Pelvic Floor, Core & More with THE BALANCED MOMTALITY | Exercise Safely During Pregnancy and Postpartum, Heal Pelvic Floor Leaking, Prolapse and Pain, Balance Self Care for Moms
Women’s Health & Wellness* Prenatal Fitness *Postpartum Recovery *Pelvic Floor Exercises *Holistic Health *Whole Body Healing Are you a busy pregnant or postpartum (once postpartum always postpartum) mom that just wants to feel strong and healthy without the stress of having to revolve your life around your diet and exercise? Wanting functional and practical strategies to get in safe and effective exercises without fear of pain, prolapse or peeing your pants? All during your normal daily routines? Are you wanting to stay active and comfortable during your pregnancy, and avoid many of the common aches and pains? While also prepping and optimizing your mind and body for a beautiful birthing experience? Ready to feel confident navigating postpartum recovery, being in-tune to your body, it’s boundaries to activity and avoiding common issues like diastasis recti (DRA), prolapse, and urinary incontinence (leaking)? Hey Momma! I’m Dr. Desiree Cassell, a Doctor of Physical Therapy that specializes in Women’s Health aka Pelvic Floor, a wife, mom of 3, foodie and lover of all things movement and mindfulness (bonus if it’s outdoors)! I can’t tell you how excited I am that you are here checking out The Balanced Momtality Women’s Health and Wellness Podcast! During my first pregnancy I experienced all the typical issues like DRA, urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and even hemorrhoids 😳. Only to be told “welcome to #momlife” by society and other moms in my life. So, like you, I accepted it as “normal”. Then, while working for my Doctor of Physical Therapy, I got pregnant with my second (still dealing with all the same issues and more 6 yrs later) and decided to put my new found knowledge to the test. YOU GUYS I was able to not only stop my urinary incontinence and prolapse from getting worse, I STOPPED LEAKING AND FEELING SYMPTOMS ALL TOGETHER! This is when my passion for educating, empowering and supporting other women and moms was born. I just knew I had to shout it from the rooftops that all those “common” symptoms ARE NOT NORMAL! You do not have to suffer and there IS HELP! Unfortunately, I brought all these issues up to my providers during my first pregnancy, only to be brushed off and told to do kegels and exercise. With that advice, I kegeld my life away and took a Pilates class postpartum that actually turned my DRA into an umbilical hernia and caused pain with intercourse because kegels were actually the opposite of what my pelvic floor needed (more on that inside the podcast 😉). Inside this podcast you will learn all about the pelvic floor and core system, common dysfunctions within the system during pregnancy and postpartum (and in general), how to connect and be aware of your body’s limits and how to SAFELY push those limits so you can be the strong, confident, and happy balanced momma you and your family deserve! Now let’s get you out of those pads and back to jumping on the trampoline with your kids and enjoying movement again! Put those airpods in, grab your water, roll out your mat and let’s connect! Learn ＞ www.balancedmomtality.com Connect or Inquiries About Wellness Consults＞ PTDes@balancedmomtality.com Community＞ Facebook＞ @thebalancedmomtality Instagram＞ @the_balanced_momtality
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Episodes
Thursday Aug 22, 2024
Thursday Aug 22, 2024
Hey Friend!
There is so much we do to prepare for the baby and maybe you put some time and effort into your hospital bag, but what about when you get home? Have you prepared to have the tools ready and available at home to help assist your body in healing after birth? Many women are blindsided when they get home and have to have their partners run out to pick up extra things to make momma comfortable at home. This episode is going to give you some ideas on some products that can be a huge help in assisting your healing and recovery and just to make you more comfortable while you sit and snuggle that baby.
I will be diving into many of the common and some, not so common, items that can be super helpful in reducing soreness and heaviness in the perineum and belly after baby. Everything from perineal support, hygiene, scar mobilizations, belly wraps and more! So many people are taking care of baby and have their eyes on how the baby is doing, but momma also needs to be cared for and comfortable. Not only comfortable, but recovering optimally and avoiding issues like pelvic organ prolapse, DRA, incontinence and pain. So I hope this episode helps get you thinking about some items you may or may not have forgotten to have handy and ready in a postpartum basket at home.
As always, if you are experiencing any pelvic floor/women's health issue like urinary incontinence/leaking, pelvic pain, pain with sex, urgency, heaviness/prolapse or any other back/hip/joint pain let's get you booked for a virtual coaching session or in person physical therapy session for a more individualized plan and one-on-one instructions so you can feel confident in your body and start healing today!!
Make Sure to reach out to> PTDes@balancedmomtality.com
AND/OR
Join my FREE Facebook community for ACCOUNTABILITY and a safe and supportive place to share and support each other!> https://www.facebook.com/groups/1696216757461633/
Join my VIP Insider group and receive my Newsletter full of great tips and tricks and upcoming resources! > https://newsletter.balancedmomtality.com/
Follow and get tips/tricks on:
Facebook> @thebalancedmomtality
Instagram> @the_balanced_momtality
Learn > www.balancedmomtality.com
Items Mentioned:
Dermaplast
https://a.co/d/0ehUmqy
Perineal ice pack
https://a.co/d/6fdMaiW
Tucks Pads
https://a.co/d/au4Qgho
Pelvic Wand (Use link for $5 OFF)
https://www.intimaterose.com/DESIREE2
Post Partum Diaper
https://a.co/d/cYTKamD
Massage Ball
https://a.co/d/cY0hukc
Belly Wrap
https://www.belliesinc.com/
Silicone Scar Strips
https://a.co/d/0nCrbkY
Silicone Fascial Cups
https://a.co/d/eEBCZg7
External perineal support garments
https://a.co/d/6wt80AX
Thursday Aug 15, 2024
Thursday Aug 15, 2024
Hey Lady!
This week as we are getting ready to dive head first into fall and back to school routines, I thought it would be a great time to chat about habits and how we can habit hack our lives to be more successful and less overwhelmed! It can be so hard to show up consistently and make a habit stick, especially for women. Why is that, though?
Inside this week’s episode I have the wonderful Emily Nichols who is the host of Habit Hack Your Health—a top 1.5% podcast that helps working moms and entrepreneurs habit hack their health in less time, guilt free. From her own struggles, Emily finally found that women have to do habits differently and she's sharing the solutions on how to live a healthy lifestyle that doesn’t feel overwhelming or complicated, but rather sustainable and empowering through the power of HABIT HACKING! Think of this as Atomic Habits For Women!
Emily is now on a mission to redefine what health really means and equip other women with these sustainable habit hacks to help midlife moms train for life!
Emily is also a wife, #boymom to 2 boys, Certified Personal Trainer, Orangetheory Coach, Yoga & Meditation Instructor, Behavior Change Specialist, & Taco Tuesday Enthusiast.
I am so excited for you to listen to our chat as we go over many practical strategies that you can start using TODAY to get your fitness and back to school routines in order!
As always, if you are experiencing any pelvic floor/women's health issue like urinary incontinence/leaking, pelvic pain, pain with sex, urgency, heaviness/prolapse or any other back/hip/joint pain let's get you booked for a virtual coaching session or in person physical therapy session for a more individualized plan and one-on-one instructions so you can feel confident in your body and start healing today!!
Make Sure to reach out to> PTDes@balancedmomtality.com
AND/OR
Join my FREE Facebook community for ACCOUNTABILITY and a safe and supportive place to share and support each other!> https://www.facebook.com/groups/1696216757461633/
Join my VIP Insider group and receive my Newsletter full of great tips and tricks and upcoming resources! > https://newsletter.balancedmomtality.com/
Follow and get tips/tricks on:
Facebook> @thebalancedmomtality
Instagram> @the_balanced_momtality
Learn > www.balancedmomtality.com
Contact Emily:
IG: www.instagram.com/emilynichols22
Podcast: Habit Hack Your Health
Freebie: bit.ly/atomichabitsforwomen
Thursday Aug 08, 2024
Thursday Aug 08, 2024
Hey Girl!
Do you suffer from constant headaches or migraines, maybe jaw pain or TMJ, or upper back pain and stiffness? Most times this leads us to do lots of stretching and trigger point release in the upper back and neck, but have you thought about restoring and healing your pelvic floor and core system to resolve those symptoms? This is the second episode in looking beyond the pelvic floor, where I dive into common orthopedic issues that we all might be more familiar with and how they can actually be causing or being caused by, your pelvic floor issues. The last episode in this series looked below and talked about the relationship between knee, foot and ankle pain causing leaking, prolapse and pelvic pain.
In this week's episode I am diving more into the upper quarter of the body and common issues there that can be perpetuating your pelvic floor symptoms. Making sure your looking at the whole kinetic chain while you are investigating your issues and choosing a rehab or home program that works best for you to have a whole body, comprehensive approach. I talk about lots of practical tips and tricks for healing both your headaches, chest pain, costochondritis, TMJ, neck pain, upper back pain AND your pelvic floor incontinence, prolapse, dyspareunia or pain with sex, tailbone pain and more!
As always, if you are experiencing any pelvic floor/women's health issue like urinary incontinence/leaking, pelvic pain, pain with sex, urgency, heaviness/prolapse or any other back/hip/joint pain let's get you booked for a virtual coaching session or in person physical therapy session for a more individualized plan and one-on-one instructions so you can feel confident in your body and start healing today!!
Make Sure to reach out to> PTDes@balancedmomtality.com
AND/OR
Join my FREE Facebook community for ACCOUNTABILITY and a safe and supportive place to share and support each other!> https://www.facebook.com/groups/1696216757461633/
Join my VIP Insider group and receive my Newsletter full of great tips and tricks and upcoming resources! > https://newsletter.balancedmomtality.com/
Follow and get tips/tricks on:
Facebook> @thebalancedmomtality
Instagram> @the_balanced_momtality
Learn > www.balancedmomtality.com
Tuesday Jul 30, 2024
Tuesday Jul 30, 2024
Hey Girl!
Nutrition and Exercise go hand in hand, and having my Bachelors in Nutrition, I definitely address diet with all my patients and have talked about various nutrition concepts on this show. Yet, even sometimes I worry if my awareness and knowledge around food has caused some sort of eating disorder or almost obsessive relationship with food and what my kids and I are eating. And with all the confusion out there on the internet and social media, it can become very overwhelming to know how much food/calories and what types of foods are truly the best for your overall health. It is definitely individualized and meal planning should not be a one size fits all approach.
That is why I am SO excited to have Registered Dietitian and fellow 505 podcaster, Jessika Brown on today's show! Aside from also being from New Mexico and having graduated UNM’s Nutrition program a couple years earlier than me, Jessika has been helping women relearn their relationship with food through value- based goals, using biofeedback and evidence based nutrition. She has a private practice coaching women as well as her own podcast, The Fuel Her Awesome Show (linked below). She dives into so many great insights as well as some practical tips that will help you identify if you have a healthy relationship with food or not, how to start rebalancing your hormones through your gut and helping to overall improve gut and microbiome health. I personally love her approach as it is very similar to intuitive eating, but has a much more individualized and science based framework!
We know things like IBS, Chrons, anorexia, binge-eating and other eating/gut disorders are linked to pelvic floor pain and dysfunction so make sure you listen to this weeks episode as it will have lots of great insights in there for you to start healing your relationship with food, your gut and therefore, your pelvic floor!
As always, if you are experiencing any pelvic floor/women's health issue like urinary incontinence/leaking, pelvic pain, pain with sex, urgency, heaviness/prolapse or any other back/hip/joint pain let's get you booked for a virtual coaching session or in person physical therapy session for a more individualized plan and one-on-one instructions so you can feel confident in your body and start healing today!!
Make Sure to reach out to> PTDes@balancedmomtality.com
AND/OR
Join my FREE Facebook community for ACCOUNTABILITY and a safe and supportive place to share and support each other!> https://www.facebook.com/groups/1696216757461633/
Join my VIP Insider group and receive my Newsletter full of great tips and tricks and upcoming resources! > https://newsletter.balancedmomtality.com/
Follow and get tips/tricks on:
Facebook> @thebalancedmomtality
Instagram> @the_balanced_momtality
Learn > www.balancedmomtality.com
Jessika Brown Follow Up Information:
Fuel Her Awesome Podcast- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fuel-her-awesome-food-freedom-intuitive-eating-empowered/id1547179580
Website: https://www.jessbrownrd.com/
Instagram: @Jessbrownrd
Wednesday Jul 17, 2024
Wednesday Jul 17, 2024
Hey Friend!
Summer is already almost over and I have so many mixed feelings about it. I am checking in this week to see how you have been holding up this Summer and to help inspire you to stay on track with your health and wellness goals without sacrificing the fun and freedom that Summer is all about! Inside this week’s episode I am giving you my tips for what to focus on and what to bring when you go on vacation or camping or a work trip or anything like that! It can be such a game changer to know the little ways we can sneak in our home exercise program or nutrition goals with just a little intention and planning! As a busy mom myself, I know it is hard to balance all the things and when we are on vacation we want to forget about it all! But that can cause pain flare ups, constipation and other issues, so lets just avoid that by putting a little effort into ourselves and our healing journey, even when we go out of town!
As always, if you are experiencing any pelvic floor/women's health issue like urinary incontinence/leaking, pelvic pain, pain with sex, urgency, heaviness/prolapse or any other back/hip/joint pain let's get you booked for a virtual coaching session or in person physical therapy session for a more individualized plan and one-on-one instructions so you can feel confident in your body and start healing today!!
Make Sure to reach out to> PTDes@balancedmomtality.com
AND/OR
Join my FREE Facebook community for ACCOUNTABILITY and a safe and supportive place to share and support each other!> https://www.facebook.com/groups/1696216757461633/
Join my VIP Insider group and receive my Newsletter full of great tips and tricks and upcoming resources! > https://newsletter.balancedmomtality.com/
Follow and get tips/tricks on:
Facebook> @thebalancedmomtality
Instagram> @the_balanced_momtality
Learn > www.balancedmomtality.com
Wednesday Jul 10, 2024
Wednesday Jul 10, 2024
Hey Love!
We all know the body is connected, but unfortunately when we see healthcare providers and some physical therapists (especially in an insurance setting), they are not truly looking at the entire body as a system and making sure it is all working together as it should. Pelvic Floor health is no different. If you have pelvic floor issues we always need to look above and below at other joints to make sure the forces in the body are being spread optimally and being shared throughout the body. Particularly if you have foot issues like chronic ankle sprains, plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis, bunions etc, it is very likely that those forces are not being shared and can put those increased forces up into the pelvic floor and perpetuating your symptoms like leaking, pain and prolapse.
So inside today’s episode I am diving in more to the foot and how it is supposed to function and move to avoid foot issues, but also to improve alignment and the ability to absorb shock to reduce excessive pressures on the pelvic floor. I'll discuss why being barefoot can be a great first step to healing foot issues and how to appropriately progress barefoot tolerance and much more! There is so much we can do to address our feet that can help to also get rid of those pesky pelvic floor symptoms. So make sure to stay tuned to the entire episode to learn what you can do for both your pelvic floor and your feet!
As always, if you are experiencing any pelvic floor/women's health issue like urinary incontinence/leaking, pelvic pain, pain with sex, urgency, heaviness/prolapse or any other back/hip/joint pain let's get you booked for a virtual coaching session or in person physical therapy session for a more individualized plan and one-on-one instructions so you can feel confident in your body and start healing today!!
Make Sure to reach out to> PTDes@balancedmomtality.com
AND/OR
Join my FREE Facebook community for ACCOUNTABILITY and a safe and supportive place to share and support each other!> https://www.facebook.com/groups/1696216757461633/
Join my VIP Insider group and receive my Newsletter full of great tips and tricks and upcoming resources! > https://newsletter.balancedmomtality.com/
Follow and get tips/tricks on:
Facebook> @thebalancedmomtality
Instagram> @the_balanced_momtality
Learn > www.balancedmomtality.com
Friday Jul 05, 2024
Friday Jul 05, 2024
Hey Girl!
I think every woman I have talked to, young and old, has admitted to wanting a bigger butt. Whether it’s for it to look bigger or be stronger, glute strength and growth is something I am working on constantly with my patients. Especially if you struggle with feeling your glutes even though you are doing all the “glute exercises” or if you feel it in your back, hamstrings or quads instead, even causing pain. It can be so frustrating to make the time to do the workouts and not see any progress.
So inside this week’s episode I am diving into the details of glute engagement and getting more firing in those muscles so that they will turn on when they are supposed to. Because otherwise, let’s face it, it’s worthless to have muscle that isn’t turning on when it should, even if it is strong. If you want more on actual exercises for glute strength, after you listen to this episode to learn how to make sure your butt is engaging when and how it should, go check out an old but my most popular episode “30- Build Your Butt//4 Best Exercises..”
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-balanced-momtality-pelvic-floor-core-rehab-for/id1682290727?i=1000633356245
As always, if you are experiencing any pelvic floor/women's health issue like urinary incontinence/leaking, pelvic pain, pain with sex, urgency, heaviness/prolapse or any other back/hip/joint pain let's get you booked for a virtual coaching session or in person physical therapy session for a more individualized plan and one-on-one instructions so you can feel confident in your body and start healing today!!
Make Sure to reach out to> PTDes@balancedmomtality.com
AND/OR
Join my FREE Facebook community for ACCOUNTABILITY and a safe and supportive place to share and support each other!> https://www.facebook.com/groups/1696216757461633/
Join my VIP Insider group and receive my Newsletter full of great tips and tricks and upcoming resources! > https://newsletter.balancedmomtality.com/
Follow and get tips/tricks on:
Facebook> @thebalancedmomtality
Instagram> @the_balanced_momtality
Learn > www.balancedmomtality.com
Friday Jun 28, 2024
Friday Jun 28, 2024
Hey Friend!
Have you been working out, dieting and trying to lose weight or build strength or maybe you just want more energy and to feel better, but you aren’t seeing much progress? Feeling like your goals are getting further away instead of closer, even when you are taking the time to exercise and work out? This can be SO frustrating and can even sabotage any healthy habits because they can feel pointless.
That’s why this week’s episode I am going to dive into some of the common reasons I see my patients get stuck and plateau. We want to make sure that if you are taking the time to workout and eat right, that you are seeing results! Things like hormone issues, peri menopause and menopause can definitely make these goals harder to achieve if you are not making sure that the fundamentals of your health are solid. So it is crucial to address the areas talked about in this episode, not only to accelerate your health and wellness journey but also to reduce symptoms of perimenopause and menopause!
As always, if you are experiencing any pelvic floor/women's health issue like urinary incontinence/leaking, pelvic pain, pain with sex, urgency, heaviness/prolapse or any other back/hip/joint pain let's get you booked for a virtual coaching session or in person physical therapy session for a more individualized plan and one-on-one instructions so you can feel confident in your body and start healing today!!
Make Sure to reach out to> PTDes@balancedmomtality.com
AND/OR
Join my FREE Facebook community for ACCOUNTABILITY and a safe and supportive place to share and support each other!> https://www.facebook.com/groups/1696216757461633/
Join my VIP Insider group and receive my Newsletter full of great tips and tricks and upcoming resources! > https://newsletter.balancedmomtality.com/
Follow and get tips/tricks on:
Facebook> @thebalancedmomtality
Instagram> @the_balanced_momtality
Learn > www.balancedmomtality.com
Past episodes Mentioned in this Episode:
"Ditch This Tool That Might Be Sabotaging Your Progress"-
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-balanced-momtality-pelvic-floor-core-rehab-for/id1682290727?i=1000642782756
"3 Nutrition Tips To Boost Your Energy.."- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-balanced-momtality-pelvic-floor-core-rehab-for/id1682290727?i=1000628717391
Thursday Jun 20, 2024
Thursday Jun 20, 2024
Hey Girl!
Do you find that you have a hard time pooping? Maybe you struggle with IBS, Crohn's Disease, or a “leaky gut” and battle both diarrhea and constipation? Or maybe your stools are soft and solid like they should be but its hard to get them out or you feel like you don’t fully empty? OR maybe everything is easy to come out and it looks normal, but you don’t go regularly. All of these are signs that your bowel movements are not normal, which unfortunately can be the cause of many of the common pelvic floor symptoms I see.
Many times when we have pelvic floor issues like urinary incontinence/leaking, pelvic pain or even prolapse, we tend to think weakness or maybe even tightness or old scar tissue could be causing it. Or maybe you thought you weren’t performing your exercises correctly or weren’t doing the right types of exercise. But did you ever think that your poop was what was driving your pelvic floor symptoms? Or maybe your pelvic floor dysfunction is causing your leaking, pain or even prolapse? Inside this weeks episode I am diving into poop and why we should be paying close attention to our bowel movements.
As always, if you are experiencing any pelvic floor/women's health issue like urinary incontinence/leaking, pelvic pain, pain with sex, urgency, heaviness/prolapse or any other back/hip/joint pain let's get you booked for a virtual coaching session or in person physical therapy session for a more individualized plan and one-on-one instructions so you can feel confident in your body and start healing today!!
Make Sure to reach out to> PTDes@balancedmomtality.com
AND/OR
Join my FREE Facebook community for ACCOUNTABILITY and a safe and supportive place to share and support each other!> https://www.facebook.com/groups/1696216757461633/
Join my VIP Insider group and receive my Newsletter full of great tips and tricks and upcoming resources! > https://newsletter.balancedmomtality.com/
Follow and get tips/tricks on:
Facebook> @thebalancedmomtality
Instagram> @the_balanced_momtality
Learn > www.balancedmomtality.com
Friday Jun 14, 2024
Friday Jun 14, 2024
Hey Friend!
Having a UTI can be so uncomfortable with all the urinary urgency, frequency, burning and bladder/pelvic pain! It is especially frustrating when you go to the Doctor and get a urine dipstick test and it comes out negative. After frequent episodes like this you might get a diagnosis like Interstitial Cystitis, which is essentially bladder inflammation in a chronic state. Women that I work with feel lost and stuck with this painful condition and stuck on medications or painful bladder injections, and that does not have to be the case! Lately I have been seeing an influx of women coming to me with these symptoms and feeling hopeless.
So inside this week’s episode I am diving deep into bladder pain, frequent “UTIs”, and Interstitial Cystitis or IC and what are some of the many holistic and whole body factors that can be causing or contributing to your symptoms and a few of the many tips and tools that I teach my patients as a pelvic floor physical therapist! Listen and learn about bladder irritants, breathwork, reducing urgency with urge suppression techniques and how to analyze our foundational health (sleep, stress, diet, etc).
As always, if you are experiencing any pelvic floor/women's health issue like urinary incontinence/leaking, pelvic pain, pain with sex, urgency, heaviness/prolapse or any other back/hip/joint pain let's get you booked for a virtual coaching session or in person physical therapy session for a more individualized plan and one-on-one instructions so you can feel confident in your body and start healing today!!
Make Sure to reach out to> PTDes@balancedmomtality.com
AND/OR
Join my FREE Facebook community for ACCOUNTABILITY and a safe and supportive place to share and support each other!> https://www.facebook.com/groups/1696216757461633/
Join my VIP Insider group and receive my Newsletter full of great tips and tricks and upcoming resources! > https://newsletter.balancedmomtality.com/
Follow and get tips/tricks on:
Facebook> @thebalancedmomtality
Instagram> @the_balanced_momtality
Learn > www.balancedmomtality.com