To “push” or not to “push”, how and where to breathe, positions to help your body help your baby. 

One of the biggest fears women face heading into delivery is all of the unknowns.  And while birth is really about accepting a loss of control, I’m a firm believer that knowledge is power.  When you understand the typical path your baby will take, all the factors that help determine whether you can spontaneously push or need coached pushing, and the cues and positions and breath strategies that are most likely to lead to productive pushes, then you are able to incorporate these techniques into effective practice so they will be there for you in birth.

What’s more important: learning to contract or relax your pelvic floor in pregnancy? Trick question, the answer is BOTH!

We pass out Kegels to pregnant women like candy on Halloween.  And while having a strong, functional pelvic floor in pregnancy is great, we also need pelvic floors that know how to relax and LET GO.  Learn exactly what the pelvic floor muscles are, why they matter, and specific tools for properly contracting and relaxing this important area.  We’ll also cover perineal massage and positions to deliver that are most protective to this tender region.

Pain is NOT a natural part of the pregnancy process and there’s a lot you can be doing to add some deposits of healthy motion into your body bank (and limit your withdrawals) to stay more comfortable before, during (YES, even during birth), and afterwards.

Learn the body mechanics hacks that can minimize the most common pregnancy complaints like SI joint pain and pubic bone problems.  We’ll also talk about pain prevention during your actual birth and give you some tools for your toolbox.  Plus we’ll cover how to raise your baby without spraining your spine with tips on how to build a nursing throne, how to handle the car seat, and bathe your baby without herniating a disc.  I’ll show you a few simple stretches you can start TODAY.  Your body is already thanking you!

Your provider said you could continue to do the exercise you were doing prior to getting pregnant.  True or False?  FALSE!!!  Your pregnant body has unique needs based on your new cardiovascular status, change in hormone balance, and changing areas of vulnerability.  Plus, where does that leave women that want to start a new exercise program to prepare their bodies to birth their babies?  In this presentation, I will cover all the Dos and Don’ts of designing an exercise program to match your pregnant body.  We’ll build a list of exercises to flock to and ones to avoid based on the three pillars of a changing pregnant body: Cardiovascual Status, Hormone Fluctuations, and Demands of your Event

If your 6 week postpartum follow up with your provider included a “green light” for sex but lacked the instruction manual that needs to go along with it, this presentation is for YOU!

Learn the 3 reasons women either don’t want to have intercourse or do not enjoy intercourse after birth which include pain and discomfort, emotional factors like being “touched out” or resenting your partner, and the general feeling of being stretched out “down there”.  We’ll have an honest discussion where no question is off limits and you will leave with practical suggestions for not only getting back in the saddle again, but actually enjoying the ride 😉.

Research shows you have an 8 week “magic window” in which to spontaneously heal a separated midsection.  This requires strategies like binding, breathing, and body mechanics.

Learn the ins and outs of postpartum binders and view a “show and tell” of different options to help you pick the binder that is right for you.  Also, as your hormones slowly return to their normal state, the way you move your postpartum body around the world MATTERS.  Learn simple strategies to keep all your lady parts happy.  Finally, moms need to ditch the boot camps and instead learn the most important exercise for postpartum recovery: The Core Breath.  I’ll instruct you in this gem that can be done from the comfort of your favorite chair!

Don’t you dare google this diagnosis unless you want to travel down a rabbit hole of conflicting information and contradicting treatment recommendations.  Let an expert like myself save you hours of frustration and spell out exactly what this is, show you how to determine if you have it, and teach you actionable steps to get started on your road to recovery.

Research shows by 35 weeks pregnant, 100% of women will have DRA.  Many will resolve this condition in the first few weeks postpartum, and many will not.  It’s more common than you think and may be the reason for your lower back pain, urinary leakage, and/or unsightly stomach “pooch” whether you are 6 months postpartum or 60 years postpartum!  Learn how to strengthen your core from the inside out and what movements you should avoid until you’ve restored your core!

Your core is like a house inside your body.  After birth it is NOT a tear down even though it might feel that way, but it IS a fixer upper.  Let me be your general contractor and help you rebuild!

When you skip right to the stroller fitness classes or the mommy boot camps or even the jogs around your neighborhood, you are skipping a very important part of the rebuild phase of your fixer upper.  Instead, you need to start with things like teaching your diaphragm and pelvic floor to be coordinated with one another, how to find and engage your deep abdominals, how to slowly add more abdominal and pelvic floor work, and how to use these skills in “normal” exercises like squats and lunges and all your other favorite go-to’s.  Let me give you a few guidelines to make sure you are getting more nutritious movement then junk food movement.

The LAST thing you need as a new mom is to be sidelined with an injury that you may have been able to prevent with just a few tiny tweaks to your regular daily routine.  Your body is a bank and you can’t keep making withdrawals without making some deposits of healthy movement back in.  Learn how to build a nursing throne, how to bathe and diaper your little one, and how to handle the car seat in a way that helps you move your body better.  I’ll also teach you the most AMAZING posture exercises…..truly the gift that keeps on giving!

Learn the changes that accompany “the change” specifically in the pelvic floor region so you can make choices to embrace your sexuality rather than hanging up a going-out-of-business sign.

There’s a new crop of midlife women (married and single) who are unwilling to settle for the outdated narrative that with advancing age comes declining interest in sex.  But we do need to keep it real and have a conversation about hormones and pelvic health and what changes you might expect to encounter in perimenopause and menopause.  We’ll also discuss the products on the market designed to keep you having fun in the sack (whether it’s with a partner or on your own)!

You cannot do the same exercises you did in your 20’s and expect the same results in your 40s and 50s! It’s time to update and refresh your workout routine so you’re working out smarter and not harder!

Learn how to appreciate your phase of life and the role of hormones in order to design exercise programs to meet your specific goals while helping to prevent common midlife annoyances, especially conditions like urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and abdominal separation.  This topic is appropriate for everyone from the elite athlete to the weekend warrior to even the most sedentary woman.

Because perimenopause happens at the midpoint of our lives, it is an excellent time to take stock of how we have cared for ourselves up to this point and learn specific changes we may need to make to enter the second half of our life with grace and ease!

Perimenopause is the time “around” menopause that can start as early as our mid 30’s and include a variety of symptoms such as mood and sleep changes, weight fluctuations, alterations in sex drive, and sometimes even an unwillingness to accommodate the people in our lives.  If this resonates, I’d love to teach you some steps you can make to be optimally healthy heading IN to this phase of life.

What happens “down there” throughout the monthly cycle, what’s “normal” and how to use the hormonal shifts to maximize your life, plus natural period products I love.

Do you really appreciate the bodily miracle that is your monthly cycle?  In this presentation, you’ll learn about the 4 phases of your period and the emotional and nutritional recommendations to help you maximize your potential.  We’ll talk about why everyone should be tracking their cycle and what apps are my favorite to make this easier.

I will also touch on the hormonal and non-hormonal methods of birth control that are available.  Learn how your period can be used as a vital sign to track your overall health and the period products that top my list of favorites.

There shouldn’t be one scary sex talk you have with your kid(s) but rather 200, one minute conversations over the course of many years.  In this presentation I will give you creative options of how to bring up topics such as masturbation, pornography, consent, and hook-up culture.

Regardless of your family values, I think we can all agree that porn is not a great way to first learn about sex, that consent should be sought and returned before and during each and every encounter, and that sex is best in a committed and trusting relationship. The tricky part is how to bring these subjects up to your eye-rolling teen or tween in a way that resonates.  The problem is, many of us never received this sort of education and now we’re in the driver’s seat for our own kids.  I promise to just ignore these issues is NOT the answer.  Our kids need us to provide practical examples that reflect our values early and often.  This presentation is a step-by-step guide to help you out!

If you own a vagina, consider this presentation your official user’s manual!  We’ll talk about the anatomy of your vulva, the functions of your pelvic floor, and how to care for this important area to keep it in tip top shape.

We look at our face hundreds of times each year, but many of us couldn’t identify our own vulvas if they were plastered in a collage on a museum wall.  It’s time to learn the difference between “common” and “normal.” We’ll talk about normal bladder and bowel habits, how the vagina is a self-cleaning “oven”, and products to flock to and to avoid.  Learn what a Kegel is and how to do it properly, but more importantly, learn how to make tiny tweaks to the way you move around your world so your pelvic floor is getting healthy doses of activity even without Kegels!

This presentation will be eye-opening and no question is off limits!