My curiosity about the pelvic floor and the relationship of mind, emotions, and body led me to read these three books. Well after endlessly researching online and using books to decipher, or should I say, self diagnose myself I came across, “Headache in the Pelvis” by David Wise, “Metaphysical Anatomy” by Evette Rose and “Foundations in Craniosacral Biodynamics” by Franklyn Sills. I have been reluctant to leave a review of these books up to now in fear of a relapse but now is the right time! In fact I don't normally leave book reviews, but I felt inclined to bolster the already huge number of reviews that commend these books and authors for their ability to heal. Ofcourse being mindful that each individual has a unique relationship to a unique anatomy and that the same medicine and methods does not cure everybody when we are dealing with illnesses and 'dis-eases.' Much of the time the only way you will know if something works is learning about it and then trying various methods to cure it. That’s exactly what I did. If, like me, you have had any pelvic floor related issues I'll conclude before I begin to say that everything is connected…

It all started when I had figured that I had some sort of muscle tension that was coming from my inner thighs. For years I didn't take much notice of it as I thought it was from my strenuous exercises and not stretching after thinking it would go away naturally. My work mainly involves sitting down at a screen and I started to get back pain so I decided to book a consultation with a private physiotherapist as my pain during lockdown became more prominent.

After having a brief chat with the physio she began to ask me to carry out exercises which started off with the Adams test and ended with me walking up and down the room. She noticed that my feet were not walking in a “normal” way but instead were rolling inwards also known as overpronation. She then told me that my pelvis was not tilted forward, or, in yoga parlance, *un-tucked*. Perhaps this was why I could never touch my toes when stretching. This was new to me as to the laymans eye my feet were walking in a straight line and my pelvis was aligned. 

After conducting the butterfly pose, and this time more focused on my breathing, she established that I had an involuntary contraction of muscles around my pelvis region. I was a bit disheartened since I initially came for my back pain but ofcourse glad that this was discovered.  The conversation digressed and she was asking me whether I had done a cervical smear test. I didn’t need one for obvious reasons but I had attended my appointment last year and didn’t want to book another since the doctor could not even use the speculum in the first place and I was given a cotton bud to insert which couldn't go in either. I intuitively knew that I didn't have cervical cancer or anything related to my menstrual cycle,why open a door which has always been locked? Funnily, I was prescribed some medication for anxiety and lidocaine which you guessed I was not going to take. 

My physio then recommended that I should seek a psychotherapist to talk about any issues related to any trauma. I had spent a vast amount of time and energy trying to resolve family unresolved conflict. I knew where she was going with this and I knew this wasn't going to be an overnight fix. I confided in telling her that I grew up in a strict household and her facial expressions gave me the impression that she heard similar stories like this before. I'm glad that she took this into account and was very all-encompassing.

I noticed that I was unconsciously clenching my jaw, my butt and I was holding my breath in, creating a kind of chronic strain. It was this that was creating problems around the pelvic region affecting my posture. I wanted to cry but I held it in just telling her that I a “bit emotional” when inside I could pour my heart out LOL. The simple reason for this is because our hips hold emotions. Our natural response to stress is to use our hips to take flight, fight or bend forward and raise our knees up into a fetal position to protect ourselves. When we unconsciously do this when the body is still growing it learns that this is the only way to survive.

These actions use the hips and when these muscles have been clenched tightly they shorten and the full tension is never fully released. It not only traps muscular tension, but also deep cognitive emotion felt at that time. 

So after my eye opening session I went home and researched everything that she had told me with my back pain still present. I noticed that when I was able to become conscious of what I was doing my tension eased away and so did all the symptoms. It seems pretty obvious and the tension did not ease straight away, in fact I was eager to try marijuana. I mean each to their own I am all for natural remedies in moderation but I am someone who has excessive dampness. Marijuana would exacerbate my dampness and would not necessarily ease the tension. How do you recognise the elements of dampness? You have sugar cravings, fogginess, heaviness and/or dulling of emotions. On the other hand, Cannabidiol (CBD) is a more balanced tool because you're not getting the high but more the anti inflammatory and pain relief so that the body can recover and replenish. (I will talk about dampness in another post) I have not tried CBD long enough to see whether I have reaped the benefits although the oil has helped during restless nights. I will post another story about how dampness plays a huge role in our bodies…

In a nutshell, when we unconciously suck air in there is stagnation and congestion in the body so the tissues receive less nutrients impacting the flow of the lymph nodes. When we have open tissues, emotionally, we can literally honour our emotions and invite blood in and the normal flow of the lymph nodes continues in restoring our nervous system. 

How is the pelvic region and your head linked?

I am still in the processs of digesting the “Foundations of Biodynamics and Cranial” book which is why this blog will be in parts. What I have learnt so far is that we have a midline which the falls right in the middle of our bodies, this is the central location of where all our forces goes around. The midline consists of the sacrum, sternern, sphenoid (the bone behind your eyes) and the temporal bones. Our body is aligned around this midline and it spirals. So when we walk, we are actually rotating so that we can move. Leonardo da Vinci was obsessed with spirals and the more recent Tom Myers, both understanding how everything is connected. Now where am I going with this? I stumbled across the “Left Anterior Interior Chain (AIC) pattern” which involves having the left side of your temporal bone more externally rotated and the temporal bone on your right more internally rotated. This will be reflected on the face as one will have a wider left side and a more compressed right side. This can cause asymmetries in the cranium but also distinct issues with the eyes and teeth. One eye may have a weaker vision than the other and there will be issues with teeth grinding or biting issues.

The temporal bones also work with the sphenoid, the same way as the pelvis because they both expand and contract. If you unconsciously restrict your breathing, that midline it gets thrown off creating all types of problems. It can get thrown off for all sorts of reasons from injuries, concussions or even if you had to be removed with forceps during labour.

When trying to work on getting to this neutral we have to exercise these muscles to align them back. However, every shift releases a memory which in turns releases your pelvic floor which can be emotional due to the memories it holds. It can even be recognised if your voice was ever taken away or being silenced.  It is not unusual for those to have pelvic pain/tension to also have endured a period of significant stressful time. Many manifestations of pelvic pain occur because of an atrophy of the muscles of the pelvic floor this then pinches the many nerves that it crosses, referring pain in all kinds of directions. The vagus nerve also plays a huge part in this and intersects the throat, heart, lungs the digestive system before terminating in the cervix.

The goal is to strengthen the pelvic floor area to loosen the cranium, it is only then the curing process can begin, when all tensions are reconciled around neutral or in more simpler terms when we are unconsciously relaxed.  …to be continued in part 2