Q: How did you discover re-centre and decide to give it a go? Had you tried any other pelvic floor methods before this?
A: It was at my 8 week postpartum check that my GP said I “probably had a prolapse.” I was finding postpartum recovery really challenging and was desperate to find something that would help me. My body felt unrecognisable and not being able to do basic things like short walks and lifting the car seat made me feel absolutely useless.
My son was seeing an Osteopath who recommended I look into hypopressives. She had worked with Simone after the birth of her children and said it would really help me. To be honest, it took me another few months to actually get round to looking it up. I felt a bit overwhelmed and just carried on doing kegels even though they seemed to make my symptoms a lot worse. Once I started, I wished I had looked into it straight away.
Q: Can you describe a bit how your hypopressives practice has made you feel postpartum?
A: I started doing just 10min of hypopressives each day and couldn’t quite believe it when after two weeks I felt a lot less symptomatic. Aside from the physical improvements, hypopressives gave me hope that I wasn’t going to feel this way forever. Before I had my son, I really enjoyed high impact, high intensity workouts. Running around Hampstead Heath in the mud was the absolute highlight of my week and really benefited my mental health. Without this I felt a bit lost and really sad that I would never be strong again. Now that I have seen the difference hypopressives have made, I am hopeful that I might be able to return to exercise in the future.
Q: You have a near-daily hypopressives practice (well done!) How do you manage that and what keeps you going?
Since I can feel the difference after each hypopressive session, I know this is something I will carry on for the rest of my life. It's hard to fit in any kind of exercise around a baby but after exploring a few of the videos, I found certain poses really felt good, so I learnt the ‘prolapse focus wall series’ off by heart. I can fit it in while my boy eats breakfast and if we are having a particularly busy morning, then I try to do a few poses at my desk before I start work. In the evening I will do a few standing poses while cooking, or even while the kettle boils. I love that even that small commitment makes a difference to my symptoms and it makes me feel like I have done something for myself each day too.
Q: Have you noticed any other changes in your body, your posture, your breath, your overall sense of self etc that you didn’t expect from a pelvic-floor focused practice?
I have definitely noticed a difference in my posture since doing hypopressives. I have a lot less back pain and my pelvis also feels more stable. I have struggled with SPD since pregnancy so that’s another reason to keep going.
I feel like hypopressives have given me my future back; that I will be able to run around in the park with my son, dance and swing him round in the living room and return to some form of exercise when my body feels more ready. I honestly can’t believe that this is not common knowledge for postpartum recovery. I want to sing it from the rooftops!
I am looking forward to challenging myself in the future, becoming more confident with different poses and I aim to fit in a longer session once a week. But to anyone who is struggling and finding it hard to stay motivated, I am proof that even 10 mins a day can make a big difference! I can’t thank Simone enough.