Health and Healing Physical Therapy

To do the activity that creates the baby. To care for moms body during the pregnancy. To help baby come out with ease. The help moms body heal afterwards. To smooth the transition when it's no longer time to bear children has passed. This work is incredible. Tote is from

I am closing down my pelvic floor practice and moving to San Antonio TX next week.
Feeling all the feels
Many have asked me why am I leaving... I suppose the best answer is for a more abundant life. There were several changes with both mine and my husbands employment that have impacted us heavily this year.
I'll still be doing pelvic floor therapy, but instead of private practice I'll be working for the department of defense at an army medical center.
Dallas/Fort Worth was amazing and my family has loved our 11 years here. I'm nervous and excited about the road ahead and would appreciate a prayer for safe travels and a smooth transition for us all.

Do any of these sit weird with you?

*xeducation *x

Some thoughts from a fat pelvic floor therapist...

"If you're too fat there just must be something wrong with you." A quote fat people hear all the time.

But somehow our bodies demand individuality

There's no set of principals regarding body size that apply to all humans.

Which is an important discernment for medical professionals who attempt to assist you with your health. Healthcare requires us to see the individual for who they are without inflicting our own clinical biases

Somehow our society has told us that there's a "right way" to have a body. What is most perplexing to me is how modern healthcare has cosigned this despite all the contradictory evidence.

I don't have a body that I see is reflected in society as a body worth having. Yet on the individual level, I finally feel at home in this body.

Can I be fat without something being wrong with me? Society at large says no, but I believe my creator has a different narrative in mind.

If this resonates with you at all, I invite open discussion. If it triggers you, or need to challenge this, let's talk about that too

A superficial fix that never got the w**d from the root perhaps? Thoughts?

Working out because we are ashamed of our bodies, or trying to fix "problem areas" and working out because we love ourselves are two different vibes.
One has the capacity to heal trauma and the other has the capacity to perpetuate trauma
In pelvic floor therapy we often explore how the pelvic floor holds emotions like shame, guilt, and stress. The pelvic floor can even be a storage space for trauma
Oddly enough, I often see fatphobic ideals perpetuated in the Pelvic health community. Telling you to seek a tighter tummy after baby, maybe calling into question your body weight when you have bowel issues, or claiming a magical hormonal fix for your weight..
Due to society's perpetuated "thin" beauty standard, that puts a hierarchy on which bodies deserve praise and celebration, and which bodies deserve to be ostracized, a lot of women carry shame surrounding body image.
We're up against a lot, but I do believe that the deepest healing comes if we're able to achieve radical self acceptance

Making peace with your body is therapeutic
It's been in my heart to explore diet culture and fatphobia lately. Particularly as they play roles in institutions of oppression, and how they affect your pelvic health. Today I've been questioning what we are really looking for when we undergo torturous efforts to change our appearance...
"Better self esteem" "Improved Health" "Societal Acceptance" "Love" "Romance" "Less discrimination and judgement"
A huge irony is that I found improvement in all mentioned aspects when I stopped capitulating to society's standard of what I "should be" (thinner) and focused on just being who I am.
Some examples...
💩I ended a 7 year struggle with IBS (indirectly developed by dieting attempts).
🚫💊I no longer require anxiety medication and feel less hypervigilant.
🤸🏾‍♀️I have more energy to pour into my relationships as it's not being consumed by food choices.
📊 💃🏾And despite a weight gain that required a wardrobe update, I've been able to remain in the clear with my lab values, and blood pressure. (Who knew you wouldn't just kill over from a heart attack if you dared to exist as fat!)
I've found it quite enlightening the correlation between how we see and treat ourselves, and what the body is asking for us, as we look to improve our wellness. Plus I figured your feed could do with a happy healthy fat black lady because I don't hardly see enough of that.

Keto. Intermittent Fasting. Caloric deficit. Macros. Juice Cleanse. Whole30. Paleo...

Which one works the best???

(This pic is of my 1st weightloss journey as an adult, starting my freshman year in college... My roommates and husband can attest that I was the girl who showed up to the movie theater with celery in her purse)

All of them produce short term weightloss. They all have a 95% long term failure rate. Most of them eventually put you in starvation and malnourishment. Most people gain back the weight plus more. (Most people actually know this but the reality of accepting perpetual fatness is too distressing, so they keep trying).

I've done all of these diets by the way, and a few other techniques that I'm too embarrassed to admit at the moment.

What they never told us is that you can permanently damage your metabolism by doing this crap.

In both pictures you will see a perfectly healthy young woman. In both pictures she had perfect metabolic panels and was able to pass a military fitness test (I did airforce ROTC in college, but really struggled to maintain weight/tape so I decided not to enlist).

Only difference between the two was in one she received messages that she was a failure, and in the other everyone ohhed-ahhed and praised her for her weightloss even though she was harming her health to achieve it. She was made to feel like she was somehow superior for having lost the weight.

I'm sorry the world presents extra challenges if you happen to be a woman, an ethnic minority, disabled, q***r, poor, or fat. I'm sorry that healthcare in the US is such a money grab.

I can't change the world, but I can support women loving and caring for themselves and maybe that's enough. I used to think weight was a separate issue from my chosen specialty (women's health/pelvic health) but now I see it's one of the key hallmark piece

Most women who experience heaviness, have only been offered a watch and wait, then surgery solution. There's just so much more we can do.

*xeducation *x

Free event. Link in bio

Date corrected 🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️

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***Date corrected Thurs April 13th...Free Event. Link is in the comments!

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If we all know a skinny person who eats a lot, and doesn't workout and we can say it's because of "good genes"
Why is it so hard to believe a fat body can exist whilst dieting and exercising.... And it is also because of genetics....
Particularly thinking of the "gym bros" who swear on they mama that "it's as simple as calories in vs calories out"
Examining internalized feelings that fatness is "unhealthy" "disgusting" "lazy"...
These days I feel it's important to speak up against fatphobia because we all deserve a chance to express our authentic selves without the oppression that comes with designating a hierarchy to certain body types
If you think fatphobia, self consciousness and shame isn't showing up in your s*x life and pelvic health I'd be happy to have a chat!

*xeducation *x

I'm so tired of the modern medical culture blaming everything on fatness.

I've been on a kick lately realizing how toxic diet culture and fat shaming run in the community and the disservice it does to women who exist in overweight and obese bodies.

I am particularly frustrated when I hear clients tell me that their providers approach to managing prolapse was to "just lose some weight."

That is not how prolapse works. If so, thin women would not have prolapse but we see ALL bodies with the capacity to be affected by this condition.

I have some spots on the schedule this month if you're ready to connect deeper with your body and learn to heal prolapse. Link in bio ❤️

*xeducation *x

Horizonal stripes in a plus size body is my silent rebellion today. Intentionally taking up space in a way that gently goes against the status quo because "horizontal stripes make you look wider"

Working in women's health is met with adversity particularly in a society with patriarchal undertones.

I'm subtley and not so subtley told that pelvic health is "unfit" "unwelcome" "unnecessary"

But for every descent there are many quiet thank yous from those that feel more at home in their bodies, heard where they otherwise did not have a voice, and able to pursue their well-being in a deeper more meaningful way.

Most importantly I am able to treat holistically where the "embarrassing" parts are not skipped and dismissed in a society that will oppress that which is not understood or valued...

So here I am, your not-so-quiet pelvic floor therapist. Holding space for issues society makes it hard to pursue comfortably ✨✨

(link in bio to get started)

Texas ice storms had me thinking it's time to talk about tailbone pain.

As someone who experiences chronic tailbone pain personally it blows my mind how much relief you get from internal release work. If you suffer and haven't had internal work done, you are definitely missing out

If you'd like to get some relief link is in the bio to get started with a call ❤️

I love how fixing your bladder leaks also enhances your seggs life and improves you're abs 😍

Online booking is open. Link is in the bio ❤️✨

This is your sign to use those FSA benefits before the end of the year.

You can pay upfront for a package and use your visits in 2023.

If you've been contemplating what it feels like to trust your bladder won't leak, have pain-free pleasurable seggs, to see what a workout feels like moving with a strong core, to feel fully recovered from childbirth.... It's time to sign up for pelvic floor therapy.

The year is almost over 🙈

What if it's not the kegel muscles????

🚽 What if we leak a little before we make it to the potty for a different reason? 🏃🏾‍♀️💨

📦🦘 What if our confidence with staying dry during box jumps doesn't rely on bladder strength?

🤏🏾What if our bladders aren't actually small....

🏄🏾‍♀️Sometimes the beverages we consume cause our bladders to leak. Some of us get so irritated that even if we could lift a surfboard with kegels (that's a thing) we'd still be leaky.

👿These beverages are called "Bladder Irritants" and in so many cases are to blame for accidents. They are sneaky little devil's because sometimes they stay in your system for days. 🗓️

💧Nourishment is one of the many aspects of bladder health we explore in my practice because someone out there needs to know, all hope isn't lost for a strong bladder if the kegels didn't work.✨

One of THE coolest gifts I've ever received.

Most people have never heard of "pelvic floor therapy" so to hear it summed up by someone you've worked with is amazing

I strive to make this the experience of every single woman I am blessed to serve

🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

Happy Juneteenth

Remember when we used to post pictures. Social media is trending videos now 😅

This is my favorite activity for calming v@ginal heaviness

Get your pelvis up above your chest to allow gravity to pull the lift the organs back up.

Work on deep breathing and calmness to reduce muscle tension

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Follow up from yesterday's story! I'm impressed that most of y'all got it right! But to be fair they ALL are activities that put pressure on your bladder.

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Celebrating all the Mommies that make the world go round. Holding space and remembrance for those who've lost their Mommy and Mommy's that have lost a child

There's an interesting article that was published that took a deeper look at the influences of purity culture, s/x miseducation, religion and it's relation to pelvic pain.

Some common themes they established in the study were misdiagnosis, dismissal, and miseducation.

In the study, one of the authors made an unofficial observation that "women who experienced the most severe pelvic floor muscle overactivity leading to pain with s€x when assault or abuse was not a factor were practicing Christian's who grew up in a conservative Christian environment."

I think it's so important to understand how the messages that have been given to us influence our overall wellness, perception, and ability to achieve wellness.

We can interpret how we were impacted by our own upbringing, and better decide how we want to influence those we are nurturing.

I can put the title of the article in the comments if anyone is interested.
*xeducation *x ***a