How the pelvic floor course for lymphoedema can improve life

Here I talk about a student with lymphoedema who came to me with pelvic floor and back problems and how she returned to the things she loved doing

Can you regain pelvic floor health if you have lymphoedema or lipoedema - or, for that matter, are a different shape or size? YES you can!

In my blog "3 mistakes in pelvic floor classes for people affected by lymphoedema and lipoedema" I have shared with you why a generic pelvic floor course might not work for you. Generic courses are generally created for those of a certain shape and size. But what if you have swollen or larger legs or have a restriction in your arms, shoulders or pelvis? You can still successfully restore your pelvic floor.

My blogs "10 things you didn't know about the pelvic floor and lymphoedema" and "How I came to teach pelvic floor classes for lymphoedema" have shared a lot of ideas and tips if you are affected by lymphoedema or lipoedema (and incidentally these also apply to other restrictions or if you are overweight). But you might still wonder whether a pelvic floor class specifically designed for lymphoedema and lipoedema has actually really made a difference to anyone. So here is the story of one of my students:

Meet Louise (name changed). Louise had developed lymphoedema in her right leg after she was stung by an insect. This is rare in the UK but it happened to Louise. Before this, Louise had been a fit and active person so this was quite a shock for her. However, Louise carried on living as she had done before. She had been practising a gentle form of Yoga before she developed lymphoedema and continued to do so. She maintained her very active social life and all the other activities she enjoyed. She and her husband would spend most weekends driving to the seaside in a converted van and set up camp for the weekend before heading back home.

When I met Louise she had been living with lymphoedema for some years. A few months before she came to see me, she had started to suffer from stress incontinence. Sneezing and coughing were a problem but she told me that this didn’t worry her as she rarely caught a cold. What did worry her was that the stress incontinence affected her breathing. She didn’t dare to take a deep breath anymore as this seemed to cause leaking. She was very upset about this as she felt that the deep breathing practices had really helped her manage the discomfort and pain as well as the swelling. Even more so she said that the breathing had helped her mood. Since she no longer dared to breathe deeply, she was starting to suffer from anxiety and depression. She was also no longer attending her Yoga class, her social life was affected and she rarely travelled in her van anymore. She had also developed chronic backpain.

Louise had heard about me from one of my students. At that time my class was mainly physical exercise but Louise had found out that I was also qualified to teach breathing and meditation, not just exercise. She didn’t want to join the class as she wanted me to combine exercise, meditation and breathing for her. So she asked me whether I could work with her on a private basis instead. I agreed but told her that I would teach her the same principles and exercises that I was teaching in class, that is, exercises that would give her an in-depth understanding of how everything from head to toe connected to her pelvic floor and that I would teach her how to do the exercises in such as way that it should help her pelvic floor recover its natural activity. I was delighted that she was interested in breathing and meditation as I felt it was the missing part in my teaching at that time. So I agreed to teach her.

Louise was a delight to work with. She had a great awareness of her body so the exercises and principles of movement that I taught her immediately made sense to her. When I taught her an exercise that didn’t suit her she showed me how she adapted it so that she could feel her pelvic floor work. This gave her the confidence to restart her Yoga within a few weeks of working with me: She said having the information about how to adapt the exercises to support the pelvic floor meant that she could adapt Yoga to suit her body and her pelvic floor. Within a few sessions her backpain had disappeared too.

We also worked on her breathing and within a few weeks she felt confident to breathe deeply again. This, she said, was the most important aspect of our work together as her mood improved and she was starting to return to travelling in her van. I also taught her some meditations that were related to the pelvic floor. She had always loved meditation and so she enjoyed these new and slightly different meditations that focused on the body. After a few months, Louise felt that she knew enough about the pelvic floor and how to adapt exercises to return fully to her life.

But working with Louise did not just change Louise, giving her the confidence to return to doing the things she loved as her pelvic floor improved. It changed me too: Working with Louise gave me the confidence to add breathing and meditation into my pelvic floor exercise programme. In my pre-recorded classes, there are exercise sections as well as meditation sections. That way, those who do not like meditation can just skip it. I hope they don’t as I know that exercise, breathing and meditation combined make a huge difference to our physical and mental well-being. Healing is a process that involves more than just muscles and bones. Thank you Louise for teaching me that!

If you are interested to find out more about how to improve your pelvic floor health with me, contact me via this form

Categories: : lymphatic health, womens intimate health