Myofascial Release & The Pelvic Floor

The myofascial system is the connective tissue in our body and it can suddenly or gradually tighten down on us in a way in which we are very unaware. This creates all kinds of little problems that eventually add up to loss of mobility and distress in the body where we are unable to relax & enjoy our life. When we experience trauma of any kind, our bodies go in to shock. A part of us disconnects from our body. It is doing this to protect ourself but if this process never has a chance to reverse itself, then it kidnaps our vital life force making it unavailable to us to respond to life in the way in which we were designed to do. In other words, it uses a lot of our energy to keep us from feeling the trauma that we just went through. This means it is no longer available to be used to help our body function. It also means we become unaware of what is happening in our body as we are no longer in a feeling state but are operating in a partially disconnected state. Pain & problems begin to develop & we can’t figure out what we did to cause them. We begin to feel disconnected from ourself, others & life itself.

Emotional life stressors also cause our fascial tissue to bind itself together as it attempts to protect & stabilize us internally during these times. These stressors are often poorly resolved or do not get resolved at all and this creates the same spider webbing effect in our tissue as the physical trauma created.

Often we begin to unconsciously tighten in our pelvic floor tissue in an attempt to find stability within a body that has been twisted & shaken from trauma. This puts a twist & compressive pressures on the spine & hips which begins to affect our nervous system & our ability to move & rest properly. Once we are unable to rest properly, the body really struggles to heal itself. We find ourselves in an unconscious survival mode.

This can lead to all kinds of unexplained symptoms, many of which you may be suffering from, including chronic fatigue & depression.

The pelvic floor responds either by spasming, creating high tone that makes it difficult to relax (hypertonicity) & leaves one in an unconscious state of clenching; or it forms restrictions that bind down & limit proper mobility in the tissue & the body, creating stiffness (hypotonicity). As a result of the freezing up or shutting down that is occurring in your pelvic floor tissue, it is possible for example to develop incontinence; the need to urinate frequently &/or experience leakage as well as many other symptoms & diagnoses.

The sacrum is the name of the bone at the base of our spine & is part of our pelvis. It is triangular in shape & just below the lumbar spine at the back of the pelvis. The tailbone extends down from the sacrum. The word sacrum actually means “sacred”. This is a sacred part of ourselves. It seems we associate more shame than sacredness when it comes to being in our pelvis. What if we truly felt this sacred space? What if we truly were present within this sacred space? What if we honored our own sacredness each & every moment? Not by thinking about it or saying prayers, but simply by BEING IN THAT SPACE while we do whatever else it is that we do; work, play, eat, interact, etc.

The center of our being lies in & around our pelvis so being in our pelvis will contribute to living a more centered life; one in which we are less likely to be reactive & pulled off center bringing more peace, joy & love into our existence.