How I came to teach pelvic floor classes for lymphoedema

Find out how I came to teach pelvic floor classes for lymphoedema and lipoedema, how I became interested and my experiences and trainings

After my blog “10 things you didn’t know about the pelvic floor and lymphoedema” you might want to know how I came to teach pelvic floor classes for those affected by lymphoedema and lipoedema.

After qualifying as a movement teacher I was hired by a community centre. Mine was the first movement class they were offering. The class was fully booked but instead of the kind of student I was expecting, that is, people with back pain or pelvic floor issues, I met a group of students who had a much wider range of issues. There was a young girl with cerebral palsy who was wheelchair-bound, a lady with multiple sclerosis, a young woman with chronic fatigue, a lady who was semi-paralysed, a woman with lipoedema and other women with more severe health problems than I had expected. All of these women had joined the class because they wanted pelvic floor strength and healthier backs but in addition they had many other health issues. A large number of them had lymphatic issues (they were treated by a manual lymphatic drainage practitioner) and a number of them had lymphoedema.

I knew a little about lymphoedema from my degree in herbal medicine but, at that time, I just had a very basic understanding. So I told my students that I probably wasn’t the right teacher for them. They, however, begged me to teach them. They told me that there were no other movement classes in the area that were suitable for them and that even their medical doctors knew very little about lymphoedema. I wasn't confident but their enthusiasm was catching so I decided to try.

This class turned out to be the best experience any teacher could hope for: I taught them and they told me which of the exercises I taught worked for them and which ones didn’t. I learnt how to adapt normal exercises and make them suitable for those with lymphatic problems including lymphoedema and lipoedema. At that time, there was little knowledge about movement and lymph but I found a very basic weekend movement training for lymphoedema and I started to research widely to find out more about both lymphoedema and lipoedema. I took trainings with experts from the world of lymph, cancer, pelvic floor, fascia and scar tissue and started to build up a deeper understanding of the importance of fascia in relation to lymph- and lipoedema.

But that wasn't all. All I continued to teach my group and increasingly also private clients, I realized that those affected by lymphoedema and lipoedema don't all want the same exercise. Like everyone, they had different likes and dislikes - some enjoyed dancing, others slow, mindful movements. So I trained in other movement practices, such as Yoga, Barre, Feldenkrais, somatics, dance etc. I became such an expert from all this research and learning that I eventually even co-developed a short movement teacher training programme for lymphoedema.

However, despite the different preferences in types of exercise, all those students still wanted that focus on the pelvic floor! Not surpring as I found out that the pelvic floor also acts as a lymphatic pump. So I developed a pelvic floor programme for those affected by lymphoedema and lipoedema. Lymphoedema and lipoedema can cause the legs to swell which can cause pelvic floor issues. It also makes some of the traditionally taught pelvic floor exercises difficult. Working with lymphoedema and lipoedema has taught me to work holistically: successful pelvic floor rehabilitation requires a whole body approach that includes exercises from the bottom of the feet right up to the crown of the head - just like modern approaches to general pelvic floor health.

Nowadays, I focus on pelvic floor and intimate health issues for a wide range of women, not just those with lymphoedema or lipoedema. Lymph, however, is still a hugely important part of my work as it is important in many intimate health issues.

And I still work with many women affected by lymphoedema and lipoedema. To this day, it's hard to find a class there that teaches pelvic floor work for anyone with these conditions. Few instructors know how to support people affected by lymphoedema or lipoedema . And that is a problem as lymphoedema and lipoedema have particular problem areas that need to be addressed to support pelvic floor health. The swelling changes the body and posture so that we need to adapt the exercises for the pelvic floor. This also applies to anyone whose legs are bigger than average, say anyone overweight for example. In addition, any exercise class needs to support lymphatic drainage and not just focus on the pelvic floor.

If you want to find out more, read my blog about common errors people make when teaching pelvic floor exercises to anyone with lymphoedema or lipoedema. If you want to find out more about my group or one-to-one classes, contact me.

Categories: : lymphatic health, womens intimate health