I’ve been having a lovely romance with yoga lately, rekindling an old flame that was merely an ember for a long time. This relationship led me to a workshop this past weekend at a local yoga studio called “The Pelvis: Foundation of Movement, Fountain of Life”. The co-facilitators, Deane Juhan and Nicole Becker wove a fascinating tapestry with plenty of information, images and body movement/exploration to ground us deeper into our pelvic bowl – both physically and energetically. From a flyer about the workshop:
“The structural support, movement, and energetics of the pelvic bowl constitute our primary foundations. Its strength, flexibility and conscious organization are central to all of our activities, forming the bridge between our upper and lower body, and the key to the organization of the spine.
Misalignment of the pelvic bones and sacrum during standing, sitting and moving can result in chronic hip and low back pain, sciatica as well as dysfunction in the digestive, reproductive, and nervous systems.
The two wings of the pelvis and the sacrum “sacred bone” form the container for some of our densest concentrations of the lymph nodes. The pelvic bowl contains the first two chakras–our basic life force, and the divine eros that connects us in fundamental ways to ourselves, to one another, and to the world. It is the lower engine of our crucial cranio-sacral rhythm, the southern pole of our central nervous system, a major exit for the elimination of toxins.”
As a birthworker, I have a long standing respect & admiration for the amazing pelvis. I love bringing out my model pelvis with clients and demonstrating the movement within the pelvic bones due to the hormones of pregnancy relaxing connective tissue as well as the baby’s spiral journey through the pelvis during labor and birth.
Unfortunately, I was not rooted in my pelvic foundation during my own pregnancy and birth. Looking back, I realize that as a fairly flexible person, I over-stretched during prenatal yoga and did not fully heal a birthing injury to my tailbone during my postpartum. I wasn’t tapped into bodywork (chiropractic, cranial-sacral, etc.) 16 years ago. Plus, I was young! My body didn’t have aches and pains! It wasn’t until the injury re-emerged several years later that I realized I had nagging, chronic achiness in my low back on the left side that had been there for years. I connected with amazing bodyworkers who brought me some relief, but the pain always returned.
As a result of my lack of pelvic awareness, I have been working with lower back & pelvic pain for years now. Sometimes it is not there at all which requires dedication on my end to stay embodied and working toward balance. I call on my bodyworkers when I need them, yet, more and more I am trying to work with yoga as opposed to having someone on the outside manipulate my body into a “balanced” state that I eventually move out of due to ingrained patterns. This awareness I receive from my own body during yoga is very empowering – it’s something I can do for myself! Of course there are other pieces – diet & nutrition being key - that I integrate into my life to keep me feeling fluid and spacious. Yet yoga and body awareness are the foundation. As the pelvis is the foundation of movement…
What arose for me during this workshop is a strong desire to share with women about the pelvis during pregnancy, birth & postpartum. My hope is that having more information and resources will lead to embodied empowerment and juicy wholeness for women during their childbearing years. That this will be a foundation for them to move into a healthy menopause, as well as an opportunity to teach their own daughters about pelvic health in all its richness.
I will continue this exploration of the pelvis with posts on the pelvis and pelvic floor during pregnancy, birth & postpartum… stay tuned!
Kristina is a Holistic Health & Lifestyle Coach and Placenta Alchemist residing in the SF Bay Area. 
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Thank you for sharing your experience of pelvic health and your love of yoga. In my own healing work, I’ve worked extensively on the sacral chakra energy center but not so much not in the physical realm. Methinks my pelvic floor and sacrum would welcome some attention.
Yes, the physical and energetic are so interwoven… attention to both is essential!
Kristina, perhaps this comment would be better suited for your next entry but I will share it here whilst I have a moment of time.
I experienced that wonderful opening and loosening in my pelvis in late pregnancy. This was a heartening experience for me, as I had fears surrounding having a big baby and shoulder dystocia (as my older child was very big).
My pelvis loosened so much with those wonderful hormones that I sprained my sacro-iliac joint/ligament (not completely sure of the terminology for it!) a few days before my ‘due’ date. I was concerned- how would I labour when I could hardly walk!
Graciously, tuning into my own intuition, and under guidance of my midwife and an osteopath friend, three days of shiatsu, acupuncture and most importantly rest in bed with castor oil compresses on the painful area (that is, a castor oil soaked piece of muslin laid on the area with a hand towel then a hot water bottle laid on top of it) healed it completely. There was no oain after a few days and went on to birth fine.
Those wonderful pregnancy hormones that allow our bodies to accommodate our babies during pregnancy and birth are also what contribute to the instability in joints that can lead to injury. I’m so glad you listened to your intuition and had access to wonderful healers. I never thought about using a castor oil pack on sacroiliac joint pain but it totally makes sense – thanks for sharing that tip. Lovely that you went on to birth without that joint pain!
I was already using castor oil compresses to nourish my scar from my previous caesarean. They were so nourishing, a welcome chance to lay down and focus on my womb. Usually these packs would be used before getting pregnant again, but I didn’t know about them then. During a pregnancy retreat in meditation I received a message to nourish my womb physically, and my midwife had suggested the packs a day or two earlier, so it was all synchronous.
Love this post and can’t wait to read more. If you haven’t already read it you might like Wild Feminine by Tami Kent-lots of pelvic bowl goodness!
It is one of the many books I am involved with right now… so many books… so little time!