How Constructive Rest Can Ease Symptoms of Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Constructive Rest is the Unsung Hero of Pelvic Floor Care.
When managing symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse and Genitourinary Symptoms of Menopause (GSM), rest is sometimes the last thing you want to do because there is a real sense of urgency to sort out the problem and panic and fear that your body is somehow broken.
With widely advertised messaging about squeezing the pelvic floor muscles to resolve all issues associate with stress in menopause, it’s hard to trust that something like rest, which seems so ordinary is likely to be doing anything.
What is Constructive Rest?
The ultimate self care tool, Constructive Rest is a technique for self care taught in many different disciplines including Pilates, Alexander Technique, Mindfulness, Meditation and Yoga.
Stress and busyness has become the norm for many of us, and Constructive Rest practice helps remind the body of key pathways to accessing that deep, melting and restorative state that our nervous systems need to perform all the important functions in the background while we sleep and also going about our day.
If tension and bracing and tightening up is the familiar physical state for your body, practicing the skills of preparing for constructive rest is like holding your own hand and guiding you back to the path of feeling balanced, grounded and ready to respond to what life throws your way on a daily basis.
Why bother with Constructive Rest?
Learning these essential self care skills all play key roles in nervous system down regulation:
bolstering for passive release
body scanning
sensation tracking
orientating to your environment
witnessing your breath
Creating conditions for deep rest comes with many benefits.
Constructive Rest is not just lying down and waiting for relaxation to kick in. It’s a practice with a specific intention - to create conditions in the whole body and environment that signals to the nervous system to ‘turn the dial down’.
“I’ve never felt so much of the back of my body on the floor before.”
Constructive Rest Is More Than Just Lying Still
Ever been to a yoga or pilates class and when you’re asked to lie down with your legs out straight, but it’s agony in your lower back?
This is tension. It’s too soon and your body isn’t ready to lengthen out quite yet. That’s why preparing your body for the ultimate pancake flat experience takes time and careful, deliberate steps.
When we register safety and stability in our surroundings at the level of the body, the deeply ingrained patterns of bracing and holding can melt gradually at a pace that your body can handle. You can’t rush it. You need to guide your attention to specific elements to coax the body to soften.
“I haven’t had any prolapse symptoms since our first session.”
What is Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP)
Pelvic organ prolapse is when one or more of the organs in the pelvis slip down and bulge into the vagina. It causes pain, discomfort, and various symptoms, including heaviness in the lower belly, discomfort in the vagina, a sensation of something coming down, bulge/lump in the vagina, sex discomfort, and urinary problems (incomplete emptying, frequent urination, and stress incontinence).
You can control and lessen the symptoms of POP by making changes to your daily routine, doing suitable exercises, and learning about what makes the symptoms worse and what brings relief.
POP is worsened by intra-abdominal pressure and chronic tension patterns around the lower back, hips and pelvis. Scar tissue also plays a role in restricting flexibility in tissues of the lower abdomen, hips, lower back and pelvis.
While the Kegel exercise is recommended as an effective measure for managing symptoms of POP because it helps maintain proprioceptive awareness in the pelvic bowl, muscular contraction and release, to some degree, it is not that simple.
Knowing where you hold excess tension, how this impacts your intra-abdominal pressure, your posture patterns and physical habits all impact the ability of the pelvic floor system to support your breath, elimination and digestive health and more.
Receiving a diagnosis of POP can be very distressing. Panic searching for solutions online can also make you feel worse, worsening symptoms because of unconscious bracing in our deep muscular and fascial tissues in response to threat.
I realise it can sound really annoying to suggest that rest is the first port of call, but in the case of POP it is priority number 1.
Why Stress and Busyness Is A Problem for the Pelvic Floor
Working with many clients managing pelvic organ prolapse, there is a common theme of symptoms getting worse when life is hectic. More and more it feels like that hectic is the norm and slow and steady is something from the past.
It’s hard to include self care when you’re dealing with kids, transport logistics, work, working from home and all the stuff in between. As a mum, we can often be the last on the list and self care only really kicks in as a priority only when something goes wrong and you have no choice.
Constructive Rest Addresses Multiple Problems
You’ve heard the expression ‘kill several birds with one stone’. Well this is why I love Constructive Rest. It’s rest but with deliberate intentions.
we bolster in specific positions to use gravity to our advantage, applying loads to specific zones of tension to direct the release
passive release lengthens the deep tense holding places at a pace our body can cope with
we mobilise between positions to integrate the new found suppleness in the parts that are chronically stuck
there is no forcing and no pain: we use sensation tracking and breathing to work at a pace that is in sync with your body
you get a massage: the soft inflatable ball will become your favourite prop in the house, melting and squashing those dense, stressed parts of your body
this all happens on the ground using gravity as our friend, so all moves are low load and low impact
we create space for all your parts to coexist with every breath - the organs of the pelvis need space to expand and contract and that’s what we will create in each session - breathing space.
“I was so relaxed I fell asleep. ”
The perfect companion for transitioning into winter
The busyness associated with this time of year is totally out of sync with nature - wintering, hibernating, slowing down, turning inwards, reflecting. It can feel like life speeds up and we hinge so much on meeting the deadline of Christmas Day.
Daily demands can mean we are out of sync with the natural rhythms inside and around us.
December in the northern hemisphere is a classic example and a time when pelvic prolapse symptoms can flare up. Why? More time on your feet, less restorative sleep, Christmas madness, exacerbated symptoms and increased stress.
BLISS ON THE FLOOR: Online Constructive Rest Series
from 7th November 7.30pm Online
This is an online programme weekly for 5 weeks, designed to guide you towards stillness and deep rest. The beauty of it being online is that you can roll into bed at the end for a glorious restorative sleep, integrating all the deep release from each practice.
About Me
I am a certified pilates matwork and studio instructor, yoga teacher, restorative exercise specialist and somatic experiencing practitioner.
I have personally had a subtotal hysterectomy with and abdominal incision. As a result I am more prone statistically to POP.
Constructive Rest and all the positions and principles in this series are what I use for my own self care on a daily basis to maintain balance in tensions and scar tissue flexibility.