These top Self-Care Practices for Women will Reduce Stress and improve Pelvic Health [from a Yoga Therapist]
“Stress can have a significant impact on the health of your pelvic floor”
( — full-spectrum Doula Natasha Weiss. Medically fact-checked by Obstetrician/Gynaecologist Dr. Shree Datta)
Stress, we all get it, but did you know that it affects pelvic health?
Stress and pelvic health, really?
Yes! Stress has an impact on period health, fertility, peri-menopause, and more. If you’re someone who’s looking to improve libido, period health, fertility or manage a womb illness, I recommend starting with reducing your stress. [Tap here to get my free self-care practices to reduce stress].
I used to experience stress but I had no clue how to self-regulate and I didn’t understand that it was affecting my libido and period health.
When I discovered this link, I committed to the holistic self-care practices that helped me self-regulate my nervous system.
What’s great is that these practices are not time consuming. I started to take a few minutes each day for meditation and breathwork. I started to pause during stressful moments to sit with my body and notice my breathing. I began to practice more self-compassion and kindness.
Although these were small new self-care habits, the changes to my stress and womb health were profound.
I want all women to get empowered with their self-care, because these practices are easy enough to do from home and they’re not time consuming.
I’ve put together three easy holistic self-care practices that will help you maintain optimal womb health, decrease stress, avoid burnout, reduce anxiety, and depression. Please enjoy these practices often when life feels stressful or as a preventative practice. [Tap here to get my free self-care practices].
A stressed body cannot optimally support the feminine experiences including menstruation and libido.
Maintaining inner peace can be tough when life gets chaotic, busy, or stressful. But, how you nurture your body amid stress is vital.
With my self-care practices, you get three easy yoga/tantra inspired practices that help you feel more calm and grounded despite stress.
If you’re serious about improving your womb health - whether it be for your period or libido or a pelvic illness - start with reducing stress.
What About The Links Between Stress and Period Health?
Increased stress and a lack of sleep changes your cortisol levels (that’s the stress hormone). This affects how your pituitary gland works. Your pituitary gland regulates your hormones. Results can include: irregular or late periods, and heavier or more painful periods. (Dr. Antonio Pizarro | Self Magazine)
Stress could lead to worse PMS symptoms. Stress may actually alter ovarian hormones. (Journal of Women's Health study in 2010)
Bottom Line:
If you’re serious about finding more balance in your body and womb, start with reducing stress. Even if you’re someone who's not experiencing lots of stress, a daily practice to calm your body is beneficial to everyone.
What I discovered upon starting my daily self-care practices, is that my body was more stressed than I realized. It takes a body-awareness practice to really notice the emotional and physical tensions the body is holding.
Next Steps:
If you’re ready to manage your stress and improve your womb health, I’ve got a free guide for you to explore: Reduce Stress and Protect Pelvic Health.
What’s Inside The Free Guide?
Gentle Seated Womb Yoga: This practice will help you feel grounded and peaceful during stressful times.
What is Womb Yoga:
Most yoga studios will offer a very general style of yoga typically designed for the male body. Often there’s no reference to the feminine experiences (including menstruation and menopause) or reproductive organs (including uterus, pelvic muscles). An optimal yoga practice for the feminine body must nurture the rhythmic changes of the feminine body along with practices that foster a connection to the sacred parts on the feminine body.In a womb yoga practice, poses might include womb meditations, pelvic opening and strengthening poses, and breathing techniques to connect to your pelvic muscles.
Guided Womb Yoga Nidra Meditation: This practice helps you with womb and pelvic health connection, rest, and deep relaxation. This guided nidra meditation (Womb Yoga Nidra) will invite you to explore parts of your womb (including uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes). You do not need to have the physical body parts to enjoy this practice, the imagined energetic spaces are equally as powerful.
What is Womb Yoga Nidra?
Yoga Nidra is considered a gentle form of hypnotherapy. Think of it as a reclined guided meditation (but stronger!). Imagine yourself with cozy pillows and blankets as you’re guided to relax and send loving awareness throughout your body. It’s divine! Exploring your internal landscape - in this manner - gives you a chance to listen to the gentle calls of your body… before those calls get loud. Womb Yoga Nidra is a variation of Yoga Nidra which also focuses on your womb space (vagina, vulva, and more), breasts, and feminine energy.Positive Affirmation Exercise: The affirmation journal practice helps you find emotional balance and clarity. Our thoughts create our reality and affirmations are a part of you feeling your most balanced and peaceful. (I repeat mine out loud every day all day!).
Why are Affirmations Important:
Affirmations work best when they are repeated often. There’s actually lots of positive research behind them too.“Positive affirmations require regular practice if you want to make lasting, long-term changes to the ways that you think and feel. The good news is that the practice and popularity of positive affirmations are based on widely accepted and well-established psychological theory.”
“One of the key psychological theories behind positive affirmations is self-affirmation theory (Steele, 1988). So, yes, there are empirical studies based on the idea that we can maintain our sense of self-integrity by telling ourselves (or affirming) what we believe in positive ways. ( — Catherine Moore, BSc in Psychology | University of Melbourne)
Tap here to get all of the above self-care practices!
Sending you big womb blessings!
Joss | Yoga Therapist C-IAYT
Joss Frank
Hi! I’m Joss Frank, founder of Wild Womb. I understand how womb and body healing ignites when you look within for guidance because I self-healed from my painful periods, depression, anxiety, sexual assault, emotional and physical abuse… after years of failed efforts to feel better about myself. My failed efforts led to a revelation that true healing comes from within and it requires loving community.
Today, as a Yoga Therapist in my practicum, I help people with womb and body healing so they can reclaim their feminine power, LOVE their sacred feminine bodies, and feel more confident.
Share this Article:
Before You Go! What If You Reconnected to the Power of Your Feminine Body?
Introducing the course: Ignite Your Feminine Power. It’s ten transformational audio lessons that gently guide you to IGNITE your feminine energy and confidence.... And it’s all broken down into a step-by-step self-paced journey, so you can dive in and start womb healing and feeling more freedom in your body IMMEDIATELY.