How the Diaphragm and the Pelvic Floor Move During Relaxed Breath

This is really such a priceless video. 

Pelvic Floor

At the 2015 PMA Conference in Denver, Colorado, Brent Anderson and Hadar Schwartz tested their theories about the pelvic floor. Watch how they used two ultrasound machines to show the relationship between the pelvic floor and the diaphragm.

Posted by Pilates Anytime on Wednesday, November 18, 2015

It shows how, in a "diaphragmatic" breath, the diaphragm and pelvic floor work nearly simultaneously to make room for the breath. 

Seeing the video helped me better notice and let go of tension I was storing in the lower abdomen that might get in the way of this whole body breath. 

Remember that the breath (not just oxygen of course, but the action of breathing) helps circulation, digestion, lymph flow and more. So we want it to be able to get to go everywhere it needs to go. 

Our pelvic floors are often being held in a shorter (tighter) position than they need to be, which can sometimes contribute to incontinence and other dysfunctions over time. So it's nice to see how using the breath to find the pelvic floor may help the pelvic floor relax over time. 

The diaphragm and the pelvic floor can get decoupled in breath----working independently of each other, or one working more effectively than the other---for many reasons, and these patterns can change over the course of the day, depending on our movement, mood, and more. This decoupling is often very normal---for instance if you're having to wait to go to the bathroom, but still need to breathe, or during a healthy flight-or-fight response in which the body naturally starts to "chest breathe".  So we're not aiming for a sort of robotic consistency, but just the possibility that we can "clear" the way for the body to take its best breath.  I know for me that it's very easy to forget to sit and move in ways that make space in the lower torso for my breath. And if I really focus on it for a bit, I'm often surprised at how much more room I can make. So I may put this video on repeat and project it on to the wall of my living room.