Hello, all! In today's video we are going to learn how to incorporate breathing when
you do your Kegel Exercises, let's begin! Hi, I'm Doctor Amruta Inamdar, your Pelvic
Rehab Doc! Very commonly I've heard this feedback: "Doctor, I'm trying to do Kegel Exercises
like you have prescribed but really there is no difference". The missing piece, is breathing.
If you do not use breathing the way you are supposed to when you do Kegels the desired
results after doing Kegels are never achieved. So, let's learn what you are supposed to do
when you start doing Kegels while incorporating breathing.
In the beginning when you are trying to learn how to breathe, you have to remember what
muscle is your primary muscle for breathing. Yes! You are right! The diaphragm is the primary
muscle for breathing and it attaches right here at the base of your Rib Cage.
The diaphragm if you can imagine is like an inverted umbrella that sits at the base of
your rib cage, deep inside your thorax. So if you try to use basic logic you would understand
if you do chest breathing, like upper chest breathing you will not be able to get any
results when you try to do your Kegels. Diaphragm is the primary muscle and that must be used
in order for your pelvic floor to be used properly. Let's learn why.
Your diaphragm and your pelvic floor are literally mirrored images of each other. Your diaphragm
is sitting like an inverted umbrella just as I said, and your pelvic floor forms the
base of your core canister. So, while you're breathing, when you take a deep inhale, your
diaphragm is supposed to descend, as your pelvic floor is also descending, just like
this.
Now, as we inhale, if we use our diaphragm we end up the majority of belly breathing,
just like this. Learning this form of correct breathing is critical when you try to incorporate
your kegels in the right way. So, I really want you to focus on doing your abdominal
breath when you are trying to do your Kegel exercises. In today's video we are also going
to learn 3 easy exercises that will help you connect your breath with your pelvic floor
making massive changes in the way your pelvic floor behaves when you do Kegels. Always remember,
without taking a proper breath your Kegels will always stay ineffective. Let's begin
with learning exercises.
Alright, so let's begin our exercises, these exercises are designed so that you could do
them very easily at home so the apparatus that's needed is very basic. You're going
to need a Yoga belt, you can get this very easily from Amazon, or any web shop that you
wish, I think it's $5 or $7, okay. This is a meditation Bolster that I'm going to use,
just to give some elevation to the pelvis, and a Yoga Mat, that's it!
Okay, so let's begin with our first exercise! In our first exercise I'm going to ask you
to take your yoga belt, and you're going to wrap it around the base of your rib cage,
okay? So, at the bottom part of your rib cage, that's where you're going to try to hold this
belt pretty snug, so it shouldn't be very tight but it shouldn't be very loose either,
so pretty snug. And you are going to try to cross the two edges of this belt, okay? So,
no interchange your hands, so that means the right hand is going to hold the left edge
of the belt and the left hand is going to hold the right edge of the belt. Now, we are
going to practice a Rib Opening Exercise, and that's going to help our diaphragmatic
breathing. okay, so you're going to inhale, as you inhale I want you to really focus on
breathing into the belt, okay? So in other words you're going to focus on expanding the
belt out, so let's see. So you're going to inhale, and exhale. One more, inhale and exhale.
So, you see how the belt is moving, right? So that should be your focus when you try
and do your abdominal breathing. Okay, that's going to help and improve your rib mobility,
optimize the way your diaphragm moves when you do your Kegel exercises, you also have
to be aware that the majority of your breath is going to your tummy, okay? So, again I'll
show you once more, look at how I'm breathing through my belly okay? So, inhale, exhale.
So the biggest part to avoid here is Upper Chest Breathing also known as Stress Breathing,
and stress breathing is not going to be helpful when you do Kegel exercises. So, what is upper
chest breathing? Upper chest breathing is when we breath like this. This is a breathing
that we do not want when we are doing kegels. Alright? So, there you go, your first exercise,
practice and you'll see a good improvement in your diaphragmatic breathing.
Exercise two. So in this exercise we are actually going to build up on what we've learned in
exercise one, we are going to help our ribs expand we are going to practice belly breathing,
and now we are going to start incorporating that into a kegel, alright? So, do this with
me please. You are going to lie down, I'm going to use this meditation bolster you could
use a pillow or any comfortable structure that will help you keep your body in one line,
alright? So, I'm going to lie down on my side. So you see how my body is lying down in one
line, right? So if the pillow was too low your head would fall like this and then your
diaphragm would not be able to work in the optimal posture, okay so you have to make
sure your pillow is at the right height. What is the right height? A way in which your whole
body stays in one single line, alright? Now, I want you to compress on the bottom part
of your top rib cage, okay? Now, you are going to take a deep inhale and breath into this
hand, so let's begin. So you see as you breathe into the hand your rib cage expands into the
side and where does the air go? Most of the air goes onto your tummy, so this is going
to help actually build up on your abdominal breathing. So, let's do it once more. Now
you can also do one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly let's see both of these
part moving, good.
Now, as basic as this may seem, I really want you to try this because without this your
Kegels will stay ineffective. Okay, so now let's incorporate this breathing technique
into Kegeling. So what I want you to do is to inhale, you are going to put your mind
to your pelvic floor, as you exhale you are going to draw in your pelvic floor and up,
okay? So you are going to draw in and out with an exhale and see if you can generate
some force or tension in those muscles as you draw them in. Let's begin, so you are
going to inhale, put your attention to your pelvic floor as you exhale, draw in the muscle.
Okay, one more inhale through your tummy, make your ribcage work and exhale draw in
and up with your pelvic floor and let go. Try this and let me know how this goes.
Alright, let's learn exercise three, and this is going to put everything together. In this
exercise you are going to again focus on your abdominal breathing and incorporate that into
making your kegel stronger. So in this exercise I want you to take the same bolster that you
had under your head this time you are going to put it under your pelvis, okay? So let's
see how we do it. So you are going to lay down on your back, and put the bolster under
your pelvis, okay, make sure your pelvis is slightly elevated. Why is this important?
Because in this position gravity is eliminated, so your pelvic floor muscles actually are
easier to focus on as gravity is not acting anymore. Okay so now let's practice pairing
your breathing and your pelvic floor. Let's begin. You are going to inhale put one hand
on your tummy, other hand on your chest, your chest hand should essentially not be moving
at this stage, okay? So you're going to start breathing, inhale, good that's a belly breath,
as you exhale you are going to breathe take your pelvic floor in and up and let go. One
more, you see how my chest hand is not moving, that's very important, okay let's do it once
more. Inhale through your tummy as you exhale draw your pelvic floor in
and up. So this is exercise three.
So here we are, we just learned the best three exercises that will help you connect your
breath to your pelvic floor, making a massive and significant impact to your Kegel routine,
if you find the information in this video we just shared helpful, and this video useful,
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our channel Pelvic Rehab Doc as we will be uploading new videos every week. Feel free
to comment and let me know how you like this video, whether you were able to use these
techniques when you started your kegel routine and also I would like to know what kind of
content would you like me to create as the purpose of this channel is to get you empowered
with the correct pelvic floor knowledge. I will see you next week, and always remember
accurate knowledge is the key to regaining your health.