Skip to content

The Belle Method

  • My Dashboard
  • Cart (0)
  • USD ^
  • My Dashboard
  • Cart

The Belle Method

  • About
    • About Nikki
    • Testimonials
    • Instructors
    • About
    • Become an Instructor
    • Pelvic Health Physio
    • Media
    • Contact
  • Courses
    • Prenatal Push Prep Course
    • Pilates Pelvic Floor & Core Restore
    • The Challenges
    • Courses + Classes
    • In-Person Classes
    • Gift Cards
  • Events
    • Workshops
    • In-Person Classes
    • Retreats
    • Events
    • Private Training
    • Gift Cards
  • Blog
    • Pelvic Floor“ELVIE” Review: a FitBit for your Kegels
    • Pregnancy5 Birthing Tips for Pregnant Women
    • RecipesHealthy Homemade Banana Protein Bars
    • Categories
    • Pregnancy
    • Postpartum
    • Health + Fitness
    • Mom Life
    • Inspiration
    • Recipes
    • View All Posts
  • eBooks
    • Batch Cooking Recipe E-Book
    • Spread the Health Cookbook
    • Bump Nutrition Recipe Book
    • eBooks
    • Batch Cooking Recipe E-Book
    • Spread the Health Cookbook
    • Bump Nutrition Recipe Book
    • Postnatal Meal Plan Bundle
    • View all eBooks
  • Shop
    • Gift Cards
    • In-Person Classes
    • Fitness Equipment
    • Shop
    • Push Prep Course
    • Core Restore Course
    • The Belle Method™ Online
    • Shop All
  • Freebies
  • Podcast
  • Contact
  • Home
  • My Dashboard
  • About
    • About Nikki
    • Testimonials
    • Instructors
    • Become an Instructor
    • Pelvic Health Physio
    • Media
  • Courses
    • Prenatal Push Prep Course
    • Pilates Pelvic Floor & Core Restore
    • Challenges
    • In-Person Classes
    • Gift Cards
  • Events
    • Workshops
    • In-Person Classes
    • Retreats
    • Private Training
    • Gift Cards
  • Blog
    • “ELVIE” Review: a FitBit for your Kegels
    • 5 Birthing Tips for Pregnant Women
    • Healthy Homemade Banana Protein Bars
    • Health + Fitness
    • Inspiration
    • Mom Life
    • Pelvic Floor
    • Postpartum
    • Pregnancy
    • Recipes
    • View All Posts
  • eBooks
    • Batch Cooking Recipe E-Book
    • Spread the Health Cookbook
    • Bump Nutrition Recipe Book
  • Shop
    • Gift Cards
    • In-Person Classes
    • Fitness Equipment
    • Push Prep Course
    • Core Restore Course
    • The Belle Method™ Online
    • Shop All
    • Cart
  • USD ($) ^
  • Freebies
  • Podcast
  • Contact
  • My Dashboard
  • Cart

Blog

Filter

Categories

Be Empowered

Find a Class

The Bump Method Online

The Belle Method Online

Pelvic Health Mastery

Blog

Mom Life

A Journey of Strength: Giorgia’s Story of Hyperemesis, Cesarean Birth, and the Power of Surrender

Birth Stories

Nurse Camilla’s Birth Story: VBAC after Trauma

Health + Fitness

6 Things I Learned from My Diastasis Repair Surgery, from a Pilates Teacher

Pelvic Floor

Hemorrhoid Healing Tips

Postpartum

Post-Weaning Symptoms: 9 Things you Need to Know

Mom Life

7 of the Most Overlooked Newborn Baby Essentials

Inspiration

Sickle Cell Anemia: Vanessa & Elijah’s Story

Postpartum

5 Postpartum Traditions

Postpartum

9 Tips for Pregnancy & Postpartum Nutrition

Mom Life

10 Top Tips to Getting Your Little One(s) to Love Veggies!

Pregnancy

5 Women Share Their Story of Miscarriage

Health + Fitness

Balance Your Hormones and Avoid Endocrine Disruptors

Mom Life

Why I Announced my Pregnancy at 10 weeks

Postpartum

The Three R’s of Postpartum Recovery: What Every New Mom Needs to Know

Health + Fitness

Debunking Collagen: Is there Science Behind Collagen and Skin Health?

Mom Life

Motherhood in the Age of Social Media

Mom Life

A Different Way to Treat Baby Eczema

Pregnancy

5 Birthing Tips for Pregnant Women

Inspiration

La Patria: Female Entrepreneurs Making a Difference

Pelvic Floor

My Experience with Pelvic Physiotherapy

Inspiration

Making Friends with Fear: My SVT Heart Ablation Surgery

Recipes

Healthy Homemade Banana Protein Bars

Inspiration

Life Lessons from a Pregnant Fitness Teacher

Recipes

Healthy Chocolate Peppermint Truffles

There is a framework I teach in the Core Restore C There is a framework I teach in the Core Restore Course to help my students understand if a move is "safe" for their body. In other words, are they handling the pressure? 

6 P's to avoid: 

Pain 
Pressure 
Peaking (aka coning as shown above) 
Popping (rectus dominance like bread loafing)
Puffing (breath holding) 
Peeing 

The Internet likes simple answers, with popular posts like "5 moves to fix diastasis" or "safe vs unsafe exercises for diastasis". 

 It doesn't work like that. 

Newsflash- crunches are not inherently unsafe. In fact, forward flexion is key to train back after the early rehab work. We can't get stuck at toe taps and leg slides forever. We need to overload the tissue and we can't do that if we're stuck in fear about what's "safe".

It comes down to technique. How do you breathe? Can you activate the deep core along with the superficial core muscles? 

We all have different patterns. Some of us have external oblique dominance and grip our ribs, some flare our ribs, some of us have rotations in our thorax, some of us are dealing with C-section scar adhesions - it all impacts our pressure management. 

So instead of limiting yourself to arbitrary lists of safe vs unsafe exercises, learn about your body, and discover how to truly train back your function. 

It's all in Core Restore. ✨

#thebellemethod #diastasisrecti #postnatalpilates #absafterbaby #abrehab #corerestore
You don’t need a fancy home gym. You don’t nee You don’t need a fancy home gym.
You don’t need the perfect space, outfit, or equipment.

I filmed this booty + thigh burner in my garage… with a $10 inflatable ball. And guess what? It still WORKS.

Stop waiting for “someday” when you have the right setup. Start imperfectly. Start with what you have. Even if it's 15 minutes in a basement. Start today.

Your body doesn’t care if your workout is in a sunlit studio or between the bikes and the boxes in the garage — it cares that you moved, challenged yourself, and showed up.

So grab your ball, roll out the mat, and let’s make it happen. I'm right there with ya. 

Wearing a new set from @michi_ny ❤️
Thank you!! Hands down my fav ✨

#bootyandthighs #barreworkout #thebellemethod #startwhereyouare
I thought I was broken. After my second birth, pro I thought I was broken.
After my second birth, prolapse left me scared to move, scared to lift my kids, and scared I’d never feel like myself again.

But living symptom free is possible.
Getting back to what you love, is possible. 

With the right strategies, I reduced heaviness, rebuilt my strength, and learned to trust my body again. By 10 months postpartum I could pick them up and even squat without fear. 

It's a freakin journey. I get it. 

If you’re dealing with prolapse, please know this:
💛 You are not broken.
💛 You are not alone.
💛 You can get back to what you love.

I’ll show you how. It's all in Core Restore. 

#prolapse #postpartumrecovery #pelvicfloorhealth #thebellemethod
Episiotomy isn’t just a little snip. It’s a cu Episiotomy isn’t just a little snip.
It’s a cut with surgical scissors to your perineum during childbirth to enlarge the opening.

And it's often overdone. 

In fact, the research is clear: routine episiotomies can increase your risk of severe 3rd and 4th degree tearing.
⁠
They should only be used in rare cases (like forceps or vacuum deliveries) and not be part of standard routine practice. 

One of the best @wegotherepodcast interviews I ever did was with Dr Michael Klein, a trailblazing physician who fought for decades to finally get research done that proved the truth of how damaging routine episiotomies are for women. 
⁠
⚠️ Ask your provider: “What’s your episiotomy rate?”
It should be LOW—ideally under 5%. If it’s higher… it might be time to explore new options.

✂️ Once upon a time, nearly every woman was given one. (Ask your grandma!) Rates have thankfully dropped—but in many places, this outdated routine still persists.

High rates are still seen in Asian countries like Taiwan, where rates can reach 100% for primiparous women, and in parts of South America, such as Brazil, with rates as high as 80%. India's rates are over 90% for first time moms, as well as several countries in the Middle East and Eastern Europe (over 50%). 

Sweden on the other hand, has a 1% rate. 

✨ Knowledge = power.⁠ You deserve informed, respectful care.

Did you have an episiotomy? How was your recovery?

📖 Carroli & Mignini (2009). Episiotomy for vaginal birth. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

#episiotomy #birthfacts #womenshealthmatters #thebellemethod #prenataleducation #birthprep #birthclass
Comment PUSHPREP for a free prenatal workshop to p Comment PUSHPREP for a free prenatal workshop to protect your pelvic floor in birth. ❤️

There are many things we cannot control during birth, but one of the things you CAN control, is HOW you prepare your body beforehand for this athletic event. 

Yes, it's like a marathon for your uterus. 💪 (like actually)

In pregnancy, choose a training program that is very specific to the end goal: a smoother delivery & easier postpartum recovery. 

Minimal diastasis recti, less tearing, better pelvic floor control, and less prolapse. Yes it's possible. 

Baby boy was born 2 days after I shot this video in a 3 hour labour ❤️

The Prenatal Pilates & Push Prep Course is your ultimate roadmap for training during pregnancy + evidence based birth education. Join live online classes and also do it all on demand. 

Just read the testimonial highlights here saved to my profile. 

18,000 births supported and counting 🥰

And if you're expecting and want even more support in person, join our upcoming 3 day, 2 night Prenatal Retreat October 24-26, 2025 in stunning lakeside unbuttoned luxury in Kingston, Ontario. Link in profile. 

#thebellemethod #birthtips #birthpreparation #birtheducation #prenatalworkout #birthmatters #expectingmom #pregnancyworkout #laborprep #birthprep #birthplan #momtobe
You can literally train your deep core and pelvic You can literally train your deep core and pelvic floor from anywhere. ✨👆 

We are 5 hours north of Toronto on a remote lake for the long weekend and I'm working with an old flex band and even older deck railing. 

It doesn't have to look aesthetic. It doesn't have to be an hour. It doesn't even need a mat (although a beach towel under me may have been more comfortable here 🤣). 

Just a little love note to remind you that it's never too late, too far gone, or too out of reach. We are all perfectly imperfect. Chasing perfection is a losing game. Bring back Pilates basics, without the cool girl club vibe. 

Move your body. Embrace it all. Rock your fave tunes and think of how much your 80 year old self would love to be back in your current body. 

Love, 

Nikki 

#thebellemethod #pelvicfloor #pilatesisforeverybody #corerehab #diastasisrecti #prolapse #postpartumfitness #pilatesanytime #ontariosummer
  • Prenatal Pilates & Push Prep Course
  • Postnatal Pilates
  • Belle Fusion Pilates
  • Online Programs
  • Shop
  • My Dashboard
  • My Account

Which fitness program is best for your current season of life?

Take the 45-second quiz to get your personalized recommendation for the online program designed to meet you where you are at, right now.

TAKE ME TO THE QUIZ
    • Privacy Policy
    • Shop Policy
THE BUMP METHOD™ AND BELLE METHOD™ ARE © THE BELLE METHOD INC, 2025 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Made with Type and Colour + BSpoke Media Inc.