Pelvic Floor Trauma: it's a Mind-Body Thing

Your pelvic floor doesn't get enough credit for all the good it does. 

It spends all day working hard - holding you upright, forming the base of your core muscles, supporting your organs, keeping you continent, and even giving you pleasure during sex. And most of your life, it does all these things perfectly, without you stopping to think about it. 

But if you're one of the unlucky ones who has experienced physical trauma to your pelvic floor muscles - whether by a fall, car accident, surgery, pregnancy, or a complicated vaginal birth - then you'll know just how much your daily activities rely on a healthy, well-functioning pelvic floor. 

And of course, there is emotional trauma too - physical injury, abuse, and sexual assault leave much more than physical marks.

Your pelvic floor health is deeply entwined with how you feel and that's because your pelvic floor muscles have a unique role to play in our stress response. 

Our stress response, also known as fight or flight, is designed to keep us safe from dangers like encountering a tiger in the wild.

When the stress response is triggered by the amygdala in our brains, messages are sent to release stress hormones which have a number of effects on our bodies. We can be hyper alert, our heart beats faster and our lungs take in more oxygen, our blood vessels dilate and constrict sending more blood to big muscles we might need to run away and less blood to 'non essentials' like our digestive system, etc. 

One of these affects is the pelvic stress reflex response which causes our pelvic floor muscles to contract and tighten - presumably to stop us going to the toilet while we're running away from that tiger.

The problem is that in our daily lives, many of us are stuck in a state of stress response where these stress hormones are flying around our bodies constantly and we have trouble switching to a state of rest and digest.

This is especially true if you have suffered from any kind of trauma. Flash backs, panic attacks, sleep problems, and disassociation, are all common among trauma sufferers and can boost those stress hormones leaving you feeling shaky, upset, and exhausted at any time. 

If this is you, there are a number of things you can do to help your body heal from trauma and nourish your mental health. 

It's Not Your Fault

When you have suffered trauma, it's easy to blame yourself. Many people feel their bodies have let them down in some way and they 'should' be better able to cope, especially if the traumatic events happened a long time ago. 

Trauma and its after affects are never your fault - and it really doesn't help to play the blame game. 

Getting the help you need to heal your physical body and get yourself to a place of safety is often the first step in recovering from trauma.

Understanding what happened and how it is affecting you is part of processing the trauma and is best done in a safe space with the help of an accredited professional. If your trauma is sexual or related to your pelvic floor then a psycho sexual counsellor might be best placed to help you.

You'll find accredited professionals here.

Contact them before making an appointment to share details of what kind of support you're looking for so you can be sure you're working with someone you feel comfortable talking to. 

Pay Attention to the Basics

Things may be more difficult than usual for a while. That's ok. 

Tune in to your body and give it what it needs. 

Self care can be a huge challenge when you're dealing with trauma so do what you can to meet your basic needs.

Take care of your hydration, your food intake, your sleep hygiene, and try and get some gentle exercise - preferably outside (walking is fantastic).

Meeting your basic needs will give your body the resources it needs to heal and encourage your system to spend more time in rest and digest.

If this is too much for you right now, ask for help from friends and family. 

Sit with the Pain

Physical, sexual, and mental trauma can bring all sorts of difficult emotions with them. 

Dissociation is our body's way of avoiding these emotions but avoiding is really just storing them up for later. 

To process these emotions, it helps to name what you're feeling when you feel it.

Don't try to push it away. Just name it and acknowledge it by saying something like, 'I feel really sad right now' or make a note in your journal. 

When you have time and you feel safe, journal or meditate about what you're feeling: explore what the feeling is, where you feel it in your body, what effects it has on you, and why you might be feeling this way now. 

Don't forget to do this with the good feelings too.

This helps you let go of the difficult emotions and focus on the ones that make you feel good.

Breathing and Grounding

Your pelvic floor muscles are part of your breathing mechanism so tapping into your breathing can be a powerful way of encouraging these muscles to relax and flip you back into rest and digest. 

In yoga, the root shakra, situated in the pelvis, is all about grounding and stability so you can tap into this sense of being rooted to the ground by practising some simple belly breathing (seated or lying down) and focusing on the sensations of where your body touches the ground (or chair). 

Check out our YouTube tutorial here. 

Once you've mastered this technique, even 60 seconds of breathing this way can have a profound impact on how you feel.

Mindful Touch Therapy

Another powerful way to processing trauma is by using mindful touch. 

Your own hands can help your body release oxytocin - a bonding and feel good hormone. Allowing your body to feel held and supported, especially when you're the one doing the holding, can be very healing.

Find a comfortable place where you can lie down and you won't be disturbed. You can start by just resting your hands on the area you want to work on and asking yourself what do you feel.

Focus on the physical sensation - can you feel the weight of your hands? or the warmth? can you feel it if you gently move them?

Notice what sensations or emotions come up for you. Notice when you find things difficult or your mind wants to go elsewhere. Name the feeling and just sit with it. You might want to say it out loud or make a note and journal about it later on.

This exercise works best if you progress really slowly - the important thing is not what you do, but that you stay present with what you're doing. Notice if your mind starts to drift or dissociate with your touch. Go as slowly as you need to stay in the moment. Stop when you feel you've had enough for the day.

Start fully clothed and progress to skin to skin contact over a number of sessions. Explore different areas but keep the areas small for each session. Vary the kind of touch you use. 

You can eventually use this exercise to massage any scar tissue you may have (external and internal) and even explore pleasurable touch solo or with a partner. 

Any physical pain you encounter can be gently explored as long as you feel safe. Use lube if that helps and return to your belly breathing if things get tricky. And of course, stop whenever you feel you've had enough. You can always try again tomorrow. 

Whatever your experience of trauma, there is lots of help and support available. If you'd like to read more, check out this article on trauma by mental health charity, Mind.

If you'd like to explore how journaling and mindfulness can help with your mental health then join our FREE 5 day journaling workshop.