Pelvic Floor Exercises: Strengthen Your Foundation with Yoga

The pelvic floor is a set of muscles that forms the foundation of your core. It plays a crucial role in bladder control, posture, sexual health, and core stability—yet it’s often overlooked in mainstream fitness routines. For women especially, these muscles can weaken due to pregnancy, childbirth, aging, or sedentary lifestyles, leading to issues such as urinary incontinence, lower back pain, or pelvic organ prolapse.

At Trimuk Yoga, under the guidance of Radhika Bargava, India Excellence Award 2024 winner and renowned yoga and nutrition coach, we believe in empowering women through mindful movement. In this blog, we will explore how pelvic floor exercises, especially when practiced through yoga, can help restore strength, flexibility, and confidence.

What is the Pelvic Floor?

The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and ligaments stretching like a hammock across the base of the pelvis. These muscles:

• Support pelvic organs (bladder, uterus, and rectum)
• Assist in bladder and bowel control
• Contribute to sexual function
• Play a role in core strength and stability

When functioning optimally, the pelvic floor contracts and relaxes in coordination with other muscles in the body. Weak or tight pelvic floor muscles can create imbalances that affect daily life.

Who Needs Pelvic Floor Exercises?

Pelvic floor strengthening isn’t just for postpartum women—it benefits:

• Women during and after pregnancy
• Women in menopause
• People recovering from pelvic surgeries
• Individuals dealing with urinary incontinence
• Yoga practitioners wanting stronger core integration

At Trimuk Yoga, our approach blends traditional yoga with therapeutic alignment, making these exercises accessible and effective.

Benefits of Pelvic Floor Exercises

✅ Improves Bladder and Bowel Control

A strong pelvic floor helps prevent involuntary leaks during coughing, sneezing, or lifting.

✅ Enhances Sexual Wellness

Improved blood flow and muscle tone can lead to better sensation and function.

✅ Supports Pregnancy and Recovery

During pregnancy, it helps support the growing uterus; post-birth, it aids recovery and healing.

✅ Boosts Core Strength

The pelvic floor is part of the deep core system, along with the diaphragm and transverse abdominis.

✅ Reduces Risk of Prolapse

Regular activation and awareness prevent pelvic organ prolapse, especially with age or after childbirth.

Yoga Poses to Strengthen the Pelvic Floor

Yoga offers a gentle yet powerful way to connect with and activate the pelvic floor. Here are some of the most effective pelvic floor yoga exercises taught at Trimuk Yoga:

1. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana)

• Strengthens glutes, hamstrings, and pelvic muscles
• Encourages awareness of the lifting action of the pelvic floor

How to do it: Lie on your back with knees bent and feet hip-width apart. Inhale, engage your core and pelvic floor, and lift your hips. Hold and breathe.

2. Malasana (Yogi Squat)

• Opens the pelvic region
• Grounds and stretches pelvic floor muscles gently

How to do it: Stand with feet wide, lower into a squat, and bring palms together. Press elbows into knees and lift through the pelvic floor on each breath.

3. Cat-Cow Pose (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana)

• Promotes spinal mobility
• Synchronizes breath with pelvic floor engagement and release

How to do it: On all fours, inhale and arch the spine (cow), gently lifting the pelvic floor. Exhale and round (cat), softening the pelvic floor.

4. Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclining Butterfly Pose)

• Encourages relaxation of overly tense pelvic floor
• Opens the hips

How to do it: Lie on your back, bring soles of feet together, and let knees fall open. Place a bolster under the spine for comfort. Focus on soft belly breathing.

5. Happy Baby Pose (Ananda Balasana)

• Stretches hips and pelvic floor
• Helps in awareness and releasing gripping patterns

How to do it: Lie on your back, bend your knees, and hold your feet. Keep ankles above knees and gently rock side to side.

Breath and the Pelvic Floor

One of the most overlooked but powerful tools is breath. The diaphragm and pelvic floor move together. When you inhale, the diaphragm drops and the pelvic floor softens. When you exhale, the diaphragm lifts and so can the pelvic floor.

Practice: Diaphragmatic Breathing

• Sit or lie down comfortably.
• Inhale slowly through the nose, expanding your belly.
• Exhale gently and visualize the pelvic floor lifting slightly.
• Repeat for 5–10 minutes.

This builds coordination and helps prevent unconscious tension or weakness.

Daily Routine for Pelvic Floor Health (Beginner Friendly)

✅ Morning:

• 5 minutes of deep breathing
• Bridge pose and cat-cow (5 rounds)

✅ Midday:

• Seated awareness (lift and release the pelvic floor 10 times)

✅ Evening:

• Supta Baddha Konasana with guided breathwork
• Happy Baby before bed

🧘‍♀️ Remember: consistency is key. These small moments of awareness add up to long-term strength.

Signs of Pelvic Floor Imbalance

It's not just about weakness. Some people have an overactive pelvic floor that is tight and unable to relax.

Symptoms of imbalance:

• Leaking when you laugh or sneeze
• Pressure or heaviness in the pelvis
• Pain during intercourse
• Difficulty emptying the bladder or bowels
• Low back pain

If you relate to any of these, consult a pelvic floor therapist. Trimuk Yoga’s therapeutic sessions can support recovery in tandem.

What to Avoid

• Avoid holding your breath during exercises.
• Skip high-impact activities if symptoms worsen.
• Don’t over-clench the pelvic floor—balance strength with relaxation.
• Avoid deep backbends or intense ab work if recovering postpartum.

How Trimuk Yoga Can Help

Led by Radhika Bargava, Trimuk Yoga offers:

• 🌸 Personalized pelvic floor strengthening programs
• 🧘‍♀️ Prenatal and postnatal yoga classes
• 🌿 Therapeutic yoga for incontinence or prolapse
• 💬 Nutrition and lifestyle guidance for hormonal support

Radhika’s approach integrates traditional Hatha Flow and Ashtanga principles with modern anatomy to help women feel empowered, connected, and supported through every life stage.

Your pelvic floor is your core foundation, and it deserves mindful attention. Whether you're preparing for childbirth, navigating postpartum recovery, or simply looking to deepen your connection to your core—pelvic floor exercises through yoga can transform your strength from the inside out.

At Trimuk Yoga, we’re committed to supporting you with accessible, compassionate, and evidence-based practices. Join us to experience the difference a strong foundation can make.

Take the first step—join Trimuk Yoga now and feel the shift from within.

🙋‍♀️ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How do I know if I’m doing pelvic floor exercises correctly?

A correct pelvic floor contraction feels like a gentle lifting and tightening of the muscles you’d use to stop the flow of urine or hold in gas—without tensing your belly, thighs, or glutes. In yoga, we combine breath awareness with subtle engagement to help you build mind-muscle connection.

At Trimuk Yoga, we guide you through these movements step-by-step using visualizations and alignment cues to ensure you’re activating the right muscles safely and effectively.

2. How often should I do pelvic floor exercises for best results?

Consistency is key. We recommend:

• ✅ Daily awareness and breathwork (5–10 minutes)
• ✅ Yoga poses with pelvic floor focus 3–5 times per week

You don’t need long sessions—small, regular practice is more effective than occasional intense effort. Our guided routines at Trimuk Yoga are beginner-friendly and designed to integrate easily into your day.

3. Can pelvic floor exercises help with bladder control issues?

Yes—pelvic floor strengthening is one of the most effective natural remedies for urinary incontinence and bladder leaks. With regular practice, you can:

• Improve control when sneezing, laughing, or lifting
• Reduce urgency or frequent trips to the bathroom
• Rebuild support for the bladder, especially after childbirth or during menopause

Our yoga-based approach not only strengthens but also releases unnecessary tension, creating balanced and responsive pelvic muscles.

4. Are pelvic floor exercises only for women, or should men do them too?

Pelvic floor health is important for everyone, regardless of gender.

While Trimuk Yoga focuses on women’s wellness, men can also benefit from pelvic floor awareness to improve:

• Bladder control
• Prostate health
• Core support
• Sexual function

The same principles of breath, posture, and mindful movement apply.

5. How long does it take to see results from pelvic floor training?

Results vary from person to person, depending on consistency and initial muscle condition. Most people notice improvements in:

• Awareness and control within 2–3 weeks
• Bladder strength, posture, and confidence in 4–6 weeks
• Deeper core connection and symptom relief in 8–12 weeks

At Trimuk Yoga, we help you track progress gently—celebrating the small milestones along your journey to a stronger foundation.