to release, relax, stretch, lengthen the pelvic floor, hips & psoas
online course
Every womens pelvis is unique. It carries your life experiences and also physically the way you breathe, stand, sit and move through life influences her. A pelvic floor practice can be an exploration for you to become more intimately connected with yours. Its the place we came to earth from, our home base, its the place where all our energy is gathered, is stored, the seat of our power, of creation. Let her be soft, free and feel loved.
These classes are like a self exploration for your pelvic floor, hips and psoas to discover the places that you hold tension and where you can feel a release happening. While being hold and guided in a safe and loving way, you will learn so much about this sacred part of your body and feel more soft and grounded in your home base. You will also receive a handout with more information about the pelvis to deepen your knowledge and to understand better what you are sensing and experiencing.
Do you engage or contract your pelvic floor unconsciously?
Every female pelvis is unique and carries her own story, its known to be a favourite part of our body to use as a ‘storage place’. In other words, when we feel triggered, threatened, unsafe, go through a traumatic experience or a highly stressed situation, the pelvis is one of the first parts of our body to contract. Being in this highly uncertain and unsafe time in the world, its more important then ever to give extra attention to our pelvis and all that we hold there.
We actually have muscles there that can contract involuntarily as well as voluntarily, consciously as well as unconsciously. Since it’s such a vulnerable part of our body we don’t necessarily dare to really feel what’s there and allow that to be released.
The female pelvis is a place where we store the things we can’t let go of but don’t want to deal with right now.
This is why many of us often have a tight pelvic floor, because of too much tension. The pelvic floor is then considered weak, even though there is so much muscle tone, and can cause pelvic pain and problems. Pelvic problems like pain, constipation, prolapse, bladder problems can also come from a pelvis that is too tensed, instead of what is usually being considered too loose. Its known that many yogini’s actually have a tight pelvic floor, because a lot of yoga postures are actually tightening and shortening the pelvic floor muscles.
It is key to first start with relaxation and releasing the tension of the pelvic floor, even if it’s just on one spot or on one side. Part of an imbalance in your pelvic muscles and psoas, is usually also due to postural habits; when one part of your pelvis is weak, another part will do all or too much of the work. To find out what you need, your pelvis needs to first consciously learn to relax so that we can actually feel and become familiar with the more subtle sensations. Increasing the blood flow, directing your loving care and attention to your pelvic bowl.
You will notice what works for you and integrate it into your own daily practice. You will become more aware of the way you sit, stand and move in your daily life in a way that is more nurturing for your pelvis. You will be able to consciously relax your pelvic floor and contract when you need it to.
In these classes we focus on:
- Creating pelvic awareness
- Understanding the anatomy of the female pelvis
- Discovering and identifying where you are holding tension
- If both sides of your pelvis, hips, psoas are equal or different
- Pelvic external and internal self-massage (written guidance for internal in your own time and space)
- The role of the breath to improve pelvic health
- Postures to lengthen the pelvic floor, psoas, creating more space in hips
- Consciously relaxing the different layers of the pelvic floor and the psoas
- Optimising your posture to improve pelvic health
- Building neuro-pathways from your brain to your pelvic floor, new lines of communication.
What to expect?
All classes are guided as in a normal yoga class, with more explanation where needed and always adjusting so that it’s most beneficial for your pelvis in each and every pose. We give extra attention to our more tighter side, which is usually the case for many women (an imbalance at the right or left side of our pelvis).
The classes
- Discovery and awareness exercises – where are you tensed or tight
- Yin and restorative postures that relax and/or lengthen the pelvic floor
- Deep hamstring releasers for a more neutral pelvis
- Deep psoas and hip release – more space to breath deeply
- Strengthening and toning – balance and symmetry in pelvis and surrounding muscles
The classes are leading up to one another. The first class we will talk about the some basic knowledge about the pelvis, common problems, breathing and posture. And discovering with subtle awareness exercises our own pelvic imbalances. After you have discovered if there is tension in your pelvis, you will learn how to release and relax it in the following classes. In your own practice you can repeat the postures that felt good to you or in which you felt a release happening more often. From a relaxed state, we will slowly build up towards strengthening, after much of the release has happened. Toning of the pelvic floor muscles as well as the surroungding muscles. First, the muscles need to be relaxed, because you can’t strengthen a tight muscle more.
For who?
- if you have for example pelvic or lower back or sacral pain, tight hips, a painful psoas, pain in your legs/gluteus, vaginal pain, bladder problems or feel that your pelvis could use some more release
- preparing your body for conception,
- or it’s also really normal to experience tightness in response to giving birth.
Sign up
If you would like to join on my next course, I will be giving for the MamaMoon school starting in January 2022, you can sign up through their website. I also have recorded classes available, that you can contact me directly for.
What you will need:
We use lots and lots of support in the practices, things you will probably have in your house like blankets, pillows from the sofa, a chair. But I recommend to have or invest in 2 yoga blocks and 1 long strap of 2,5m. If you don’t have it and don’t want to buy it, there is many ways to improvise like 1 or 2 thick books instead of blocks, a belt or shawl.
Experiences from others
“Last year I had some serious issues with my lower back, strictly speaking of an herniated vertebral disc on the right side. I have had lower back pain for years and didn’t know what to do about it. By joining your lessons I gained a lot more awareness of my pelvic floor as an important part of my body system. I noticed that I am a lot more tensed on the right side. That is the side which was affected by the herniated disc too! I was never able to breath freely into my lower body and now I feel a lot more relaxed there, which also gives me a feeling of relief in my pelvis and lower back. I feel more grounded since then and more connected to my body.
I believe that keeping this connection to my pelvic floor and treating it with the poses from your class on a weekly basis will be an important part of my recovery process and I would love to be part of more classes.” X Maya
“Lisanne has delved deep into the topic of pelvic floor as her own personal journey and this can be felt in every class. It is a nourishing experience with your own body, even if you think you have no issues connected to the pelvic floor. but at least for me I discovered many connections to pain and problems I have had for decades. and i had no clue they were connected to the pelvic floor. so it is very easy to say this course changed my body for the better and opened my eyes on how to see and treat my body in the future.” – Lisa
“For years I’ve been trying to address my pelvic issues after the difficult birth of my son. I always seemed to overdo or underdo it, leaving me uncomfortable or in pain for years. Fysio therapy, chiropractic care, osteopath, nothing really helped me.
After the first session with Lisanne I already learned so much about my pelvic floor and how to address my challenges. I have released muscles I haven’t been able to get into for years with chiropractors, massages, physical therapists. The whole class was AMAZING and just what I needed. Lisanne is so empathetic and warm and a great teacher. She helped resolve tightness and flexibility in ways I didn’t believe were possible anymore. Even my mood has changed from the released emotions and muscles. I am very grateful.
I couldn’t recommend her more, she has been a pivotal part of my healing. Thanks so much Lisanne and Mamamoon for offering this class. I wish every post partum mom access to your class.
Warm wishes – Inge”
About me
Lisanne is a yoga teacher and massage therapist living in Ericeira, Portugal. She used to have a busy city life in Amsterdam, until due to a burn out she was forced to live her life differently. Dedicated to feel at home in her self again, she took off on an inner journey, travelled around and followed all her passions. She teaches yoga in a very slow restorative way and held in a soft loving embrace. Her own struggles and problems have always guided her into giving more attention to her root, learning more about it and freeing her root from tension and stagnation. She shares this now through teaching yoga fully focussed on the pelvic floor, psoas & hips.
Thank you for reading and if you have any questions, always feel free to reach out to me.
Sending you a lot of love and light,
Lisanne