Rhea Physical Therapy

Hey y’all! My maternity leave is over, and I can’t wait to dive back in to helping women and kids conquer their pelvic health problems and take back their freedom!

A few facts about me for all the new faces:

• I love to talk about 💩 and how to have happy ones

• I’m a first-time mama and wow— motherhood is no joke! I like to share about my struggles as a new mom because I don’t think it is talked about enough!

• I believe in a whole-picture, mind-body approach to pelvic health and focus not just on your pelvic floor but on your movement, your nutrition, your stress, your mindset, your routines, and your environment.

• I moved to STL from Arizona more than 6 years ago to earn my doctorate of physical therapy at WashU.

• I live in STL with my husband, our baby girl, and our pup, Nyla.

• I run my own business all by myself!

Let’s connect! Where are you based? What brought you to this page? How can I help you? Share in the comments 👇🏼

We finally got to meet our sweet baby girl on June 8th at 2:09 pm 💕 The joy and relief I feel at having her here, in my arms, is unmatched. I don’t have words yet for how the experience of bringing her into the world has impacted me as an individual and as a pelvic floor PT, but I look forward to sharing my reflections when I’m ready. In the meantime, know that I see you, mamas! I see you all more clearly than ever before, and I can’t wait to continue serving you and your families when I return to work in August. It takes a village to raise a mother, and I am honored to be part of yours ❤️

We are less than a month away from the arrival of our first baby! Rhea PT will be closed June through July for my maternity leave. Please add yourself to my waitlist if you would like to work with me for pelvic floor therapy or coaching (link below). I look forward to connecting with you when I return to work in August! Have a great summer!
https://forms.gle/95KgKxc1V1XXZeAPA

Announcing the NEW and FREE Rhea PT Parent's Guide to Common Pediatric Pelvic Health Concerns! This free guide is for parents whose children are struggling with conditions like constipation or bedwetting. Get yours today by clicking on the link below!
https://rheaphysicaltherapy.eo.page/pedsguide

Happy Women's History Month! This week on the blog, I am featuring the Mothers of Gynecology. You may have heard of Dr. Sims, who is known as the "father of gynecology." However, you may not be as familiar with the enslaved black women who endured the torturous medical experiments that led to his fame. Check out the post to learn their stories!

Women’s History Month Spotlight: The Mothers of Gynecology The “father of gynecology,” J. Marion Sims, is credited with inventing the precursor to the speculum and discovering a method for repairing fistulas in the 1840s. However, his contribut…

Wrapping up the month with more on pediatric pelvic health—my favorite topic! On the blog today, I elaborate on signs of pelvic floor dysfunction in kids. Plus, catch my post on St. Louis Mom if you missed it!

How to Spot Pelvic Floor Problems in Your Child “How long have you been dealing with the severe constipation and the skid marks in your underwear?” The boy before me looked up with a mixture of exasperation and defeat. “My entire life,” he said.…

Rhea PT is featured on the St. Louis Mom blog this week! Check out my article about pediatric pelvic floor therapy to learn how to spot childhood pelvic floor problems and discover how physical therapy can help!

Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy: Kids’ Edition If you haven't heard of the ways kids can utilize pelvic floor physical therapy, Rhea Physical Therapy shares the benefits here!

"Love in Motion: Befriending Ourselves Through Yoga" starts in just one week at Empowered Spaces! This series is designed to cultivate your self-adoration and help you tap in to your truest desires. 60% of the proceeds will benefit the Rhea Community Fund, which helps provide pelvic floor physical therapy to individuals needing financial aid. Reserve your spot today!

https://www.empoweredspaces.net/classes-groups-trainings/love-in-motion-befriending-ourselves-through-yoga

I am delighted to share a guest post by Robbins Doula Services on the Rhea PT blog today! Kathleen provides excellent information about what to expect when you work with a postpartum doula and how she can help you navigate the postpartum period. Enjoy!

Guest Post— Navigating the Postpartum Period: Understanding the Role of a Postpartum Doula As you move through your pregnancy, or adoption or surrogacy journey, assembling a reliable support team becomes a top priority. Just as a pelvic floor physical therapist can play an important role…

Happy New Year from Rhea Physical Therapy! I hope you'll join me this month and next for some exciting events! I am hosting "Yoga and the Pelvic Floor" (with a level 1 and level 2!) again at Carondelet Yoga Center. This workshop was a huge success last fall, and I am thrilled to be able to offer it again! All levels of yoga experience and all bodies are welcome.

If you can't make it, I am also teaching a yoga series at Empowered Spaces called "Love in Motion: Befriending Ourselves Through Yoga." This series is designed to invite you into a sweeter relationship with yourself and your one and only body. Again, all bodies and levels of experience are welcome.

Register now and reserve your spot!

Calling all yoga goers! Our Yoga and the Pelvic Floor workshop at Carondelet Yoga Center was such a hit that we are doing it again in 2024! And this time, we are offering a level 2! If you came to the workshop in October, the level 2 class will build on everything you learned and help you dive deeper into topics like bowel and bladder health. Registration is open. Sign up now to reserve your spot!

Level 1: https://www.carondeletyoga.com/events/yogaandthepelvicfloor1

Level 2:
https://www.carondeletyoga.com/events/yogaandthepelvicfloor2

I am so honored and grateful to be featured on the blog at Robbins Doula Services this week! Please check out the post and make sure to follow Kathleen! She is a fantastic doula and all around lovely person. St. Louis is lucky to have her!

6 Reasons Why Every Birthing Person Should Have a Postpartum Physical Therapy Evaluation — Robbins Doula Services - St. Louis postpartum doula Dr. Savannah Carlson, a St. Louis-based pelvic floor physical therapist, shares why every birthing person should have a postpartum physical therapy evaluation.

Happy Halloween, little monsters! This year for my favorite holiday, I am my favorite organ—the uterus! Today on the blog, I'm exploring why it is spooky out there for a (person with a) uterus! Check it out here: https://rheapt.blog/2023/10/31/its-spooky-out-there-for-a-uterus/

I hope your day is full of magic and mystery! Happy Halloween!

It’s Spooky Out There for a Uterus Halloween (my favorite holiday) has finally arrived! This year, I decided to be my favorite organ—the uterus! I know what you’re thinking: “But Savannah, the uterus isn’t very sca…

One more day to sign up for this month’s Pelvic Connection! Join me online to learn about the pelvic floor and then move and breathe through yoga poses that help you connect with that pelvic power ✨ Added bonus, all proceeds go to the Rhea Community Fund, which provides financial support to folks in need so they can get the pelvic healthcare they deserve! See you there! Here is the link to sign up: https://calendly.com/rheapt/the-pelvic-connection

Today on "But First, Pelvic Health": learn about the bladder-pelvic floor connection! Use my tips to keep your bladder and your pelvic floor hap-pee ;)

Let Go to Let it Flow The bladder and the pelvic floor are like two best friends who spend every moment together, talking, bickering, making up, and talking some more. Understanding their relationship can lead to happie…

Hello Rhea PT community! I am back from my honeymoon in Stockholm, the land of giant dahlias, and so ready to get back to work helping women and children overcome their pelvic floor problems so they can THRIVE! Some of you are new to me and my business so I figured I’d reintroduce myself!

✨I am a doctor of physical therapy who specializes in pelvic health, with a special passion for helping moms and kids.

✨I recently opened Rhea PT so that I could provide one-to-one, quality pelvic healthcare directly in my clients’ homes without the crippling restraints of insurance companies and volume-based PT clinics.

✨I am proud to serve the St. Louis area. I moved here in 2018 to get my DPT from WashU, and I’ve been in love with this city and its people (and food!) ever since.

✨Originally from Arizona 🌵

✨Proud mama to Norman the cat and Nyla the dog

✨I am a registered yoga instructor with 8 years of teaching experience.

✨I enjoy moving my body in lots of ways, including running in the park, walking my pup, dancing in my living room, and hiking through the woods.

✨My favorite holiday is Halloween 🎃

✨I’m a feminist, and I’m passionate about increasing equity for every group of people who has been marginalized and oppressed by the dominant culture.

I’m so thrilled to have you here, and I hope you’ll reach out in the comments or my DMs so I can get to know you better! Thanks for supporting my business, my passion, and my dream! Check out my website and the NEW Rhea PT blog to discover more about Rhea PT, and don’t forget to sign up for one of this month’s yoga offerings! I’m looking forward to sharing with you 🌸

Rhea PT is closing from September 20-29 while I (finally!) go on my honeymoon! My husband and I will be in Stockholm, Sweden enjoying fika, museums, and luxuries like sleeping in 😂 I look forward to connecting with you when we get back! I’ll start responding to any communications on Monday, October 2. Take care, team! See you in October 🎃

🎉 Rhea Physical Therapy now has a blog! 🎉 “But First, Pelvic Health” is the new online learning community of Rhea PT. My mission is to share the knowledge you need in order to put your pelvic health first! Go to https://rheapt.blog/ to start exploring my latest articles!

Less than a week away! Join me for a mindful movement class to start your day off right. We will breathe, stretch, and move to release tension in the pelvic floor and enhance your pelvic connection.

Class is donation based, and all proceeds go to the Rhea Community Fund. This fund provides support to folks who need financial aid so that they can get quality pelvic healthcare at a rate that meets their needs.

The class takes place on Google Meet! All are welcome!

Sign up here: https://calendly.com/rheapt/the-pelvic-connection

See you soon!

NEW and FREE ✨ Get my pelvic floor relaxation guide and start your healing journey today! Learn to release tension and build connection so you can have
👉 less pain
👉 better s-x
👉 improved movement

Go to the link below to get your copy delivered directly to your inbox! I’m so proud of this little PDF, and I hope you find the techniques I share just as helpful as I do! Plus, it includes powerful, foundational learning about pelvic floor anatomy and physiology to increase your understanding and your confidence. Knowledge = power 💪

Go get it, girl!
https://rheaphysicaltherapy.eo.page/freeguide

If your child is struggling with constipation and encopresis (leaking of liquid stool around a hard compacted stool), it is possible that their pelvic floor muscles are overactive and stiff. Especially if part of the reason they are constipated is that they are afraid to use the toilet or go p**p! This causes them to squeeze their pelvic floor muscles over and over again as they fight their urge to go. Over-contracting the pelvic floor leads to a tight pelvic floor, which can cause pain and make it even harder to go p**p. They might also be feeling stressed about their diagnosis, the burden it is placing on the entire family, and the pressure to "fix" themselves. That's a lot of physical, mental, and emotional stress for one little person!

You can help them relax their mind and body with these yoga poses. Each pose is listed with its traditional Sanskrit name as well as the name I use when I teach them to little kids. I find kids can visualize and remember the poses better when they can use animal names. Using animal names also gives you the opportunity to make these exercises playful! Try "mooing" in "cow" pose, "purring" in "sleepy kitty", saying "rib-it!" in "frog" pose, and even imagine flying in "butterfly"! All of these strategies help your kiddo relax, destress, and soften into the shape.

Encourage your child to hold each stretch for at least 45 seconds for two repetitions. To help them stay focused, you can sing a song, count out loud, or use a fun visual timer. I really like the timers here: https://www.online-stopwatch.com/classroom-timers/

Happy stretching!

Save the date! Join me at Carondelet Yoga Center in October to learn how to incorporate knowledge and awareness of the pelvic floor into your yoga practice! This workshop is for yoga teachers and yoga students who are ready to invigorate their practice with a new understanding of the breath, the pelvic floor, the core, and how it all connects. Stick around from 4-5 for a special Q&A session on all things pelvic health with me, your go-to, mobile pelvic health expert!

Sign up at the link below:
https://www.carondeletyoga.com/events/yogaandthepelvicfloor

See you on the mat!

The pelvic floor is essential for just about everything we do! If you are struggling with any of these functions, pelvic floor physical therapy can help. Specific pelvic floor exercises, mindfulness, breath work, and manual therapy are tools that we use to improve your pelvic floor function. By combining all of these physical therapy interventions, a pelvic health physical therapist can help you…
• say goodbye to bowel and bladder problems
• say hello to pain-free movement
• say yes to pleasurable s-x
And so much more!

Service is my passion, and it is a privilege and an honor to serve YOU! My goal as your physical therapist is to help you find freedom—freedom in your body, freedom in your lifestyle, freedom in your movement. Pelvic health issues have a way of taking that freedom away, but there is hope! Contact me to begin restoring your pelvic health and regaining your freedom. Sign up for a free discovery call today. I cannot wait to meet you!

So what is the pelvic floor anyway? The pelvic floor is a group of tissues—including muscles, ligaments, and skin—that rest at the base of the pelvis. The pelvic floor's job is to support the pelvic organs in their functions. Pelvic health physical therapy can help address dysfunction of these organs and surrounding tissues by working with the muscles, ligaments, fascia, and neurological structures that make up the pelvic floor.

Learn more about how physical therapy can help you find solutions to your pelvic floor problems in a free discovery call with me! Sign up at the top of this page to get started. I can't wait to help answer your questions!