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From our Pelvic Health Physio

Breathe and Stretch - Exercising with Endo

Pelvic Health Physiotherapist Katie Stan-Bishop and Yoga Instructor Emma Polette bring you insightful content aimed at enhancing your understanding of pelvic health and yoga and mindfulness practices.

Please note that all the information provided on this page is for general informational purposes only. It should not be construed as medical advice.

Pelvic Health Physiotherapist Katie Stan-Bishop

Yoga Instructor Emma Polette

Breathe and Stretch

The brain, pain, and body connection

A Little Bit About Pain

Pain is a physical, sensory, and emotional experience. Pain is an output that is produced by the brain to protect us from harm or potential harm. Our tissues should generally heal from an injury in 8-12 weeks. If the pain goes on past that point it may be a pain system problem. 1 in 4 people continue to have pain after tissues have healed. We call this persistent pain. In people with persistent pain, the brain and nervous system can go into overdrive and become super-sensitive, this is called ‘central sensitisation’. The immune system is also thought to be involved in this process. A super-sensitive nervous system and immune cells (called ‘glia’) release chemicals which ‘turn up the volume’, increasing the number of connections and signals whizzing around in the brain and spinal cord. When the volume is ‘turned up’ pain may be felt during activities and movements that should not normally provoke pain. This may also mean that just thinking about activities or movement may cause pain.

Movement, Mindfulness, Breathing and Yoga

Little moments throughout the day add up, and can make a big difference.

Use your calming strategies such as guided meditation and breathing.

Start with 5-20 minutes every day.

These strategies can play a role in managing your pain, but also in managing stress and anxiety.

Learning to relax is a learned skill, so regular practice outside of flares is important.

There are many guided apps and websites, see our resources page for some suggestions.

Breathing Awareness

Breathing awareness is important. By manipulating our breathing we can often calm our nervous system as well as increase the mobility throughout our ribs, diaphragm and abdominal wall. This can also help take us out of the ‘flight or fight response’. Focus on relaxed diaphragmatic breathing: close the mouth, teeth apart and raise the tongue to the palate. Use your hands on your tummy and lower ribs to feel the depth of the breath into your lower tummy. You could also try alternate nasal breathing to slow your breathing and relax the body. Aim to continue for 5-10 minutes, refocus if your thoughts interrupt and carry on.

Mindfulness and Meditation

Mindfulness is about being here, now. It is about being ‘present’ or in the moment. While the idea is really quite simple, embodying mindfulness is not always easy. The practice of mindfulness meditation is about stretching out these moments of present-focused awareness by training our minds to keep coming back to what is happening right now. People describe it as shifting out of the ‘doing’ mode and into the ‘being’ mode or switching out of autopilot. Practicing mindfulness meditation helps bypass some of the worries and frustrations that creep in when you are in pain. Research shows that practicing mindfulness meditation can be helpful for people with persistent pain, with a moderate effect in reducing pain intensity.

Practice points

  1. Scan your body for areas of tension and imagine them softening, like a block of ice melting or a flower opening. Try and imagine the tension spreading and diffusing, like steam in a room.
  2. Imagine breathing into and out of areas where you feel tense, as if you’re breathing through the pores of your skin rather than your nose. Visualise your breath spreading to the areas of your body that are tense.
  3. Be patient and kind with yourself rather than trying to force relaxation. Trying too hard or striving to reach some special state of relaxation can put you under pressure, which makes it even harder to relax. It is OK to have this as a strategy that you come back to and gradually work on.
  4. One of the most powerful things that meditation can teach us is how to be a better friend to ourselves. It is important to allow our body and mind a little compassion, especially when it has been dealing with years of pain or trauma.
  5. Meditation helps to tune in to a kinder, more friendly way to relate to ourselves. Research shows that stoking the fire of self-compassion not only warms the heart, but it also helps with pain.

Breathe and Stretch

Yoga

Yoga is a unique practice which works on the connection between mind and body. When yoga techniques are practiced there are positive effects on our nervous system. Research tells us that body releases less stress hormones and the “relaxation response” can be initiated.
Yoga uses stretches, balances, breathing techniques and relaxation practices to achieve this.
Yoga can be helpful in addressing some of the movement-related aspects of pain that can contribute to a pain experience, for example, tight muscles and stiff joints.
Regular yoga can help to release tension in the body, improve mood, immune system function and help you feel good.


Research suggests that the positive impact on mood and mental health is one of the primary ways yoga works to improve your day-to-day function, moderate pain, and mood.
Exercise in general can also deliver similar benefits to your health and wellbeing.

It is important to experiment with different types of movement and exercise to find something that feels good.
Exercise and movement can be used as ‘medicine’. Sometimes we need to adjust our movement and activity levels to meet our body and mind at the point where they are at.

The brain, pain, and body connection