The Invisible Foundation of the Female Body
For a long time, the pelvic floor has remained outside conversations about women’s health. It is a discreet, invisible, yet essential area: the set of muscles and ligaments that supports the bladder, uterus, and intestine, and that participates in functions as basic as laughing without fear, maintaining posture, or living a full sexual life.
Gynecologist Rina Cuadros, a pelvic health specialist with more than eighteen years of experience, defines it as “a muscular hammock between the vagina, the urethra, and the anus, capable of strengthening or weakening according to our habits and stage of life.” And as our co-founder Ursula Pfeiffer reminds us, it’s not about fragility, but about awareness: “Knowing how our body works doesn’t make us weak, it makes us wise.”
The pelvic floor is not a minor territory: it is the foundation that supports our quality of life.
Anatomy and Vulnerability: What No One Taught Us
Anatomically, women have three openings—urethra, vagina, and anus—where men have only one. This structural difference, Rina explains, makes us more prone to incontinence and prolapses, especially after childbirth, during menopause, or after years of intense physical effort without body awareness.
Modernity, however, pushes us to move, run, lift weights, take care of our bodies intensely… without stopping to think about what part sustains all that effort. “The pelvic floor doesn’t weaken from using it, but from forgetting it,” Rina summarizes.
The challenge is not to stop exercising, but to do it mindfully.
Exercise Yes, but with Awareness
Strengthening the body should not become a risk. Rina explains it clearly: “Weight training is wonderful for maintaining muscle mass and bone health, especially after menopause. But we must do it while protecting the pelvic floor.”
This protection consists of an almost imperceptible gesture: a voluntary contraction of the pelvic muscles just before the effort. “When you feel like you are going to sneeze or lift something heavy —says Rina—, contract your pelvic floor and only then make the movement.” With time, that reflex becomes natural, an instinctive act of self-care.
We are not talking about weakness, but about prevention. As Ursula points out, “these are measures of body intelligence, not fragility.”
How to Activate the Pelvic Floor
One of the biggest challenges is identifying the correct area. Rina gives us a practical guide: “Imagine you are going to prevent yourself from passing stool. That contraction you make around the anus activates the main muscle of the pelvic floor: the levator ani.”
Learning requires practice. Some women cannot differentiate this contraction from that of the glutes or the abdomen, but consistency is key. We can start with a simple routine:
- Contract the pelvic floor muscles for 5 seconds.
- Completely relax and repeat 10 times, morning and night.
- Then add abdominal contraction—pulling the navel toward the back—to integrate the core of the body.
“The best part —Rina adds— is that you can do it at any time: while working, driving, or watching television. The important thing is to remember it.”
Self-care begins with attention.
Hypopressives: Strengthening Without Harm
Among the most effective techniques, Rina recommends hypopressive exercises, known as the modern abdominals. “While classic abdominal exercises push the organs down, hypopressives elevate the diaphragm and relieve pressure on the pelvic floor.”
The movement consists of completely emptying the lungs, contracting the abdomen and pelvic floor simultaneously, and holding for a few seconds before inhaling. This work not only reinforces the pelvic base: it improves posture, slims the waist, and tones from within.
“Hypopressives strengthen without harming,” Rina emphasizes. They are a reminder that strength can also be exerted through softness.
Listening to the Body’s Signals
Caring for the pelvic floor is not just about prevention, but also about attention. “Almost 40% of women present some degree of pelvic dysfunction, and many don’t even know it,” Rina warns.
Warning signs include:
- Urine leakage when laughing, coughing, or jumping.
- Sensation of weight or a lump in the vagina.
- Difficulty holding gas or feces.
Prolapse, she explains, occurs when internal organs begin to herniate into the vagina. “It can start with a sensation of a small lump and progress if not treated.”
Often, the problem is not the severity of the symptom, but denial. “Many women assume that losing a little urine is normal after childbirth or with age. It is not,” Rina says. Recognizing what is not right is the first step toward healing.
The Mirror as a Tool for Self-Knowledge
The lack of information about the pelvic floor is linked to a deeper disconnection: not knowing our own anatomy. “There are women who believe we have only one opening for urination, defecation, and sexual relations —comments Rina—. That is not ignorance; it is the result of not having been educated to observe ourselves.”
Knowing ourselves involves looking without fear. Ursula describes it as a gesture of reconnection: “We cannot recognize the abnormal if we don’t know what the normal looks like.” Looking at ourselves with curiosity and respect is a way of re-appropriating our bodies.
The mirror, so often a symbol of vanity, can become a tool for self-knowledge.
Breaking the Stigma: The Body That Changes Doesn’t Shut Down
Part of the silence surrounding pelvic health stems from the fear of aging. Ursula expresses it lucidly: “For many women, admitting a loss of bodily control is equivalent to accepting the passage of time, and society still punishes female age.”
Rina responds with medical and vital perspective: “We live more than eighty years on average. We cannot spend thirty of those years giving up our well-being. The goal is not to avoid aging, but to do so healthily.”
Incontinence or prolapse are not inevitable sentences; they are conditions that can be prevented and treated. Talking about them doesn’t make us weak; it gives us back power.
Know Yourself, Love Yourself, Care for Yourself
Rina summarizes her philosophy this way: “First we must know ourselves, then love ourselves as we are, and from there, take care of ourselves.” This simple sequence contains a profound truth: body care begins with acceptance.
The pelvic floor supports not only our organs; it supports our autonomy, our confidence, our vital energy. Caring for it is a way of honoring the body that accompanies us through all stages of life.
As Ursula concludes: “Caring for the body is not a gesture of vanity, but of freedom. Every act of body awareness is a way of returning home to ourselves.”
Watch the complementary episode “Your Pelvic Floor Matters: Take Care of Your Body and Regain Control” on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/aea03MFNqQU
