Grand Rounds (week 9): Women's Pelvic Health
Awaken the mother mind within every one of you human beings... We must feel what is going on in the world. It is said by the Zulu people that women think with their pelvic area, where children grow and are born...we must think that way. We must awaken the mother mind in us.
--Credo Mutwa
DR TAMI KENT
Dr Kent is women's PT (master's of science, physical in orientation, women's health specialty)
advanced bodywork training (MAM), infant body psychotherapy, mother, wild feminine
wrote book: Wild Feminine, Finding power Spirit and Joy in the Female Body, for lay women
took her 7 years to write, learning to read the energy of the pelvic bowl as way of healing whole person
book is result of her seeing 1000 pts and seeing patterns with physical and energetic patterns
first job @ providence, women over 60 with incontinence, wanted to treat it sooner
mother of 3 boys
teaches women how to restore feminine energy in their bodies
balance lives vs masculine pattern of workhorse
for home tenders
Physical and Energetic Medicine:
The Missing and Essential
Ingredients for Women's Pelvic Health
Tami Lynn Kent, MSPT
Portland, OR
APPLICATIONS
of her work
(very much in demand; her practice was full in 3mo without advertising)
basic healthcare
address pelvic sx
fertility/pregnancy prep
postpartum/difficult birth
(esp postpartum work very much needed, stretch weaknesses common)
miscarriage and birth loss
(huge process untreated conventionally)
post-cancer and traumas
(many cancer tx disrupt fascia, cause pain syndromes)
sexual health, libido and orgasm
DEFINITIONS
power = capacity to be present
spirit = breath, courage, the soul, life (link between heaven and earth)
joy = calling that spirit in
THE FEMALE PELVIS
pelvic bowl/root of female body
houses the motherplace, cultivation of creation
womb, ovaries, vagina, pelvic floor
powerful energy in and outflow
abundance of resources
root chakra: safety, security, belonging
HER ILLUS
Pelvic bowl as creative center, sacred place in the female body from giving form to spirit
diagram of concentric circles
outer to inner:
Spiritual realm (spirit), ancestor and spirit energies, touch from spirit that expands our creative and healing capacity
Energetic realm (mind/organ), organ energies, mental and emotional patterns, patterns that influence what and how we create
Physical realm (body) physical patterns, embodied forms, pelvic bowl, creations, roles, habits of daily living, other expressions of our lives
SIGNS of balance in the pelvic bowl
abundance of creative energy
clarity/energetic boundaries
create sustainable manner
follow creative shythm/flow
balance of inner/outer
SIGNS of Imbalance
general disconnect
past wounds, trauma, shame, STDs, rape, abuse
tension, core stress
post-partum body needs
unaddressed imbalances: diminshed core energy, blood flow, vitality, creative potential
"we are holding a lot of tension in the root"
TOOLS
physical & energetic tools
assess and restore balance
does pelvic massage in clinic, encourages self-massage, balancing of the bowl, internal vaginal massage
breathwork
inner vision
sensory awareness
holistic care for women
address body patterns
restore energetic presence
resolve trauma responses
realign mind/body/spirit
root as resource for life
she thinks ovarian cysts are dt stagnation
PELVIC MASSAGE
challenges dt women having bad experiences with paps, also abuse and rape
ask her to breathe toward hand, remain aware
woman supine, draped, no stirrups
one finger inserted, finds trigger points, one hand external, moves bowl, mb on pubic symphysis
myofascial release, like cranial sacral work
"making love is a great massage"
"we sit too much"
men have stagnation too, thinks prostate cancer is result
ASSESSMENT
takes hx and cc
muscular tone and engagement
pelvic map (trigger points, tone imbalances, skin changes)
structural integrity (cystocele, rectocele, etc)
energetic quality (chakras, birth door, death door)
PELVIC FLOOR ASSESSMENT
many practitioners don't assess pelvic floor very well
bowl is like hammock
things move down and out if it's lax, prolapse
when doing pelvic exam and asking woman to squeeze on finger
how much motion is there? should pull in and up, just a distal squeeze is not strength, it's tension
she grades it 0-5, 5 is strong sucking pull, most women are in the 3 range
kegels don't do anything without balancing, might reinforce imbalance
she checks musculoskeletal engagement, finds imbalances
needs bodywork
she doesn't work on women while preg
likes to "leave the nest alone"
CONTINENCE
depends on angle between bladder and urethra
problems usudt imbalance
engagement of floor also imp
CYSTOCELE
is bladder prolapse toward vagina
bladder and rectal prolapse more common than uterus
mc post partum dt baby's head pushing anterior and stretching it
no need to "just live with it until you get surgery": do physical medicine
"very healable"
RECTOCELE
less common but still occurs postpartum
difficulty with BM's? have to push?
makes it worse
**pt can insert thumb in vagina and push to posterior during BM
she recommends it, most are willing if they have this problem
MAYAN MASSAGE
arvegotherapy.com
uterine component
best thing for uterine prolapse
women need to rest postpartum instead of straining stretched ligaments
C-SECTION
illus: woman's spine & pelvic outlet, yarn cords representing energy connection to fetus-->infant
some traumatic, others relieved, some robbed of childbirth experience
woman who had c-section was still at the birth door: things didn't finish, still felt open
had hemorrhoids and couldn't touch scar
disrupted birth interrupts natural circ and chi flow, baby is out, chi is still in woman
if unresolved mom may not attach initially, or around child age 3 problems arise
cc: "something just doesn't feel right", or decr attachment: "I'm not sure the baby is mine"
discord of birth imprinted in abdomen
tx: orientation and reflection
tx: vaginal and rectal trigger point release, releasing grief, anger
tx: MFR = myofascial release, Ceasarian scar mobs
tx: breathwork to restore pelvic connection, birth energy flow
she serves as energetic midwife: (writing a book about it)
goal: find birth thread, clear other energies, connect thread to child
1) come to your center
2) see your daughter as she is now "see them the age they are now"
3) go back to the last place you felt connected to her (usu in womb)
"go back to the point where you still felt engaged and connected in the birth process"
"go back to where you lost the birth thread"
"hold the sensation of them in your womb"
4) breathe that energy out to her
"clear the birth field" (clear that hospital energy, give that doctor's energy back to them)
babies need to feed less at night when energy flow is connected to mother
INFERTILITY IN ABUSE CASE
case: 38yo with intensive and longterm sexual abuse by artist father
abuse ended when he committed suicide, she was 5
she knew she had "vacated her body", pelvic disconnect, sexually inhibited, grief about infertility
had an assortment of L sided issues, assoc c father energy?
tx: encouragement to assume ownership of body, energy, root, inhabit this body, NOW
LINEAGE
illus: nesting wooden cups
maternal grandmother's pelvis contained egg that became you
carried mother's womb
unspoken family rules
energy reservoirs
trauma history (blocked energy)
DAILY ENERGY WORK
blessings as alignings of energy
affirmations: positive statements: may I be in my power, etc
gratitudes
MEDITATION
she recommends a practice, says there are many in her book Wild Feminine
calls your energy to you
you can regain your own energy regardless of birth experience or connection to parents
--Credo Mutwa
DR TAMI KENT
Dr Kent is women's PT (master's of science, physical in orientation, women's health specialty)
advanced bodywork training (MAM), infant body psychotherapy, mother, wild feminine
wrote book: Wild Feminine, Finding power Spirit and Joy in the Female Body, for lay women
took her 7 years to write, learning to read the energy of the pelvic bowl as way of healing whole person
book is result of her seeing 1000 pts and seeing patterns with physical and energetic patterns
first job @ providence, women over 60 with incontinence, wanted to treat it sooner
mother of 3 boys
teaches women how to restore feminine energy in their bodies
balance lives vs masculine pattern of workhorse
for home tenders
Physical and Energetic Medicine:
The Missing and Essential
Ingredients for Women's Pelvic Health
Tami Lynn Kent, MSPT
Portland, OR
APPLICATIONS
of her work
(very much in demand; her practice was full in 3mo without advertising)
basic healthcare
address pelvic sx
fertility/pregnancy prep
postpartum/difficult birth
(esp postpartum work very much needed, stretch weaknesses common)
miscarriage and birth loss
(huge process untreated conventionally)
post-cancer and traumas
(many cancer tx disrupt fascia, cause pain syndromes)
sexual health, libido and orgasm
DEFINITIONS
power = capacity to be present
spirit = breath, courage, the soul, life (link between heaven and earth)
joy = calling that spirit in
THE FEMALE PELVIS
pelvic bowl/root of female body
houses the motherplace, cultivation of creation
womb, ovaries, vagina, pelvic floor
powerful energy in and outflow
abundance of resources
root chakra: safety, security, belonging
HER ILLUS
Pelvic bowl as creative center, sacred place in the female body from giving form to spirit
diagram of concentric circles
outer to inner:
Spiritual realm (spirit), ancestor and spirit energies, touch from spirit that expands our creative and healing capacity
Energetic realm (mind/organ), organ energies, mental and emotional patterns, patterns that influence what and how we create
Physical realm (body) physical patterns, embodied forms, pelvic bowl, creations, roles, habits of daily living, other expressions of our lives
SIGNS of balance in the pelvic bowl
abundance of creative energy
clarity/energetic boundaries
create sustainable manner
follow creative shythm/flow
balance of inner/outer
SIGNS of Imbalance
general disconnect
past wounds, trauma, shame, STDs, rape, abuse
tension, core stress
post-partum body needs
unaddressed imbalances: diminshed core energy, blood flow, vitality, creative potential
"we are holding a lot of tension in the root"
TOOLS
physical & energetic tools
assess and restore balance
does pelvic massage in clinic, encourages self-massage, balancing of the bowl, internal vaginal massage
breathwork
inner vision
sensory awareness
holistic care for women
address body patterns
restore energetic presence
resolve trauma responses
realign mind/body/spirit
root as resource for life
she thinks ovarian cysts are dt stagnation
PELVIC MASSAGE
challenges dt women having bad experiences with paps, also abuse and rape
ask her to breathe toward hand, remain aware
woman supine, draped, no stirrups
one finger inserted, finds trigger points, one hand external, moves bowl, mb on pubic symphysis
myofascial release, like cranial sacral work
"making love is a great massage"
"we sit too much"
men have stagnation too, thinks prostate cancer is result
ASSESSMENT
takes hx and cc
muscular tone and engagement
pelvic map (trigger points, tone imbalances, skin changes)
structural integrity (cystocele, rectocele, etc)
energetic quality (chakras, birth door, death door)
PELVIC FLOOR ASSESSMENT
many practitioners don't assess pelvic floor very well
bowl is like hammock
things move down and out if it's lax, prolapse
when doing pelvic exam and asking woman to squeeze on finger
how much motion is there? should pull in and up, just a distal squeeze is not strength, it's tension
she grades it 0-5, 5 is strong sucking pull, most women are in the 3 range
kegels don't do anything without balancing, might reinforce imbalance
she checks musculoskeletal engagement, finds imbalances
needs bodywork
she doesn't work on women while preg
likes to "leave the nest alone"
CONTINENCE
depends on angle between bladder and urethra
problems usudt imbalance
engagement of floor also imp
CYSTOCELE
is bladder prolapse toward vagina
bladder and rectal prolapse more common than uterus
mc post partum dt baby's head pushing anterior and stretching it
no need to "just live with it until you get surgery": do physical medicine
"very healable"
RECTOCELE
less common but still occurs postpartum
difficulty with BM's? have to push?
makes it worse
**pt can insert thumb in vagina and push to posterior during BM
she recommends it, most are willing if they have this problem
MAYAN MASSAGE
arvegotherapy.com
uterine component
best thing for uterine prolapse
women need to rest postpartum instead of straining stretched ligaments
C-SECTION
illus: woman's spine & pelvic outlet, yarn cords representing energy connection to fetus-->infant
some traumatic, others relieved, some robbed of childbirth experience
woman who had c-section was still at the birth door: things didn't finish, still felt open
had hemorrhoids and couldn't touch scar
disrupted birth interrupts natural circ and chi flow, baby is out, chi is still in woman
if unresolved mom may not attach initially, or around child age 3 problems arise
cc: "something just doesn't feel right", or decr attachment: "I'm not sure the baby is mine"
discord of birth imprinted in abdomen
tx: orientation and reflection
tx: vaginal and rectal trigger point release, releasing grief, anger
tx: MFR = myofascial release, Ceasarian scar mobs
tx: breathwork to restore pelvic connection, birth energy flow
she serves as energetic midwife: (writing a book about it)
goal: find birth thread, clear other energies, connect thread to child
1) come to your center
2) see your daughter as she is now "see them the age they are now"
3) go back to the last place you felt connected to her (usu in womb)
"go back to the point where you still felt engaged and connected in the birth process"
"go back to where you lost the birth thread"
"hold the sensation of them in your womb"
4) breathe that energy out to her
"clear the birth field" (clear that hospital energy, give that doctor's energy back to them)
babies need to feed less at night when energy flow is connected to mother
INFERTILITY IN ABUSE CASE
case: 38yo with intensive and longterm sexual abuse by artist father
abuse ended when he committed suicide, she was 5
she knew she had "vacated her body", pelvic disconnect, sexually inhibited, grief about infertility
had an assortment of L sided issues, assoc c father energy?
tx: encouragement to assume ownership of body, energy, root, inhabit this body, NOW
LINEAGE
illus: nesting wooden cups
maternal grandmother's pelvis contained egg that became you
carried mother's womb
unspoken family rules
energy reservoirs
trauma history (blocked energy)
DAILY ENERGY WORK
blessings as alignings of energy
affirmations: positive statements: may I be in my power, etc
gratitudes
MEDITATION
she recommends a practice, says there are many in her book Wild Feminine
calls your energy to you
you can regain your own energy regardless of birth experience or connection to parents