By Leticia Trejo
It is common to hear that people after the age of 50 have some urinary incontinence. Unfortunately, when I say common, I mean it is taken as something normal and inevitable. We also hear about a person’s bladder «falling out» and we have normalized this as well. Adult diapers that used to be available only in specialized pharmacies can now be found in every drugstore and shopping mall.
All my life I have enjoyed physical activity: from sports, professional dance, aerobics, spinning, Latin rhythms, etc. In none of these did anyone explain the pelvic floor to me. I came to learn this in the last 22 years through the practice of Hatha Yoga, the Feldenkrais Method and the work of Mathias Alexander.
I was very surprised to learn that in some Eastern techniques the use and knowledge of this muscle group has been of utmost importance for more than 3,000 years. In the West, until 30 years ago the closest and most familiar exercises were the Kegel exercises, generally prescribed for women who were pregnant or had just had a baby and had lost control of their bladder.
Quoting the medical journal Las Condes (Elsevier.es) I find a description that seems very accurate:
«The pelvic floor is a structure of muscles and connective tissue that provides support and suspension structures to the pelvic and abdominal organs. Its main component is the levator ani muscle, a muscle that covers most of the pelvis. The pelvic organs can be divided into three compartments: anterior (bladder and urethra), middle (uterus and vagina, or prostate and seminal vesicles) and posterior (rectum, anal canal and sphincteric apparatus). The pelvic floor is involved in each of these, determining not only mechanical support but also participating in urinary and fecal continence.”
In Eastern disciplines such as Yoga, we are taught that the pelvic floor represents the strength of the roots to the land and to the tribe where we were received; it also represents the strength of our identity within this tribe, family or lineage, as well as the power to realize life projects and sustain us in periods of crisis.
In these ancestral disciplines, anatomy is not separated from a person’s emotional situation; on the contrary, anatomy (muscles, connective tissues, bone structures, blood vessels, and electrical impulse connections of the nervous system) is joined to its emotional representation. For example, we are told that the first three chakras (energy centers) are represented in the pelvis and are connected to our personal development, emotional blockages and some diseases as they are also related to our basic needs such as excretion and sex.
To have a healthy pelvic floor it is important to avoid irritation of the intestines as well as overfilling when we eat. It is also important to not ignore the urge to evacuate either the colon or the bladder. For the welfare of this muscular structure, we must perform exercises that help us to preserve mobility and strength, and to generate rhythm, coordination and fluidity in the pelvis and spine.
Taking care of your pelvic floor will help you to enjoy freedom and lightness, and to have a deeper connection with your tribe, your partner and yourself.
Translated by MaryAnne Marble
Foto: Cortesía.
Redacción.- Alrededor del 80 por ciento del arbolado urbano del municipio se encuentra enfermo, es por ello que la dirección de Ecología del Ayuntamiento de Chapala realiza la campaña “Adopta un Árbol y Ayuda a Salvarlo”.
La campaña se extenderá a árboles que se encuentren en propiedad privada, y se deberá realizar un donativo por parte del interesado para los agroquímicos que se utilizarán para el tratamiento del árbol enfermo, según explicó el titular de Ecología y Desarrollo Sustentable, José Guadalupe Jaime Ibáñez.
Por su parte, la dirección de ecología pondrá el conocimiento y la mano de obra para la aplicación del agroquímico que se utilice para curar el árbol, una vez cada quince días durante un periodo de cuatro meses.
La Floresta de Ajijic, es una de las zonas más afectadas por las plagas o parásitos, pero también la especie de huamúchiles es una de las que padecen más del muérdago, una planta parásita que seca los árboles que la padecen.
Los interesados en adoptar un árbol deberán de comunicarse a la dirección de Ecología al 376 765 80 25 y proporcionar la información correspondiente a la especie del árbol, así como el domicilio o lugar donde se ubica, además de pagar el agroquímico como ya se mencionó, y el Ayuntamiento proporcionará un recibo a cambio.
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