Recently, Dr. Rosita Arvigo and Ms. Donna Zubrod were featured on a podcast that I frequently listen to in order to learn more in supporting my clients who are working on optimizing their natural fertility capacities.  In this episode, Dr. Arvigo and Ms. Zubrod discuss the results of Donna's observational study, "A Clinical Observational Study of the Effects of the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy (R) on Menstrual Cycle and Reproductive Health Biomarkers."  Donna completed this work in order to fulfill the requirement to become an advanced teacher  of the Arvigo (R) Therapy methods.  
In her observational study, Ms. Zubrod applied professional care Arvigo (R) sessions in addition to regular practice of self-care massage, which was taught to each study participant.  The main biomarkers tracked were cervical mucous quality and luteal phase length (the 2nd half of the menstrual cycle, important body system markers that may be related to fertility.  Secondary markers were also tracked including: changes in menstrual bleeding pattern, cycle-related pain, constipation, mood, and painful intercourse.  Participant adherence to self-care massage was also tracked.

This is a re-post from a piece I wrote on the Home Collective website, the 'physical home' of my 1-1 physical therapy practice.  As I was the first pelvic health physical therapist to join their collective this past fall, I wrote a piece to introduce their community to my work.  I am sharing it here as a way to introduce, or re-introduce, the broader community to the importance of pelvic health physical therapy in the community.  Enjoy!

What is Pelvic Health Physical Therapy?
​More commonly known as 'pelvic floor' physical therapy, pelvic health physical therapy is physical therapy for the muscles, connective tissues, and organs of the abdominal and pelvic spaces.

​Self-care is not self-ish.  It is essential for the long-term sustainability of your body, your mind, and your whole life.  While self-care looks different for everyone, there can be some common areas in which to evaluate your life in order to know what you need to nourish your body.  In my women’s pelvic health physical therapy practice, I tend to provide my patients with body practices and equally important, breathing and self-regulation practices to learn to live in a more “peaceful” nervous system state.  This affects everything else, including the pelvis and pelvic organs.
​This is a short post and I’m not really saying anything new this time.  Lately, Life has called to me to remind me about the importance of choosing in to care for myself, especially when life is full.  Truly, when I say to myself that I will work on something in my body, mind, or soul when I am finished with this training, or that project, or the “crazy-busy next couple-of-weeks,” the ironic thing is that is does not seem to slow after whatever that thing is.   For me, it requires a priority shift...

Constipation is quite common and sometimes difficult to resolve.  If you do not have at least 1 bowel movement each day, constipation is a likely challenge for you. 
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Here are four reasons why it is important to address constipation for the overall health of your pelvic bowl, and your entire body, for that matter:

​The six-week post-partum visit is an important time to check in with your obstetrician, midwife, or other birth care professional to ensure that your body is properly healing after such a momentous physical event.  Often however, women feel lost after this follow-up visit about how to help their bodies to continue healing.  The belief that everything is supposed to be ‘normal’ at this point may not be made explicitly.  Unfortunately, many women receive the impression, usually through no one’s fault, that they should feel normal and back-on-track not only physically, but mentally and emotionally at this point in their recovery....

​Or…at least the heels…In my one-on-one physical therapy work with patients, I am often helping them to incorporate changes into the ways in which they already move in the world, before I add heaps of exercises.  Let’s face it: we all lead full lives.  We have newborns, jobs, recreation, community events, school, soccer practice, and a host of other activities in our days and weeks.  
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I want my patients to improve, and often it’s the little tweaks to their typical movement regimen done consistently over time that make a big difference.  One of the most common recommendations I make to women who see me for issues related to leaking (known in the medical world as ‘urinary incontinence’), hip pain, or pelvic organ prolapse (such as cystocele or rectocele), is to experiment with their footwear...