Kegels Aren't The Holy Grail: Stop Following Trends and Listen to Your Body with Lindsey Vestal, Pelvic Health OT Artwork

The Postpartum Revolution

Welcome to The Postpartum Revolution! This podcast was born because, as a pelvic health physical therapist, I’ve heard and seen the ways our system has failed postpartum people in America. Newly postpartum people have repeated the same questions to me, with fear in their eyes and fatigue written all over their bodies, and I’ve grown tired of soothing them with the reassurance that it’s “all a part of the process, it’s normal to feel like this”. I began to wonder - what the hell kind of “normal process” is this, that produces tired and scared mothers? While not everyone has a negative experience with childbirth and postpartum, many people do. A lot of factors influence our postpartum experience: understanding how your body recovers, how much community and financial support you have, and how well our society helps to support a new family. My goal is to provide education about the postpartum recovery process, so you can set yourself up for a successful return to the things that bring you joy. I also want to bring awareness to the larger, systemic challenges that pregnant and postpartum people face, so that collectively we can start to turn the tide of our culture, and our children won't be trapped in an unhealthy and unsupported birth and postpartum culture. We have lost our power in the birth and postpartum world, and our loss is directly linked to other people's gain. It's time to take back the power over our bodies, our births, and our postpartum health. We are the change we have been waiting for. Let's go.

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The Postpartum Revolution

Kegels Aren't The Holy Grail: Stop Following Trends and Listen to Your Body with Lindsey Vestal, Pelvic Health OT

January 08, 2021 • Annie Hopkins, Lindsey Vestal • Season 2 • Episode 31

Welcome to week two of January and I am very excited to bring in Lindsey Vestal, who is just as passionate and excited to chat about pelvic health as I am. Lindsey is a Pelvic Health Occupational Therapist and also the founder of The Functional Pelvis, the first in-home pelvic health practice in New York City.

Lindsey has a holistic approach for her clients and looks at the small, everyday changes that can really impact your pelvic health in a positive way.

Lindsey has a touching story to begin her path in this direction and is very passionate about finding the right solutions for every person and their needs.

We discuss how to regulate the nervous system, how to determine if you have an overactive or underactive pelvic floor, why kegels aren’t always the answer and a better alternative to strengthening your pelvic floor.

Lindsey has some great resources and an amazing program, Kegels That Work. Her program is made to be inexpensive and beneficial for every pre and postnatal woman.

She also has a killer newsletter with weekly tips called The Humpday Hustle. Find these resources at functionalpelvis.com

Connect with Lindsey on Instagram & Facebook

12:03 Lindsey’s approach for clients

20:46 How to regulate nervous system

27:29 Overactive/Underactive pelvic floor (kegels aren’t the answer!)

38:25 An alternative to kegels

58:22 Lindsey’s message to the PP Rev

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Want to be a guest on the show? Email me at thepostpartumrevolutionpodcast@gmail.com

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