My name is Katie Dickens, and I am the founder of FORTHEMOMS. I am an online pre- and postnatal coach who has the privilege of coaching moms throughout the country on the power of the mind-body connection through movement and mindfulness. I also host FORTHEMOMS events locally here in LA, where I have brought in over 100 brands and services in less than one year. My mission is to fill the gap by providing moms with a space for a complete mind-body reset and gifting them with the top brands and services. If you are not in LA, I also have an online community on Facebook called ‘FORTHEMOMS Community,’ where I conduct monthly giveaways and much more, and I would love to have you be a part of it.
I have been so fortunate to have ooT as a brand sponsor at several of my FORTHEMOMS events, and each and every mama can feel the intentionality and love behind ooT. I love the mission behind their brand, and I feel so lucky to have crossed paths with ooT. I hope to do more together in the future! Everyone deserves a pair of ooT
My passion and specialty stems from the LACK of information on our pelvic floor during pregnancy and birth. No one talks about it. No one educates you on it. No one sets you up for success, let alone so that you feel empowered with your body.
I spent my first year of postpartum learning, working, getting certified, and applying all the knowledge I gained about the pelvic floor to ME, and then I turned around and created a program + community because of all the success I saw in my healing journey.
Let’s break down what the pelvic floor is:
Our pelvic floor is made up of 14 muscles, functioning like a sling from hip to hip. It has 4 main points: where you stop urine, hold gas, and the 2 sitz bones (the 2 bones you sit on and can feel). Everyone has a pelvic floor, but strengthening your pelvic floor should be a priority during pregnancy/birth. As the baby grows in your belly, it puts so much pressure on the pelvic floor. Additionally, we give birth through the pelvic floor, which means we need to do a lot of rebuilding during postpartum to heal the 14 muscles we gave birth through.
Pelvic floor + breathwork connection:
Activating your pelvic floor comes through breathwork. There is so much power in breathwork! The core canister is made up of 3 parts: diaphragm, deep core muscles and the pelvic floor. Our Pelvic floor is connected to our diaphragm which is why we need breathwork to lengthen those muscles.
Breathing technique - 360 breathing:
- Sit on a chair in neutral alignment (sitting up straight, shoulders down)
- Breathe in deeply through your nose, filling up your lungs and belly (not sucking in). This will help lengthen the pelvic floor.
- Relax your body.
- Exhale using pursed lips (like blowing out a candle) and visualize your belly button touching your spine letting out all the air. (this will bring your pelvic floor back up to resting position.
Pelvic Floor Activation (PFA):
- Sit on the chair and inhale through your nose just like you would for 360 breathing, to help lengthen your pelvic floor.
- As you breathe OUT, you are going to pretend like you are sitting on a tissue and you want to engage all 4 points up (stop urine, gas and 2 sitz bones).
- It is important to understand that lengthening and pulling up your pelvic floor are both just as important.
Pelvic floor movement:
Breathwork is the best way to engage your pelvic floor but once you master that, you can add in PFA to movement. The best rule to remember is that you breathe IN going WITH gravity and you breathe OUT going AGAINST gravity. The best way to start movement with PFA is through bodyweight workouts on a mat, and then make your way up to strength training.
Pregnancy + pelvic floor:
During the 1st and 2nd trimester you can lengthen and engage your pelvic floor, but during 3rd trimester you ONLY want to lengthen your pelvic floor. Mind + body connection is so important and in the 3rd trimester you want to prep your body for birth. You give birth through lengthening your pelvic floor, so start prepping for the last 3 months of
I hope that you find this information helpful and that you can feel empowered by what is happening in your body during pregnancy and birth. If you have any questions please reach out to me. I also have my downloadable postpartum program available on my website, along with the link to join my online community to ask any questions!
Authored by: Katie Dickens @FitByKatieDickens