spending 3 days caretaking for my at-risk, elderly family members, I was humbled by the physical toll wearing a mask for 12 consecutive hours each day had on my body. As I was helping with household chores such as dishwashing, laundry and mail opening, about every 30 minutes I became aware of growing tension developing in the back of my neck. This was a result from looking down –– and over my mask –– for extended periods of time.

Whenever I go to social gatherings and people inevitably ask, “what do you do?” And I proudly reply, “I’m a physical therapist.” A frequent response is, “Well, I have ____ going on. I looked it up on the internet and I think it might be ____. Does that sound right?” Another common question is, “I have back pain, it’s really nothing, but it comes and goes. I like yoga. Is it okay to still do yoga or will that hurt my back?”

In my previous post, we covered the benefits of learning how to breathe properly, as well as the foundation of our breath outlined by diaphragmatic breathing. Once you have learned the basics of proper breathing, you can move into different breathing techniques to foster a positive healing environment for the body and aid in managing stress. Other prerequisites are to find a comfortable seated posture and a calm, inner focus. My recommendation is to experiment with each and find the technique which resonates with you. 

You may have heard that strengthening your ‘core’ by doing core exercises can help with low back pain. This is true, but what exactly is your core? Most people think of their core as their abdominal muscles, but this is only looking at one piece of the puzzle.