More information on franklinmethod.com November 2020 - Texts, pictures and information are subject to the copyright of the Institut für Franklin-Methode GmbH 1 Pelvic Power for a Toned & Balanced Pelvic Floor Important: If anything hurts, do not do it. Start slowly always. Never squeeze or grip the pelvic floor, dont hold your breath 1. Tap the whole body. Tap the torso, the chest, the legs, arms, back and diaphragm. 2. Shake the whole body. Start with the right side of the body and then the left. Compare sides. 3. One minute focusing: Simply feel your body, posture, breathing, tension level for one minute. Just feel, no thinking about anything. 4. Mind Body: Roll your shoulders with positive imagery and self-talk. Compare also to moving with negative imagery and self-talk. What you are generating in your mind is a large part of the resultant movement. 5. How can your pelvis move? Move your pelvis front and back, side to side, rotate and hike your pelvis. Move your pelvis also with positive thoughts: I am confident in my ability to move well. I am a happy mover. My movement improves my mood. Practice the solutions, instead of reinforcing the problems. 6. Touch and visualize the location of your hip joint. The hip articulation is a key joint for all pelvic floor exercises. We can lift the femur to flex the hip joint, rotate the pelvis anteriorly towards legs to flex the hip joint or extend the spine and anteriorly rotate the pelvis to flex the hip joint. 7. Move one hip joint with hand on your shoulder: Move one leg in the hip joint. Perform circles with your knee. One hand is on the moving hip joint, the other hand is on your shoulder of the same side. If your hip joints are tight you are prone to sacroiliac joint (SIJ) problems because the SIJ has to compensate for this immobility. 8. Movement of sit bones. When we squat the sit-bones move to the back as well as apart. Perform squats and imagine the sit bone movement. Use hand gestures to better visualize the movement. Imagine a force helping to lift the sit ones upward on hip extension. Put your fingers under the sit bone of one side to support the upward movement of the sit bone. Lift the leg up off the ground on that side. Perform a side lunge with deep hip flexion on the same side. Repeat several times and compare sides of your body before performing on the other side 9. Visualize the the parts of the pelvic floor: Visualize the the back wall of the pelvic floor and the side and front walls. Visualize the supporting hammock or funnel of the levator ani, the urogenital triangle and urogenital diaphragm. Perform hand gestures to more clearly visualize pelvic floor. 10. Touch internal obturator: The tendinous fascial arc of the internal obturator is the attachment area for much of the levator ani muscle. Slide your fingers up from sit bone to the ischial tuberosity. You are now on the internal obturator. Rotate your leg inward and outward to feel the internal obturator in action.
Transcript
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November 2020 - Texts, pictures and information are subject to the copyright of the Institut für Franklin-Methode GmbH 1
Pelvic Power for a Toned & Balanced Pelvic Floor Important: If anything hurts, do not do it. Start slowly always. Never squeeze or grip the pelvic floor, dont hold your breath
1. Tap the whole body. Tap the torso, the chest, the legs, arms, back and diaphragm.
2. Shake the whole body. Start with the right side of the body and then the left. Compare sides.
3. One minute focusing: Simply feel your body, posture, breathing, tension level for one minute. Just feel, no thinking about anything.
4. Mind Body: Roll your shoulders with positive imagery and self-talk. Compare also to moving with negative imagery and self-talk. What you are generating in your mind is a large part of the resultant movement.
5. How can your pelvis move? Move your pelvis front and back, side to side, rotate and hike your pelvis. Move your pelvis also with positive thoughts: I am confident in my ability to move well. I am a happy mover. My movement improves my mood. Practice the solutions, instead of reinforcing the problems.
6. Touch and visualize the location of your hip joint. The hip articulation is a key joint for all pelvic floor exercises. We can lift the femur to flex the hip joint, rotate the pelvis anteriorly towards legs to flex the hip joint or extend the spine and anteriorly rotate the pelvis to flex the hip joint.
7. Move one hip joint with hand on your shoulder: Move one leg in the hip joint. Perform circles with your knee. One hand is on the moving hip joint, the other hand is on your shoulder of the same side. If your hip joints are tight you are prone to sacroiliac joint (SIJ) problems because the SIJ has to compensate for this immobility.
8. Movement of sit bones. When we squat the sit-bones move to the back as well as apart. Perform squats and imagine the sit bone movement. Use hand gestures to better visualize the movement. Imagine a force helping to lift the sit ones upward on hip extension. Put your fingers under the sit bone of one side to support the upward movement of the sit bone. Lift the leg up off the ground on that side. Perform a side lunge with deep hip flexion on the same side. Repeat several times and compare sides of your body before performing on the other side
9. Visualize the the parts of the pelvic floor: Visualize the the back wall of the pelvic floor and the side and front walls. Visualize the supporting hammock or funnel of the levator ani, the urogenital triangle and urogenital diaphragm. Perform hand gestures to more clearly visualize pelvic floor.
10. Touch internal obturator: The tendinous fascial arc of the internal obturator is the attachment area for much of the levator ani muscle. Slide your fingers up from sit bone to the ischial tuberosity. You are now on the internal obturator. Rotate your leg inward and outward to feel the internal obturator in action.
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Compare sides before repeating on the other side.
11. Breathing and pelvic floor synchronization: The diaphragm and pelvic floor move downward on inhalation, upward on exhalation. We represent the movement of the diaphragm with the help of our hands while breathing. We move your hands downwards when inhaling, upwards when exhaling. Keep performing the gestures during various movement, such as lateral flexion of the spine or even a squat. Inhale during the downward movement of the squat and exhale during the upward movement. Compare the experience to doing the opposite, exhaling on the downward movement.
12. Walking in space with the hand gestures for diaphragm and pelvic floor movement: One hand represents the pelvic floor movement, the other represents the diaphragm movement. This movement continues while walking and all activities. Imagine and feel the pelvic floor moving upward on the exhalation and downward on the inhalation.
13. Go for a walk with the flying carpet image. Walk with flying carpet supporting between sit bones, tail bone and pubic bones. Compare the feeling to walking with the image of a weak, dropped pelvis.
14. Sitting exercise nr 1 pelvic rock: Rock your pelvis front and back on your sit bones. Initiate this movement from the pelvic floor.
15. Sitting 3 Sit bone swing: Lift the right sit bone off the chair. Swing only the right sit bone front and back. Do the same with the other one.
16. Sitting 4 Walking on the sit bone: Walk front and back on your sit bones. Is your breathing freely as you do this? Are your shoulders relaxed. Place your hands in your armpits as you walk on your sit bones. The goal is to be active in your pelvic floor and relaxed in your shoulders and breathing. Tone yes, bearing down, no.
17. Sitting 5 Sit bone pull ups: Place one sit bone on a rolled towel or a Franklin Method ball (such as the orange smooth FM ball). The other free sit bone is lowered towards the chair (eccentric phase), then raised up again (concentric phase). Repeat.
18. Sitting 6 pelvic tilt on a towel or ball. Sit on two balls, one under each sit bone or place the towel lengthways beneath the pelvis. Franklin balls are recommended for these exercises, for example the mini roll filled with air or water. Rock your pelvis front and back, side to side.
19. Sitting exercise 7 Perform upper body movements while sitting on the towel or the balls: Flex and extend your spine, rotate your spine. Notice how these movements affect the pelvic floor.
20. Standing up initiated from the pelvic floor. When standing up the sit bones move together, and the coccyx moves forward. When we sit down the sit bones move apart and the tailbone moves back. You are welcome to stand up with the help of a flying carpet located beneath your pelvic floor.
21. Perineal body exercises: The key point for support in the pelvic floor is the perineal body. The perineal body is in front of the anal sphincter and it is the location where all the muscular and fascial layers of the pelvic floor meet up. Imagine the perineal body as an elevator that moves up during exhalation and down during inhalation. Imagine a string lifting the perineal body. Imagine a flying carpet lifting it from below.
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Imagine the perineal body to be a balloon floating upward.
22. Perform exhalation on SSS in a squat: Exhale on a sibilant SSSS and feel and imagine the perineal body moving upward. Do this also when coming up from the squat position.
23. Pelvic floor and lower back coordination: The back muscles and the pelvic floor muscles are antagonists. Place one hand on the pubic bone and one hand on the lower back. Practice tilting the pelvis posteriorly and imagining how the back muscles lengthen while the pelvic floor muscles shorten. Practice anterior pelvic tilting and envision the back muscles shortening while the pelvic floor muscles are lengthening.
24. Diagonal lung to stretch the PF diagonally. Perform pelvic tilts with one leg forward, and one leg back. Imagine the diagonal stretch and toning of the pelvic floor.
25. Gluteus and lower back tap and pelvic floor. Gluteus attaches to anococcygeal ligament. Its tone affects the pelvic floor. Tap the gluteus to help balance the tone in the pelvic floor.
26. Remove tension in your neck, train your pelvic floor: Perform squats with your hands massaging your neck.
27. Remove tension in your shoulders, train your pelvic floor: Perform squats with your hands in your armpits.
28. Move and improvise with your hands in your armpits.
29. Take a moment to notice how you feel.
30. Shake your arms, legs.
31. Practice pelvic floor imagery in your daily life!
Here is some support material that could be useful for these exercises: (Click on the links to visit the pages) 1. Free Webinar Replay - REPLAY: FIT AND HEALTHY WITH IMAGERY
