It is allergy season folks! And for many of us, that means sinus congestion. I would normally see an awesome acupuncturist for some sinus focused acupuncture but since covid 19 we can’t do such things.

Enter: acupressure self-treatment! I would always get a needle placed between my eyebrows and could feel my sinuses draining, like they were melting. So I looked up acupressure points and found a cool trick to closely mimic my experience of sinus drainage. Try it and see how you do! I do it a few times/day when I feel that telltale pressure. And each time, poof. Pressure gone!

Place tongue in the roof of mouth and press up. Close mouth and breathe deep and slow. Place thumb or finger in space between eyebrows and press somewhat firmly. Hold for 20-30 seconds.

And melt.

How we breathe directly effects our pelvic floor so I do what I can to make sure my breathing is working *for* me not *against* me.

Way better than allergy meds, but not quite a replacement for a great acupuncturist, of course. Desperate times call for getting creative!

Since we are all upping the hand-washing big time these days due to #coronavirus how about a little #alignment #tutorial since you’re spending way more time (at least 20 seconds of lather 12,147 times per day) scrubbing the nasties off your hands 😝

A few tips to consider: avoid leaning on the counter and thrusting hips forward, stand tall from the crown of your head, keep knees unlocked and soft, try aligning sternum over pubic bone, avoid hunching upper back to reach the water and instead reach through with serratus muscle (bringing shoulder blades forward), shake your #groovethang and maybe even practice getting some good 360 breaths in here, too.

Happy handwashing!

Next stop on the #glutesofglory train...hip extension!

I tend to spend too much time on the floor with my workouts so this is my attempt at getting up off the floor gradually and working towards standing postures for strength. Here’s to facing fears and getting strong.

Bridges are tough for a lot of people because it is so easy to do them wrong, and for me it is a trick and a half to keep my back out of it.

Enter: ottoman hip extensions! This video is sped up 4x so take it SLOW, feel the good burn, and really feel your glutes contracting and working here. I am gently activating lower abs and fully relaxing my back and letting the ottoman serve as my solid base. Bent knee takes hamstrings mostly out of the equation so you can focus on glute max.

Feel the burn and make sure to breathe throughout this one.

Yes, those are skinny jeans, and yes, that is a kid fort in the background :) 

Bridges! Probably the second most prescribed exercise in physical therapy clinics across the U.S. Second only to clams. So much going wrong with them basically every time I see someone do them. And they are a great exercise for hip extension and building those #glutesofglory so today’s post is a quick tip on using better form.

Feet closer to bum = more glutes, further from bum = more hamstrings. Make sure to get a great 360 inhale first then exhale and use your lower abs to tilt pelvis posterior, pushing low back into the floor. Hold a nice brace at the end of your exhale and inhale again, still maintaining a gentle abdominal brace. On the exhale, tighten your brace slightly and push the ground away from you, contracting those glutes.

Remember 1.0: pubis in same plane as lower ribs, and ribs knit down with a nice abdominal brace. Breathing 360 under a brace is a skill and you may need to practice this. A lot. No breath-holding here, please!

Remember 2.0: don’t make your back work to create the movement. Keeping good core control will help keep the paraspinals soft so you can focus on using those glutes appropriately.

Remember 2.1: breathe throughout the entire exercise. NO BREATH-HOLDING!

Try it out and see what you think!

Recently, I got to attend a natural movement class from MovNat Madison hosted by Mindful Motion Physical Therapy, here in Madison. It was so much fun! I discovered a fun little hip mobility move...and that crab walking is way harder than it looks!

My left hip is often much tighter but a few reps of these and it was nice and loose! Plus, it is great practice for ground mobility and transitions from sitting to standing, which is very important as we age. Hands free is the goal!

Remember, happier hips = happier pelvic floor.

Try it out and see how it feels! How did you do?? 

Sometimes (a lot of the time) this is parenthood and you do what works . My arm was tired. I stir with my right and don’t want to exacerbate a muscle imbalance I have worked hard to re-balance since becoming a mom so I kick up a leg and my cute toddler can rest on my thigh and my arm gets a rest. Bonus: I can work on relaxing my hip flexors, engaging my #glutesofglory , core stability, and breathing into my glutes to get them to lengthen on the left.

Of my two kids, he is more of a Velcro baby still, and he loves to watch me cook. So it shall be 😎

​{Last night’s dinner was a vegan Moroccan carrot red lentil soup. So yummy, so chunky, so easy.}

Butt Gripping.

When you unconsciously clench your glutes (butt muscles). Do you have nice little scoops or “pockets” on the sides of your glutes/behind the head of the femur? Do you ever get a pinching in your groin when you squat or bring your knee to your chest? Low back pain? Flat butt syndrome getting you down (aka “mom butt”)? Can you get a really good squeeze of both sides of your glutes on command or is it hard to do? One side easier to contract than the other? Then you likely favor one side.

These are some signs you may be a butt gripper!

What to do? Start by noticing it. Check in frequently and do your best to just relax those glutes. Notice when you are doing it and how you are feeling. Tied to stress perhaps?

Usually, you don’t need those glutes working so hard during normal, low load activities, like standing around :) Do you frequently find that you shift your weight to one side in particular? Notice this and start shifting to the other side! Or, better yet, place your weight evenly over both feet!

Chronic butt gripping can lead to chronic fatigue (i.e. weakness) of those enormous glute muscles, of which we really do need for things like walking, running, jumping, squatting, pelvic floor health, etc. There is a saying that “your glutes ARE your pelvic floor.” So, is your pelvic floor flat, weak, and hard to engage when you need it? Or is it strong, resilient, ready when you need it without having to think about it?

Ab gripping. It is way too common, especially in women. AKA “sucking in.” It is something we do so much that we stop even noticing we are doing it.

Are you doing it right now? Take your had and place it on your abdomen, close to the ribs and gently jiggle the abs. Feel relaxing? Or was it hard to do? Probably gripping. Check out your abdomen in the mirror: is there a cinched in area at about the level of the belly button, looking from the side? Gripping/sucking in. Are the top abdominals more defined than the lower half? Gripping. Can you "zip up" your abs from the pubis/crotch without those upper abs firing? Gripping. Looking from the side, does it look like your lower abdomen sticks out farther than the upper half? Gripping and lower abdominal weakness.

It is constant, long term tension in a group of muscles (usually upper rectus abdominis/"six pack abs" and upper transverse abdominals (TA)) and over time, those muscles adapt to what we ask of them and shorten/weaken so when you go to ask something of them (a heavy lift, core exercises, weight gain, pregnancy, etc.) they have nothing left to give and the pressure has to leak out somewhere, soooooo...yea, diastasis recti (abnormal separation of the abdominal wall) prolapse, leaking of urine or feces, inability to control gas, disc herniations, herniations of the abdominal wall, hemorrhoids, etc. Fun, huh?!

Imagine flexing your biceps muscles all day every day. You wouldn't really be able to use your arms very effectively if your biceps were constantly flexed, ha! What would you expect to happen with those muscles? They would shorten and become very tight. Same idea with your abdominal wall. This sort of abdominal weakness is perfect staging grounds for lots of fun stuff, as mentioned above.

Men, too! Women are by no means the only ones suffering these issues. Men are just as likely to develop these kinds of problems via means other than pregnancy. Obviously :)

If you can’t just relax your abdomen on command (one way to tell you REALLY need this!) then get down on all fours and allow gravity to assist you. Let your belly relax down toward the floor gradually. I know, it feels really weird at first and you will likely be able to feel your body tensing against it, but work through this. Try to keep the shoulders engaged and don’t sink into them. Keep your spine as neutral as you can, trying not to let your low back curve too much. Focus on breathing deeply and slowly, in and out🧘‍♀️

If you can get in the habit of checking in throughout the day and seeing what your abs are doing (particularly in times of stress) make note of it and try to relax. Hate having your belly "pooch" (terrible word, but everyone can picture it!) out? I get it! But that is what loose-fitting shirts are for in this stage of the game, right?!

All sorts of things improve when we stop holding tension, particularly in our abdomen. Digestion, breathing, stress response, constipation, you name it. Try it out and I hope you find some relief!