HotPod Yoga and Pelvic Floor Fitness with Tena Lights

According to research by Tena 62% of women experience light bladder weakness; that’s nearly one in three yet it’s still a subject that not many women like to talk about, but when it affects so many perhaps it’s time we learnt more about our pelvic floor and how we can help strengthen it.

A few weeks ago Tena invited me along to a HotPod Yoga session in Hackney to learn about the importance of our pelvic floor and what we can do to strengthen them. It was cold and raining and we were told the yoga would be on the rooftop – now before you go thinking I’ve completely lost my mind HotPod yoga classes take place in inflatable heated studios (think massive, very warm cocoon type structures). Our teacher ran through the basics of the Vinyasa yoga would be doing and then we got straight into it. I’ve done yoga in the past so lots of moves soon came back to me, however we all really got our sweat on as the heat makes your heart work harder and you’re more flexible – like they say soreness the morning after is a good sign!

Anybody who’s done yoga will know the importance of really taking notice of your body and being aware of your core and pelvic floor muscles, so an afternoon of HotPod yoga was a great way to get us thinking of how important our pelvic floor muscles are. The first time women often experience light bladder weakness is during pregnancy or soon after childbirth; I know from my experience that anything to do with my health and wellbeing was a priority for me as I wanted to be in the best condition as a new mother so why not the same when it comes to our pelvic floor?

When I was pregnant with Boo I remember my midwife telling me I was lucky I was in my twenties and that as I was booked for a c-section (which didn’t end up happening) that there was no need for me to be too concerned with pelvic floor exercises. Yet research shows that there is immense strain on your pelvic floor during pregnancy regardless of your age or how you give birth.

25% of women have never practiced pelvic floor exercises, 5% don’t know what their pelvic floor is and over half say they ‘rarely’ practice them!

So the majority of us know that we need to work on our pelvic floor fitness but lets face it how many of us actually remember to do the funny squeezy/hold your wee in thingamajig? Tena have created a new Pelvic Floor Fitness App – PFFP that offers support for women by reminding them to do their pelvic exercises, has an extensive help section which is really useful and allows you to discover which of the Tena Lights products are right for you.

With so many things to remember as a women, especially new mums, having a little reminder to do the important pelvic exercises is a great idea.

You can request a free sample of Lights by Tena.