I Just Peed My Pants
OK, I don’t pee my pants anymore. I used to pee my pants (just a little) when I “walked like a lady” (legs close together). Below is a photo of me on a hike. BTW, real ladies wear skirts when they hike (just kidding), however it is easier to pee in the woods with a skirt on. If you do it right, squatting and peeing with a skirt on can look like you are harvesting cottonwood buds. The problem is, it’s not lady like to pee while walking. No, I’ve never given birth, so I can’t blame it on that. Many women experience incontinence who have never given birth. And incontinence is not a natural result of having a normal vaginal delivery, it’s a sign that you have a weak pelvic floor because you’re not aligned and you probably weren’t aligned before you got pregnant. If you see someone walking around with their legs close together, you can bet they have weak lateral hips and a weak pelvic floor.
When you have strong lateral hip musculature the pelvis and femurs are in a better position for supporting the uterus via the uterine ligaments. Read more here.
Drop a plum line from your ASIS, it should fall mid-point through the knee and ankle when your legs are properly aligned.
When I started walking with my feet the correct distance apart I no longer had a problem with leakage. Walking with my feet pelvis width apart helped me get my femurs out of internal rotation. I should add that I had already worked on neutral pelvis and posterior push off to build a strong foundation. So, my pelvic floor health was a combination of alignment tweaks, not just one thing. That’s how the body works!
You should build up your lateral hip strength before pushing your body into doing something it’s not used to doing. This is what I did to improve my pelvic floor function: pelvic lists and monster walks and I worked on getting my femurs out of internal rotation. I also do all the exercises in the “Down There”, For Women DVD. And of course, foot position is a great place to start.
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5 Responses to “I Just Peed My Pants”
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I'm a Restorative Exercise™ Specialist, and certified practitioner and educator of Maya and Chinese abdominal therapy. I combine ancient healing techniques with the science of biomechanics. -Barbara Loomis (A.K.A. the Alignment Monkey), owner of Nurturance, LLC (license #6509)
Thanks Barbara.
I’ve done the plumb line from the side, and try to put my feet “hip width apart” when I line everything up, but it never even occurred to put these two together. D’oh!
Thank you for all the wonderful information you provide! i wish I had found your site before I got pregnant, but am really glad I have it as a resource now.
I have the “Down there” DVD now and do the exercises you post!
BTW what kind of shoes are you wearing. They are really lovely?
Thanks!
Thanks so much Jenny! I’m wearing Jambu barefoot shoes.
Like the post, like the shoes. Thanks!
Thanks for this info Barbara, I have just started looking at the first 2 hours of Katy’s webinar. As a pilates person, I already know about hip width apart legs but this gives me a way of measuring the optimum distance which
is why I first looked at Kay’s info anyway! YAY!
ie: to get a more biomechanical understanding of where we are supposed to be.
Thanks Alignment Monkey.