Exercise schedule

• Everyone is different so there is no one size fits all
• The amount of time it takes to release the pelvic floor in any one session depends on how tense you are before you start the session. A tense day means it will take longer to connect with and release the pelvic floor
• Generally the session will always start with releasing i.e. working on Sniff , Flop & Drop.
• Only when you feel you are connecting with the pelvic floor should you move on to any pelvic floor activation
• If you are suffering from pelvic pain as your main symptom you may need to avoid contracting altogether until your pain is under control
• If you do start muscle strengthening, the contraction should only be gentle with most of the emphasis on the release part of the exercise

If you cannot release your stomach

• Stay with exercise 1 or
• Proceed to exercise 2 to see if this helps you to soften the stomach better
• You may benefit from help with some hands on therapy, see the section on manual therapy. A couple of sessions of deep dry needling can help a lot

If you cannot feel the pelvic floor release

• Stick with the release exercises
• Just by thinking of the pelvic floor at the same time as practicing your breathing you are starting the change, exercise 3 and 4
• You can go between all of the release exercises trying the combinations of 4,5,6 and 7 and seeing what works best for you trying to connect
• It can take time , keep the effort low or tension will always creep in

If you still cannot feel the pelvic floor release

• You could start to do a gentle pelvic floor contraction to feel where the muscles are, exercise 8, but make sure you are just using these muscles to then feel the contrasting drop and not with emphasis on making the pelvic floor stronger yet

You should only really start activation/strengthening when you feel you have awareness of the Drop

Work your way through the activation/strengthening section

If you cannot feel your pelvic floor activate

• It is possible that there is still some tension there and that is part of the reason
• It is possible that it will just take time, three months is reasonable and it will still continue to improve over a year later
• It may be time to find a physiotherapist with training in Women's Health/Men's Health to help you. Each country will have a Physiotherapy Society with more information. This website has a list of physiotherapists in the UK and Ireland, which is not an exhaustive list of the many physiotherapists who work in this area 

If you cannot feel your abdominal activate

• This can be difficult and a Health Professional with an interest in Core Stability would be able to help you
• Tension and trigger points in the stomach can be a barrier to correct activation

Always practice exercise 7 Sniff, Flop & Drop each time for 5 to 10 minutes before you start your strengthening exercises

Progress through exercises 8 and 9 and then regularly practice whichever stage of contract / relax that you are at i.e. exercise 11 or 12 or 13

Do 10 repetitions of this once or twice after your Sniff, Flop & Drop

Two other times during the day in lying, sitting or standing do 10 repetitions of your contract / relax, exercise 11 or 12 or 13, it will not always be possible to lie down and do your breathing before each set of 10 contract / relax. However if tension is your main problem and if you cannot feel the contract / relax it will always be a good idea to create more time for this release exercise, which should by preference be carried out lying down on your back as previously described or on your side

Everyone will be different, emphasis for some will be to release and for others will be to strengthen

You might consider the accompanying DVD Release to Balance where voice and graphics are helpful and there is voice-over for 10 reps of the contract/relax (exercise 12)