@pelvicpotential

Between my friends and patients, it has been a baby boom these last couple of weeks! I wanted to pop on and share my top two post partum tips. No, it’s not core activation or early hip strengthening, this is much more important! Drumroll please… It’s rest, and fueling! Seriously, though! Both these things put important measures in place to help with early tissue healing and minimize further damage! As far as rest, I like to reference the old advice given to Tour de France cyclists: don’t stand at a time that you could be sitting and don’t sit at a time that you could be lying down. Laying down, especially is important because it takes pressure off of your healing, pelvic floor, perineal, wounds, and or C-section scar. As far as nutrition, you literally are healing a placenta wound on your uterus, the size of a dinner plate, and any incision or tear areas that have been repaired. Also, for those who are producing milk, a lot of fuel goes into that as well! For a person who was 150 pounds before pregnancy, dietitian, @lilynicholsrdn recommends 130 g of protein per day during the postpartum period! That’s a lot and you really have to plan to get it! Lean on your friends and family that offer to help! hire a post partum July! If you are still pregnant, fill that freezer with all the nourishing goodies that will help you during this time! And for those of you with postpartum people in your life, whether days, weeks, months, or years postpartum, this is your reminder to drop off a meal, send a DoorDash gift card or help take some thing off their plate so they can rest!

I have had so many patients in the last few weeks that have felt pelvic floor symptoms like increased heaviness (a symptom of pelvic organ prolapse) and leaking urine with jumping/running activities. I’ve also had a lot of patients that are looking to get back into these exercises postpartum. I have found that starting with similar exercises that have decreased ground and reaction forces can be helpful in getting the body ready for those more upright activities. You can start with hands all the way on the ground or on a chair/bench as shown. You can progress to a more upright piece of furniture, or even hands leaning on the wall in front of you, before trying these exercises in standing again. They can be a GREAT addition to your normal workout program as a little heart pumping 30-60 second cardio addition between strength exercises. Happy, jumping! 🫶 🫶 #pelvicfloorphysicaltherapy #pelvicorganprolapse #postpartumfitnessjourney #urinaryincontinence #pelvicfloordysfunction #pelvicfloorhealth #pelvicpotential

So you’ll never guess where I’ve spent the last few days…BACK at Stanford with my OTHER son who got the same infection my first son had😳😳😳. Thankfully we are going home right now and he is almost back to his jolly self. But here is where the story comes it. It’s about a very special woman named Lydia. Lydia is the barista in the cafeteria of the children’s hospital. I saw her most days and getting a latte here was one of the highlights of my day. And I told her that. And as I did, I fully processed the importance of her work. I told her “how cool is it that you encounter so many people, some having a hard or the worst day of their lives and your work makes their day a little bit better?! Or fuels the medical staff as they make important decisions to save and change lives?!”. And she said “I know. That’s why I love my work. My kids tell me, ‘Mom, do you want to be something besides JUST a barista?!’ And I said ‘No’, my work is really needed her”. What I remembered after talking to her is how we ALL need to look at the work we do, whether in our jobs outside the home, the valuable work we do in the home caring for our children, volunteering, or simply how you interact with a person at the grocery store, the list goes on. Believe in the power of your work and the energy you put in the world. Lydia believes in the power of her work. I believe our purpose on earth is to use our energy for good. I try to to this in all the roles I have (not always perfectly 😜). Thanks to Lydia and all the Lydia’s in the world!

I KNOW we are sick of the “common but not normal” line in the Pelvic Floor community, but you KNOW it will slip in to every interview you have🤣. But it is still true! Loved this conversation with @burntpancakeswithkatie ! Check out the link tree in my bio for a page where all the podcast episodes I was a guest on live. Having these conversations hopefully both NORMALIZES pelvic floor dysfunction AND gives people a nugget of wisdom they can take into their own lives! Happy listening🫶 . . #pelvicfloorphysicaltherapy #postpartumpelvicfloor #postpartumhealth #mypostpartumjourney #pelvicfloordysfunction #pelvichealth #prenatalhealth #healthypregnancy #themotherhoodisreal #pelvicfloor

My son had a staph infection that required hospital admission for IV antibiotics, so here we are 24 hrs in. Grateful for our amazing peds healthcare team in Santa Cruz (shout out to our fave NP @kayceryberg and fave pediatrician Dr. Mecozzi) for getting us where we needed to go)! He is getting the treatment he needs and basically gets to #NetflixAndChill until his body starts responding, so happy we are on the mend. Now this mama’s only complaint is being tired, disappointed about Dominic missing his first day of second grade and not being able to be there for Logan‘s first day of kindergarten. SMALL worries compared to the big ones many parents in this hospital are going through…have been sending love to every family I walk by. . . I “woke up” this morning (or did I really get sleep on this pull out bed?!) after too few hours slept feeling a little stiff, so I went through a bunch of my fave yoga poses and stretches. I realized afterwards that these were some of my favorites to give to patients! These are great if you are breastfeeding, pushing a stroller, working in a bent over position or just feeling like you need some movement inspo. Hold each for a few breaths. EVERY time I do one of these stretches with a patient I tell myself “this feels SO good…I need more of it!”. Shout out to @lucilepackardfoundation hospital for amazing care❤️❤️

What is one thing athletes I work with, people who are breast-feeding, and people who work at a desk have in common? Rounded upper backs and shoulders! As a running athlete, this position moves your center of mass backwards, which makes you work more to propel yourself forward… A.k.a. it makes running harder (I see this A LOT when people are running uphill)! For others who spend a lot of time sitting in this position, their brains forget they can extend their upper backs and open their chests, which makes them utilize other surrounding joints improperly which can lead to pain. I also strongly believe that it could impact symptoms like leaking and prolapse over time by increasing into abdominal pressure and by causing malalignment of the diaphragm over the pelvic floor. Here’s some thing you can do: stand or sit up, tall with your low back, relaxed and hands behind head. Think of doing a backbend in the upper most part of your back, right below the tag of your shirt wall opening up your chest and letting your shoulders come slightly upward. My inner yogi would add “throw your heart up to the sky!” Make sure the extension is coming from all of the places above your bra strap and the low/mid back staying relatively relaxed (people already like to get most of their extension down here and lack it in the upper back). Try it and see what you think! . . #pelvicfloorphysicaltherapy #runnermom #strollerrunning #breastfeedingmama #momswhorun #postpartumrunning #pelvicfloorphysio #pelvicpotential

SO many people are still squatting instead of sitting on the 🚽!! I get it, public bathrooms are not always the same as home, but your pelvic floor wants to relax, even if you don’t! When patients talk about urinary retention or having pee leak out when they stand up after peeing this is the first.question.I.ask (and the answer is almost always YES)! When you are squatting, it is harder to relax the muscles that surround the openings to your pelvic floor (in a perfect world, we CAN differentiate enough to do so, but this is hard). So take a deep breath, use a seat cover if you have to and sit on down! Now this no squatting thing only applies to the “hover over the 🚽” squats, not the beautiful low squats people use for toileting in much of the world which DO lead to relaxation of the pelvic floor! Work your leg muscles with your kids, in the gym and DEFINITELY when a good beat drops, but sit down, take a deep breath and relax so your pelvic floor muscles can too!! The visual of your pubic bones relaxing apart and inner thighs softening helps too!! #pelvicfloorphysicaltherapy #pelvicfloordysfunction #pelvichealth #pelvicfloormuscles #pelvicfloorphysio #pelvicpotential

“What are you training for right now Sara?”…….THIS right here sums up my athletic goals right now: be strong enough to jump into things like today’s @capitolaguards capitolaguards parent/alumni competition, feel good and have a ton of fun! The best part was my kids being able to watch and Dom saying, “Mom, it’s cool you do the same competitions that I do”. It was also so cool to have the high school/college aged instructors see bad a$$ parents still out there competing AGAINST them…what a beautiful way to represent what is possible in THEIR lives. I want to show, especially those people who might get pregnant some day that your athletic dreams don’t have to go away once you have kids🤘🙌🤘🙌 . . TLDR: Train for life so you can jump into things that fill your cup a little higher #BackInMyLifeguardEra #TeamTola 📸: @cyborgdna 😘

Leaking on the way to the bathroom? Or when just THINKING of needing to use the bathroom?! I’ve got a few things for you! . . #pelvicfloor #pelvicfloorexercises #pelvicfloorphysicaltherapy #pelvicfloordysfunction #urinaryincontinence #urgeincontinence #postpartumbody #pelvicfloorphysio #pelvicpotential

Our leg bone’s connected 🎶 to our pelvic bones 🎶our pelvic bone’s connected to our back bone(s)🎶 . . No posture is bad posture, but sustaining this one could potentially put excess stress on your back. You can see how much less vertical alignment I have between my ribcage and pelvis when my knees are hyper extended. I have found it harder to access pelvic floor muscles in this position as well. Everyone is different, but see how it makes YOU feel❤️

IT’S HERE! My first online program “Pelvic Potential: A Hands On Guide to Pelvic Floor Muscle Training” is now available (link in bio)! Thanks for being on this journey with me and I’m looking forward to guiding you from the comfort of your home. Check the link in bio to see more information about it and to register! It will be on sale until August 1st using the code: EARLYBIRD . . #pelvicfloorexercises #pelvicfloorphysicaltherapy #pelvicfloordysfunction #pelvichealth #pelvicfloorphysio #pelvicfloorprogram #fitpregnancyjourney #postpartumfitness #pelvicfloormuscles #pelvicpotential

We are 99% sure we aren’t going to have another baby (SO grateful for our two amazing boys!), BUT a new addition to Pelvic Potential is on the way. My long awaited online program will be released TOMORROW (Friday July 7th) at 5:30 am PST. I’m so proud of it! Pelvic Potential: A Hands On Guide to Pelvic Floor Muscle Training is a 12 week program that includes my Pelvic Floor Education and Evaluation Workshop video, 12 weeks of exercise videos, training materials, a meditation video and other materials that will help guide you. I started working on it in 2020 and de-prioritized it’s release for way too long. I am also SO stoked it is coming out now. Let this serve as your reminder that sometimes good things take time and that’s ok. If whatever you are working on seems too big, break it into chunks, chip away at it and be okay non linear progress! Stay tuned tomorrow morning…it will have a major discount for the first month it is open! 👀