Welcome to my first video blog! This post was inspired by my previous blog posted in February 2017 about the sexual abuse cases involving Dr. Larry Nassar and and what is now known to be over a 150 young female athletes. In light of the recent sentencing of Nassar I have been contacted by multiple organizations and individuals asking me for clarification about what pelvic floor PT actually is. After responding to several of these inquiries it dawned on me that this information will be useful for me to share in a broader format for a wider audience... so here’s my response discussing the standards of care in PT and what a pelvic floor PT visit should look at and entail.

"What the heck is my "root" and why exactly might I want to retreat to it?" is a pretty common question I've been asked as I've shared about my offerings to my patients, my family, my friends, and random strangers at the coffee shop.  

When I named "Retreat to Your Root (RTR): A Yoga for Pelvic Health Retreat" I felt it important that the title spoke to what the experience itself would entail (the retreat) and the multiple levels of healing that could take place (in the root).  I chose the word "root" for it's complex and multifaceted nature and it's ability to describe all at once the physical, energetic, and emotional components we would touch on.

For those of you who haven’t heard, Dustienne Miller of Your Pace Yoga and I have officially opened sign-ups for our spring and fall retreats: Retreat to Your Root: An Immersion into Pelvic Health.   

As I start talking to more and more people about the retreat I’ve found myself sharing fun retreat stories as a way to convey the mood and the experience of what Retreat to Your Root actually is. Through these conversations I’ve realized that people like to know what they’re getting into so I decided to do a series of interviews from my lovely 2016 retreaters. Today's blog features Jennie's experience which she has graciously offered to share as a glimpse into the retreat experience. 

As a former high level gymnast I was saddened to see the news this week that 3 women who at one time held places on the US National Gymnastics Team have come forward with reports of being sexually abused a national coach using internal “treatment”.  For those of you who missed it, there was a ‘60 Minutes’ featuring an interview with three former gymnasts, Jamie Dantzscher, Jessica Howard and Jeanette Antolin, who have now publicly accused their former doctor, Dr. Lawrence Nassar, of repeated instances of sexual abuse.  The full report can be found on the CBS website.

This news was upsetting to me in many ways.  

In light of the intense stress and fear in these unprecedented time I think it’s important to draw a connection between the physical and energetic bodies. Anatomically the pelvic floor is a group of muscles that sits at the base of your body lining the bowl of your pelvis. Energetically the pelvic floor sits in and surrounds the first (root) chakra of the energetic body. To boil it down really briefly the root chakra represents our basic instinctual survival needs. It deals with things like safety, boundaries, security, our ancestors and family, how supported we feel.

Ok, nobody's vagina NEEDS to go on retreat...but then again, nobody really needs to travel to the world to find themselves or do 100 vinyasas a day to find enlightenment, either. We practice because we know and value the benefits it brings to our daily life. Well, as a CYT and Doctor of Physical Therapy (PT) with a specialty practice in pelvic health I have found that together, yoga and PT can heal and radically improve the lives of patients and yogis alike...and I can tell you with professional certainty that your vagina is an important part of the Mind-Body-Spirit equation.

It’s always nice to attend a continuing education course that involves savanasa (or “lying on the floor resting pose” for you non-yogis).  It’s even nicer to be part of a pelvic floor continuing education course which doesn’t involve everyone disrobing from the waist down and practicing on each other.  For you pelvic floor therapists out there, I know you know what I mean.  For the rest of you, let’s just say our education is experiential!   I have to say that it’s refreshing to trade the usual lube and gloves routine for yoga mats and practice breathing!