Yoga for Inner Strength
Beginner II
Melissa begins with core activation, helping you understand and engage the pelvic floor, then teaches you how to incorporate it into a hatha yoga class. It's crucial for stabilizing, protecting and strengthening your lower back and ensuring that you are using your body in a safe, efficient and optimal way.
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Great core work and explanation.
This is such a lovely yoga session. I bookmarked it a while ago and always dig it out when I get the appetiote for it! Makes me feel good.
This practice was delicious, thank you!
I think this class may have been a long-term transformative one for me. I have long dealt with low back and sacroiliac pain, and as I concentrated deeply on implementing your excellent instructions, I felt an easing in each pose. Thank you so much for this, Melissa.
Great explanations, just wouldn't call this intermediate II. Thanks for the class.
It’s actually labeled Intermediate I.
Thanks, I changed it to Beginner II.
My first class on your site - and it was great. Corona captivity requires i get on the mat at least every other day (duh) and i can't always plug in to my local studio's schedule. Been wanting to find an excellent online source and very grateful for the free trial (#laidoff). Can you say a little more about prolapse? I've heard of it but not sure if it's a general or a specific term (eg bladder or uterus). Thanks again!
Hi! isn't this site amazing? I feel so grateful for it as well. I'm also #laidoff and doing lots of online yoga too.
Yes, re prolapses, to give you a really detailed answer I am straight up copying the page from my governments health page on HealthLink (https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/tv1000) I was referring to a vaginal prolapse but there are other kinds as well. It's a lot of information but hopefully that covers your question! If not feel free to reach out again.
What is pelvic organ prolapse?
Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when a pelvic organ—such as your bladder—drops (prolapses) from its normal place in your lower belly and pushes against the walls of your vagina. This can happen when the muscles that hold your pelvic organs in place get weak or stretched from childbirth or surgery.
Many women will have some kind of pelvic organ prolapse. It can be uncomfortable or painful. But it isn't usually a big health problem. It doesn't always get worse. And in some women, it can get better with time.
More than one pelvic organ can prolapse at the same time. Organs that can be involved when you have pelvic prolapse include the:
Bladder. This is the most common kind of pelvic organ prolapse.
Urethra.
Uterus.
Vagina.
Small bowel.
Rectum.
What causes pelvic organ prolapse?
Pelvic organ prolapse is most often linked to strain during childbirth. Normally your pelvic organs are kept in place by the muscles and tissues in your lower belly. During childbirth these muscles can get weak or stretched. If they don't recover, they can't support your pelvic organs.
Pelvic organ prolapse can be made worse by anything that puts pressure on your belly, such as:
Being very overweight (obesity).
A long-lasting cough.
Frequent constipation.
Pelvic organ tumours.
Older women are more likely to have pelvic organ prolapse. It also tends to run in families.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse include:
Feeling pressure from pelvic organs pressing against the vaginal wall. This is the most common symptom.
Feeling very full in your lower belly.
Feeling as if something is falling out of your vagina.
Feeling a pull or stretch in your groin area or pain in your lower back.
Releasing urine without meaning to (incontinence), or needing to urinate a lot.
Having pain in your vagina during sex.
Having problems with your bowels, such as constipation.
How is pelvic organ prolapse diagnosed?
Your doctor will ask questions about your symptoms and about any pregnancies or health problems. Your doctor will also do a physical examination, which will include a pelvic examination.
How is it treated?
Decisions about your treatment will be based on which pelvic organs have prolapsed and how bad your symptoms are.
If your symptoms are mild, you may be able to do things at home to help yourself feel better. You can relieve many of your symptoms by adopting new, healthy habits. Try special exercises (called Kegels) that make your pelvic muscles stronger. Reach and stay at a healthy weight. Avoid lifting heavy things that put stress on your pelvic muscles.
If you still have symptoms, your doctor may have you fitted with a device called a pessary to help with the pain and pressure of pelvic organ prolapse. It is a removable device that you put in your vagina. It helps hold the pelvic organs in place. But if you have a severe prolapse, you may have trouble keeping a pessary in place.
Surgery is another treatment option for serious symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse. But you may want to delay having surgery if you plan to have children. The strain of childbirth could cause your prolapse to come back.
You may want to consider surgery if:
You have a lot of pain because of the prolapsed organ.
You have a problem with your bladder and bowels.
The prolapse makes it hard for you to enjoy sex.
Types of surgery for pelvic organ prolapse include:
Surgery to repair the tissue that supports a prolapsed organ.
Surgery to repair the tissue around your vagina.
Surgery to close the opening of your vagina.
Surgery to remove the uterus (hysterectomy).
Pelvic organ prolapse can come back after surgery. Doing Kegel exercises to make your pelvic muscles stronger will help you recover faster from surgery. The two together can help you more than surgery alone.
Thank you very much, Melissa, for this informative and helpful class. Linking the core and pelvic floor to breadth is a key concept.
Just one important question: I understood in this class that the mechanics of breathing is inspire-abdominal and free // exhale-activate the core and pelvic floor . This worked OK for me, but I remember that in my Pilates class the teacher told me to do it the other way: inspiring with the ribs and "hollowing" the abdomen. I am a bit confused about that. Can you help me to understand it? Thank you and namaste!
Hi!
The reason I teach the relax on the inhale and engage on the exhale is because that is what is already happening in the body. It doesn't always feel natural for some students. I don't know the term 'hollowing' the abdomen but in my pilates classes the teacher uses different cues than I do but still exhales to engage.
Does that answer your question?
I loved this class. Learning more about engaging the core and the pelvic floor was very informative, as someone who is fairly new to yoga. I love the slower pace of the class, and it was also challenging in places. Perfect!
This class was so perfect. I've had trouble engaging my pelvic floor muscles since having an emergency cesarean birth 18 years ago! I will bookmark this class and return to it again and again, and I look forward to incorporating these skills into my practice. Thank you so much! Namaste.
Thank you Melissa I love this class and in fact all of your classes! The instruction is wonderful your tone politeness everything about your teaching. Many many thanks!!!
Excellent class as usual Melissa. Thanks so much. Very helpful info.
This was so helpful for me. You made it easy for me to understand just how to activate the core. I just was not doing it properly until this class. This can be overlooked and it is so important and it certainly made balancing a breeze for me. Melissa, thank you. I enjoy your calm, smoothe presentation. The music is beautiful too.
That was lovely, Melissa. It was a great way to be reminded of my pelvic floor.
I'm going to get my man to do this class with me - so he can 'get it' from the male perspective too. The men need to know for themselves!
What a nice gentle practice for a snowy Sunday afternoon. I loved it, feeling great!!
Thank you, look forward to incorporating this instruction mindfully into my daily practice and sharing it with my class.
Thank you so much for always taking the time to explain what we´re doing, and why is it important. I love Melissa's classes
This is very soothing and grounding. It's perfect for this Monday morning just before my 10 K walk. Bless you, Melissa, for your kind energy and wise instruction. :)
Like many women, I need that deep core connection to assist with pelvic stability, especially in asymmetrical poses. This gentle practice reminds me of how steady and balanced I am when my pelvic floor and transverse abdominals are engaged. Thank you, Melissa, for such skilled instruction and your calm, soothing voice.
Great class with a lot of explanations that helps understand how to find and engage the pelvic floor.
I am clearly a fan of Melissa's classes!
I've been really struggling with pelvic floor control since giving birth and I finally feel like I can activate it properly after this class!
Too much explaining and way to much downtime for the 17 day of a program! Hardly got my heart rate going and just did not get a workout. Please make the flow of the class faster so we are not spending so much time listening. Much rather be doing !
Thank you lovely and great reminder for the pelvic floor and abdominal.
Another exceptional class. You guys make it SO EASY to keep up with this challenge as the new and favorite classes offer so much for our bodies, minds, and souls. THANK YOU!
Terrific class, thank you!
Love the calm focus. Like the post above, I thought this would be very helpful postpartum. Not only to wake up those overworked muscles but to provide a positive and reflective place. Those little babies need so much care and love that it is easy to forget to care for yourself. Thank you Melissa for another lovely class.
Thank you. I can feel the heat generated from within. Very gentle but effective practice.
Thanks so much this class is great for my curved back as it focuses on pelvic muscles I love the calm of Melissa's voice and also the gentle challenge. This is one of my favourites
Peace and love
Thank you Melissa. I have been doing ashtanga since I began yoga and realising now I need to get back to the basics and get in touch with my body a bit more to heal. Without paying attention to the core, the very basics are missing. What a lovely start to the day and a fantastic place of beginners to start.
Enjoyed every minute of this class. The insturction was clear and easy to follow. It made all the difference for my yoga/pilates practice. Whenever I need to slow down and figure out how to do something, I find one of Melissa's videos. She is an amazing teacher!
Thank you Melissa for a clear, wonderful class.
Thank you Melissa for this amazing class. I just gave birth not so long ago and this was exactly what I needed to reengage my pelvic floor. I'm wondering if it could be tagged as a postnatal video as it was ideal for me to do now. Once again, thank you!
Thank you for the slow and nice core strength class!
Once again, your class is exactly what I need.
You have been with me nearly daily for almost a year of practice. You have given me the gift of yoga. The kindness and clarity of your instruction serves me over and over again.
I used to hate my body. I used to believe my body wasn't here to support me - even that it was against me.
Every day on the mat, I get to heal from these crazy beliefs.
With deep gratitude,
Namaste,
Andrea
I really appreciate this practice. Melissa, your descriptions of these inner connections is so helpful and shows a true skill. I practice all the time (intermediate/advanced), and your words allowed me to connect many sensations together - that is, to truly understand better what is going on in these different postures and how to interpret the subtle signals inside my own body, how to engage my muscles and when to expect it to feel different or more challenging. When I used to think of engaging the pelvic floor, I would just clench, but now I feel I have a broader understanding of the larger system and how the muscles support each other. It was like you gave me a map and suddenly many things made sense. I will carry this practice with me into my future practices and I thank you for it.
I would love it if you made a class that did the same thing for shoulders and especially shoulder blade awareness and alignment in different postures. Chaturanga leaps to mind of course, but alignment and support from the shoulder blades in something like warrior two has many aspects that I have long ignored. I have been working with subtle alignments of the shoulder blades lately (with many of the great classes on this site - thanks to everyone involved!), and having your talent for description guiding me would be really helpful!
Just what my low back needed. Thank you so much. :)
I learn from every practice, but I feel the some of the best connections through Melissa Krieger's! She has a way of inspiring focus and deliberateness, and it is easier to carry her instructions into other practices. I came to yoga because of inflexibility and fearfulness of injuring my lower back; this practice further helps me strengthen those core muscles that keep my back safer. The added benefit of learning to come back to the breath is terrific, too. Many Thanks!
Yet another lovely Melissa class. Great for beginners, and good for an intermediate person like me to remember how to properly engage my inner muscles. (And if you're anything like me in terms of ankle weakness, there are a couple of great squats in there to help work on ankle strength while being reminded to support yourself with your inner muscles.)