PhysioYoga and the Pelvic Floor

Overview 

The intention of this course is to offer a theoretical and experiential integration of accessible yoga practices and principles with evidence-informed techniques to enhance overall pelvic floor health and wellness. For both men and women, our pelvic floor plays a role in many aspects of our existence that contribute to a healthy life, including breathing, bowel and bladder function, sexual function, hip and spinal health, core strategies, and more.

Yoga is one of the most popular complementary health practices and is increasingly becoming more recognized and valued by health organizations globally. It is being introduced into college programs and professional continuing education courses, as growing research suggests that therapeutic yoga can be used as an effective and safe form of complementary therapy for numerous dysfunctions, including a variety of pelvic floor dysfunctions.

As such, this course also serves as an introduction to the use of yoga therapy as a complementary approach to the management of people suffering from various pelvic floor dysfunctions.

This online physiotherapy course outlines evidence surrounding biopsychosocial factors that influence pelvic floor function and explores why and how yoga can serve as a valuable adjunct to pelvic wellness and rehabilitation.

Be prepared to participate and enjoy empowering, informative, and inspiring gentle yoga practices and a variety of techniques that you can use with your patients or students.

This includes:

• pelvic floor awareness practices
• visualization/imagery
• mindfulness meditation practices
• breathing practices in a variety of yoga postures to help promote pelvic floor relaxation
• mindful movements and yoga postures coordinated with varying breath cycles to help facilitate engagement and excursion of the pelvic floor musculature
• examples of use of language and principles to enhance more effective cueing.

The techniques offered are intended for immediate use in a physiotherapy clinic or yoga studio setting.

In addition to learning, you get to enjoy the added benefit of some well-deserved self-care as you participate in pelvic floor focused PhysioYoga practices. Experience what it feels like to nourish all aspects of your being, using a biopsychosocial model of health.

Whether you are a pelvic floor physiotherapist looking to expand your current approach or a brand-new practitioner wanting to learn more about the pelvic floor, this course is meant to help support you on your path to learning more about how yoga can address pelvic floor health in an evidence-informed manner.

Short Video Introduction

Learning Objectives 

At the conclusion of Section 1, Anatomy, the student will:

1. Understand the anatomy of pelvic floor muscles and the relevance to clinical practice..

2. List the landmarks of the bony pelvis.

At the conclusion of Section 2, Pelvic Diaphragm Roles, the student will:

3. List 11 roles the pelvic floor plays in overall health and wellness.

4. Describe the behaviour and movement of a healthy pelvic floor.

At the conclusion of Section 3, Chakras, the student will:

5. Describe a chakra system commonly used in yoga and how it may relate to pelvic floor health.

At the conclusion of Section 4, Pelvic Floor Function and Performance Factors, the student will:

6. List and describe the biopsychosocial factors that can influence pelvic floor function and performance.

7. Understand the relationship between mental health and pelvic floor function.

8. Explain the evidence surrounding the position of the pelvis to pelvic floor muscle force production.

9. Describe the relationship between breathing, intra-abdominal pressure and the pelvic floor and how it contributes to pelvic floor function and performance.

At the conclusion of Section 5, Kegels and Mula Bandha, the student will:

10. Understand perspectives on the debate of the effectiveness of teaching or cueing isolated Kegel exercises, using an evidence-informed approach.

11. Define Mula bandha (‘root lock’) in yoga.

12. Understand Mula bandha and its traditional intentions.

13. Compare and contrast pelvic floor muscle contraction to Mula bandha.

At the conclusion of Section 6, Over-Recruited Pelvic Floor Muscles: Why? So What?, the student will:

14. List and explain the factors that may contribute to a non-relaxing pelvic floor.

15. Identify the health issues that may arise from over-recruitment of pelvic floor musculature.

At the conclusion of Section 7, Yoga, the student will:

16. Describe Yoga.

17. List 4 different paths of yoga.

18. Understand the 8-limbed path of Raja Yoga, and how each limb supports and contributes to a biopsychosocial-spiritual approach to pelvic floor health and rehabilitation.

19. Understand the current research surrounding yoga and pelvic health and the gaps in research.

At the conclusion of Section 8, Pancha Maya Kosha Model, the student will:

20. Define and understand the yogic Pancha Maya kosha model of health as it relates to pelvic rehabilitation.

21. Compare and contrast the yogic Pancha Maya kosha model of health to modern health care’s biopsychosocial approach to rehabilitation, health and wellness.

At the conclusion of Section 9, Pelvic Health Issues, the student will:

22. List 4 categories of pelvic floor dysfunctions.

23. Understand the scope of practice as it relates to addressing pelvic floor health for those practitioners who do not perform internal pelvic floor exams or treatment and when to refer to a physiotherapist who specializes in pelvic floor health.

24. Explain evidence-informed treatment strategies, including yoga principles and practices, for patients with various bowel and bladder issues, using a biopsychosocial approach.

25. Explain evidence-informed treatment strategies, including yoga principles and practices, for patients with pelvic organ prolapse, using a biopsychosocial approach.

26. Explain evidence-informed treatment strategies, including yoga principles and practices, for patients with pelvic floor related sexual health issues, using a biopsychosocial approach.

27. Explain evidence-informed treatment strategies, including yoga principles and practices, for patients with a variety of pelvic pain conditions, using a biopsychosocial approach.

At the conclusion of Section 10, Case Studies, the student will:

28. Understand and appraise the four Case Studies presented, addressing application and translation of knowledge in all four categories of pelvic floor dysfunctions.

At the conclusion of the following Sections 11-17 (the experiential component of the course), the student will:

29. Apply numerous techniques learned in the theoretical portion of the course by participation in guided practices that include components as described below in each section.

30. Understand specific language and cues to use when implementing and delivering these techniques to patients, in order to support evidence-informed clinical practice.

At the conclusion of Section 11, Awareness Practice: Kosha Scan, the student will:

31. Demonstrate an evidence-informed interoceptive awareness technique based on the yogic Pancha Maya Kosha model of health.

At the conclusion of Section 12, Awareness Practice: Tactile & Visual Feedback of Perineum, the student will:

32. Demonstrate a variety of techniques to enhance pelvic floor awareness.

At the conclusion of Section 13, Awareness Practice: Pelvic Diaphragmatic Breath Visualization, the student will:

33. Demonstrate techniques to heighten pelvic floor awareness and enhance the relationship between the pelvic floor and respiratory diaphragm.

At the conclusion of Section 14, Pelvic Floor Relaxation Practices, the student will:

34. Demonstrate techniques to enhance pelvic floor relaxation and the resting excursion of the pelvic floor.

At the conclusion of Section 15, Facilitation of Pelvic Floor Engagement & Excursion with Breath + Movement, the student will:

35. Demonstrate evidence-informed activities that can facilitate pelvic floor muscle activation in coordination with various breathing sequences, visualization, awareness practices, yoga postures and sequencing, and a variety of selected mindful movements.

At the conclusion of Section 16, Standing Balance Practices, the student will:

36. Demonstrate activities to challenge and enhance balance to provide additional evidence-informed treatment options for a variety of pelvic floor dysfunctions.

At the conclusion of Section 17, Additional Mindfulness Meditation Practices, the student will:

37. Demonstrate a variety of meditation and mindfulness practices that address factors that can influence pelvic pain and pelvic floor function such as focus, concentration, awareness, relaxation, and self-regulation skills.

Audience

Rehabilitation professionals including physiotherapists, physiotherapy assistants, occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, athletic therapists, exercise therapists, kinesiologists among others. This PhysioYoga course by Shelly Prosko is also for movement specialists, yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and those interested in learning more about yoga and pelvic floor health and wellness. 

This course is an IAYT Approved Professional Development (APD) Course:

C-IAYT Yoga Therapists are awarded 16 CEUs upon completion of the course.

What’s Included In This Online Healthcare Course?

• More than 13 hours of video lessons.
• A 41-page workbook, which you can download and follow along throughout the course.
• Bite-sized information: all of the content is broken down into bite-sized chunks, so that you can easily watch a video on your break, over lunch, or for a few minutes at night.
• Access to an exclusive private forum with Shelly. Ask Shelly and other course participants your questions.
• A PowerPoint lecture, videos, and audios of yoga practices and patient exercises that can be shared with patients via Embodia.
• Lifetime access. You can return to this course at any time. If any material is updated or added, you will have access to the new content.
• Certificate of completion. Once you've completed the course, you will receive a certificate for your professional portfolio.
• Access to this course is through Embodia, and although some of the content, such as the workbook can be downloaded, the majority cannot. This is to protect the instructor’s material and to prevent the content from being shared freely on the Internet.
• Embodia is mobile-friendly and can be accessed by phone, tablet, and computer.
• There is no start date or completion date. You can complete the course at your own pace.
• Quizzes throughout to help you integrate the knowledge.
• You will be sent a receipt as soon as you purchase this course. This receipt can be used for education grants and for tax purposes.
• A Special Coupon for 15% off any other online course on Embodia Academy when you’ve completed this course!

Please note:

• This course is not intended to act as medical advice. Please seek guidance and treatment from your health professional in your area for any unmanaged conditions.
• None of the course instructor’s paid products or services are mentioned or promoted in this course. The instructor receives profit from any sales from some of the paid resources included in the workbook reference section.