Part 3 of Car Seat Calisthenics!

This time balance is challenged. We all need more balance, in all things 🧘‍♀️

I want you to think TALL, chin tucked, abs engaged from the bottom up, ribcage down, and hip hinge from the glutes (no rounded back! Only go as far down as your hamstrings allow in order to keep that good hinge. Set the car seat on something to make it higher if needed.

Keep that core engaged throughout and move mindfully.

No bearing down my ladies with prolapse...none. Do what you can, skip what you can’t for now.

Note: I have *no* baby in the car seat.

Note again: This is sped up 2x so take it slow, breathing through the movement! Again, think: mindful movement, exhale on the effort.

Oh wait, another note: if these are too hard, modify!
~If hamstrings are a hindrance, bend your stance leg more.
~If single leg deadlift is too challenging at this time and/or balance is not there then do a double leg version.
~Hip hinge, hip hinge, aaaaaand hip hinge!
~Don’t use any weight and then work up.
~KEEP YOUR RIBCAGE DOWN! Yes, even in standing.
~Use a mirror or video yourself and see what is going on so you know what to fix or high-five yourself for doing well 😎

Stay tuned for part 4!

Part 2 of the Car Seat Calisthenics over here. I worked up an actual sweat doing these 😎 Again.

I want you to think TALL, chin tucked, abs engaged from the bottom up, ribcage down!

No bearing down, my ladies with prolapse ...none. Do what you can, skip what you can’t for now.

Note: I have *no* baby in the car seat.

Note again: This is sped up 2x so take it slow, breathing through the movement! Think: mindful movement, exhale on the effort, and a delightfully neutral pelvis (pubis on the same plane as ASIS (bone on the front of your "hips"), on the same plane as lowest ribs...so bolster your head if you need assistance getting those ribs down).

Oh wait, another note: if these are too hard, modify!
~Keep one foot down at all times.
~Don’t use any weight and then work up.
~KEEP YOUR RIBCAGE DOWN!
~Only go as far overhead with shoulder flexion as you can while KEEPING RIBCAGE DOWN.
~Use a mirror or video yourself and see what is going on so you know what to fix or high-five yourself for doing well :)

Stay tuned for parts 3 & 4!

Part 1 of the Car Seat Calisthenics over here. I worked up an actual sweat doing these 😎

My nit picky eye sees some pelvic/lumbar rotation I wish I could unsee but alas....nobody is perfect.

I want you to think TALL, chin tucked, abs engaged from the bottom up, and engage those serratus anterior muscles by pushing away with your hands from the pinkies! They are besties with your external obliques and work best as a team. No bearing down my ladies with prolapse...none. Do what you can skip what you can’t for now.

I was playing around with kicking at different angles which may be part of my rotation issue but do what you can with *minimal* lumbar or pelvic motion and slow it WAY down, as in slower than you think seems reasonable. This should work those abs isometrically and glutes actively.

Note: I have *no* baby in the car seat. He was napping 😴

Note again: This is sped up 2x so take it slow and use your breathing to help with the movements! Think: mindful movement.

Stay tuned for parts 2-4!

What this all boils down to is, be more mindful! Because, sometimes, it’s going to look like ☝️this☝️. And that’s okay!

Notice your habits and if they are not in alignment with your goals, work to change them! With posture it just takes a lot of repetition. These aren't earth- moving concepts. They are simple, actionable things that you can do over and over and over again. Make a sticky note (or 10!) and put one anywhere you look frequently to remind you. If I can help one of you lift and carry better then I am full of joy over here! It isn’t going to be 100% of the time, and likely not even 70% of the time that you’ll have this wonderful posturing. I don’t! You just need to do a little here and a little there, and be more body aware. And it totally helps.

For those of us labeled with various pelvic health ailments, it is scary to read what the interwebs have to share on things like diastasis recti and particularly pelvic organ prolapse. Sure, you need to be more aware and change up a few habits but it is all for the better and will serve you well into old age when everyone else is dealing with overuse injuries from a lifetime of bad posture and mechanics. So, high five to you for taking the first steps!

Good posture and alignment that best suits *you* and excellent breathing strategies will allow you to perform most of what you wish to do. But, obviously, please seek guidance from a qualified medical or exercise specialist who deals with these kinds of things regularly and understands the unique circumstances of postpartum rehab and pelvic health issues. Having a go-to women's health/pelvic floor physical therapist is one of the best tools to have in your lady bits tool box. (Oh my gosh, so many puns in that sentence!)

If you have any questions, please reach out to me and I will do my best to assist you and/or point you in the right direction. We are in this together! YOU are not alone, my friend.

How about a #worldbreastfeedingweek installment of the #holdingyourkidseries , part 5!

Some of you have very quick feeding sessions, and some of you have very long ones. For my breastfed kid, it was 30-60 min per side and she almost always did both sides. So, posture was so important. But even if your kid is a power eater, don’t discount the importance of posture, because it is still probably 10-12 (or more!) times each day, anywhere from 1 month to 36 months (or more! 🙌🙌). That adds up my friends!

Do your best to use what you have to make you comfortable. Baby is going to be happy no matter what, and they can pick up on your feelings so do your best to relax :) I know, so much easier said than done, especially at 3 a.m. and on approximately -279 hours of sleep.

Sit tall through the crown of your head, engage those shoulder blades enough to meet the demand, gently engage your lower abdominals, and breathe into your belly, back, and sides. Your head...keep it up and chin tucked and try to use your eyes as much as you can to look at your babe before you start to bend your neck. Neck and shoulder tension run rampant amongst the breastfeeding population. Take care of yourself, use your eyes. Also, use pillows, blankets, piles of yet-to-be folded laundry, etc. to bolster and get comfy! You don’t have to have a bunch of fancy gadgets for this, though I was personally a fan of the Breast Friend pillow 🙌

This goes for bottle fed babes and mamas pumping! I used pillows under the pump bottles while I was pumping because they got so heavy and caused me to scrunch my shoulders and slouch down under the weight. It was crazy! Then I got smart and found a way for it to work and have my hands free, thanks to the hands free pumping bra. And holding your baby while feeding a bottle is just as taxing on your body as breastfeeding, plus it applies to dads and caregivers!

You’ve got this!

Baby wearing!

​Okay, this time the adjustments are pretty subtle, but with very big improvements as a result. I got to a point where I couldn’t wear my second because it caused symptoms of prolapse. Obviously, I still wasn’t managing pressures well. Once I figured things out I could use the symptoms I felt as a feedback loop. I almost felt lucky that I was getting this instant feedback on my alignment rather than years down the road and after a lot of repetition of bad habits. So, here you go!

See in the first pic you can barely see my neck, head is forward and shoulders are hiked up and rolled forward. Hips are thrust forward, knees are locked out, and glutes are clenched. Bottom strap is much too high, sitting at my waist and in the curve of my lumbar spine. What to do?

Relax glutes! Move hips back over ankles, soften the knees a touch, and engage those lower abs just enough to give stability. Relax the shoulders! Your kid isn’t going to fall out if you relax. Make your neck long, and slightly tuck chin by lifting from the crown of your head. Gently engage between shoulder blades (enough to hold a feather). Move the bottom strap down across your hips. (Your low back just said, “ahhhhh.”)

Think of the unconscious things our bodies do in tight situations. It wants to create tension to push against something. You have a strap across your waist? Your brain wants to push your belly out to create tension against the load, and thus stability. Something pulling down on your shoulders? Your brain wants to push up against the load and you’ll hike your shoulders up. Hips thrust forward on locked knees? Your glutes will clench to create stability from behind. This is why ill-fitting or too-tight clothing is a tricky thing. But that is for another time :)

If you are a sling user, then these same principles apply, but also make sure to switch sides every other time so one shoulder isn’t always taking the load.

​**My kids are too heavy now for wearing so today’s model was my daughter’s doll, “Baby Jayne” 😎**

First pic...ahhhhhh! Stop right there! Even my toddler knows it’s a bad position 😂😂😂 See how my back is rounded and the load (my kid) is way out in front of my center of mass? This = very bad things for my back and anterior/posterior core if it were to be a postural habit.

Quick fix: move in so your load is as close to you as possible and squat down (neutral pelvis, engage the core to match the task, neutral spine). Think about using your glutes and not your back or your quads for this. As you come to standing, push through your heels and engage those glutes. Use your biceps to hold and bring in the load, and once again engage the shoulder blades slightly so they can also respond to the load efficiently.

Next, before you start to stand BLOW BEFORE YOU GO. This is a tip from the amazing @juliewiebept and one I use everyday with every single lift and squat (even standing up from a toilet!). Begin to blow out through pursed lips and then complete the move as you exhale completely. I like to inhale with a good 360 breath on the way down (expanding/opening up the pelvic floor and preparing it for a good contraction...because in order to shorten a muscle well, you have to be able to lengthen it first!), snag my load, then begin to blow out through pursed lips right before I push up to standing, continuing to exhale (contracting the pelvic floor* and disbursing the load nicely, avoiding bearing down). It is so engrained in me now that even my kids do it with me 😍

It doesn’t matter what you are or aren’t lifting. It could be a crumb off of the floor, sitting down to/getting up from a meal, on/off the toilet, getting in/out of the car. Practice good mechanics and mind your core and pelvic floor. Always bring the load as close to your center as possible, and harness the power of your breath.

*It should be noted that for me I no longer need to *actively* engage my pelvic floor with different movements; it knows what to do and it does it. But I have done a ton of re-training and re-connection of my PF with the breath. Check with your PFPT first to determine what your strategy should be based on where you are at at that time.