Skip to content

The Belle Method

  • My Dashboard
  • Cart (0)
  • CAD
  • 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
    • Core Challenge
    • Courses + Classes
    • Core Express
    • 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
    • View all eBooks
  • Shop
    • Gift Cards
    • In-Person Classes
    • Fitness Equipment
    • Shop
    • Push Prep Course
    • Core Restore Course
    • The Belle Method™ Online
    • Shop All
  • 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
    • Core Challenge
    • Core Express
    • 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
  • CAD ($)
  • Podcast
  • Contact
  • My Dashboard
  • Cart
Your inner thighs can tell us a lot about your pel Your inner thighs can tell us a lot about your pelvic floor. Many of us have tight overworked adductor (inner thigh) muscles after birth. Why? Because they are compensating for a weak core and pelvic floor, trying to stabilize the pelvis. Feel like you might pee your pants? Feel pelvic heaviness? Your adductors tense to "hold on". The adductors cross over your pubic bone, and attach into your core. When they are overly tense it can exacerbate urinary leaking, pelvic pain, SPD and even pain with intimacy. Remember: we need to stretch AND strengthen tight weak muscles. Here are some options. ✨ Join the Pelvic Floor & Core Restore Course for a complete workout program and mini masterclasses on all these key topics ❤️ #pelvicfloor #innerthighworkout #thebellemethod #adductors #pelvicpain #spd #postnatalfitness #prenatalfitness #postnatalexercise #pilates #momoftwo #incontinence
When your jeans don't fit anymore, you've gained w When your jeans don't fit anymore, you've gained weight and you celebrate taking up more space...✨ Being stronger and having more energy is worth more than the size on your waistband. I shared this in stories yesterday but got so many responses it needed to be moved to the feed. Women's supplements and fitness is usually marketed to slim down and lose weight. Men's supplements and fitness is focused on building muscle and making "gains". So it feels a bit revolutionary to celebrate gaining weight as a woman. But here we are 🥳 🔥Tides are turning. I grew up in the 90s and early 2000s when it was all about being as tiny as possible. Needing to buy bigger jeans would have elicited shame and horror if I've being honest. I remember going on a "diet" to lose weight after a teenage breakup. My varsity field hockey coach yelling at me when I started slowing down, missing shots and "slacking off" in practice. I had no energy. No vitality. I had been trying to shrink myself. I can tell you it was not from a place of self love. Now 25 years later, I'm TRYING to grow stronger from a place of self love. And if that means eating more protein and gaining weight and buying bigger jeans, well HELL yes I'm going to celebrate that. ✨ The more muscle you build going into perimenopause, the smoother the hormone transition will be. Now's the time. Muscle equals life, literally. I'm mixing Pilates with heavy weights. We deserve to feel vital, strong and have amazing energy levels. It's called longevity. Eat more protein. Train your body. Celebrate taking up more space. With your body and your voice. And never EVER try to shrink yourself at the cost of your vitality. What do you think? Have you found yourself shifting this internal paradigm? #strongwomen #bodylove #bodytransformation #musclegain #bootygainz #womensfitness #dietculture #thebellemethod #pilatesbody #momoftwo
Did you ever see your abs "cone" in pregnancy? Tel Did you ever see your abs "cone" in pregnancy? Tell me below 👇 Coning is feedback that your core is dealing with mis-managed pressure. Repetitive coning in pregnancy increases the chances of more severe diastasis recti. I held my breath on purpose at 24 weeks pregnant to demo coning during a lean back exercise. Breath holding increases pressure. Pressure "escapes" taking the path of least resistance. The vertical midline of your 6 pack muscle (called your linea alba) thins and stretches as baby grows. You see the coning because the poorly managed pressure is pressing out against this weakened connective tissue. What does this mean? We want to UNDER-LOAD our abdominal wall in pregnancy. Switch crunches and planks for breath and TVA training, coupled with glute focused exercises to improve stability & pelvic floor support. It's fundamental to workouts in the Pilates & Push Prep course. If you remember just one thing, remember the breathe - especially during exertion. A well timed exhale is so protective of your abdominal wall and pelvic floor. Questions? Hug the baby is often confused with sucking in. They are different my friends!! One is sucking belly button to spine, the other is actually wrapping the transverse abs. #diastasisrecti #pregnancyfitness #prenatal #fitpregnancy #diastasisrectiexercises #thebellemethod #fitbump #strongwomen #prenatalpilates #momworkout
"It's just in your head" gaslighting is unfortunat "It's just in your head" gaslighting is unfortunately common in women's health - especially when it comes to pain. Just "relax" messages make many of us feel brushed aside - we can be perceived as hysterical, overly emotional and even fabricating the pain like it's psychosomatic. If you have ever lived the "it's in your head" response, you know what I'm talking about. It sucks. It's so common after baby too. Let's pause and imagine men were given the same advice when dealing with pain with s€x. 🙃 Just be on top. Just relax. Just use more lube. Just drink some wine. Just Just Just 80% of women report having had pain with penetration. 5-17% of women experience vaginismus. Up to 16% of women experience Vulvadynia in their lives. (Harlow 2003) Getting diagnosed and getting help can be an isolating journey. This is one of the many reasons we are hosting a S€X and Your Pelvic Floor workshop tomorrow. Join Pelvic PT Kate Roddy and I for a 90-min interactive workshop tomorrow at noon eastern. Get the recording if you can't join live. Walk away with tips to use right away, along with a 5 step process to improving pain with penetration. Sign up link in profile. ❤️ #womenshealth #newmom #postpartum #dyspareunia #vaginismus #vulvodynia #pelvicfloor #thebellemethod #pain #postnatalrecovery #gaslighting
The comments on yesterday's tailbone pain post sti The comments on yesterday's tailbone pain post still have me spinning 🤨. So I'm sharing this again. It's been two years since I first posted it. This towel trick can make or break your tailbone. Pun intended. Evidence supports the benefits of “sacrum freeing” positions for pushing. Why?! Because the coccyx a.k.a. tailbone must bend back into extension as baby is born. This cannot happen if mom is lying on her back when pushing and the sacrum is pressed against the bed. Unfortunately, women are commonly told they must be on their back for pushing. This is largely for the convenience of their care provider - this is how they are trained to deliver babies. That said, there ARE birth scenarios where you may need or even want to be on your back. This towel trick can help create more space for the tailbone to move! Were you on your back for pushing? How did it work for you? Some people prefer it, and that's ok. Please use the towel trick I show here to save your tailbone and open your pelvic outlet more. When your tailbone is pressed against the bed it can only move 4 degrees, vs 16 degrees when it's "free" in side lying, hands and knees or squat positions. The towel will help increase range of motion for your sacrum if you are on your back. You still sign up for the current November December Push Prep session, or do it all on demand. ❤️ #birthtips #empoweredbirth #thebellemethod #obstetrics #birthing #laboranddelivery #midwifery #obstetricia #birthpreparation #birtheducation #doula #midwifery
Pushing on your back during birth increases the ch Pushing on your back during birth increases the chances of pelvic floor trauma and tailbone pain postpartum. Your sacrum cannot move as well, your pelvic outlet is smaller and you have to push with more force, against gravity. (Gupta et al., 2017) (Borges et al., 2021). And yet we are so often told we "must" be on our back for delivery- generally for the convenience of our care provider. It's how they are most comfortable as it's how they are trained. They want a good view. So here we are, acquiescing to requests from authority figures, being "nice", losing body autonomy, at the expense of our own well being. If you want to be on your back, that's ok! It should be YOUR choice. Even in an emergent situation - there should be informed consent. And you can use a towel to improve sacral mobility if you're on your back. Friends, I hear a lot of birth stories. A hell of a lot. The theme of "they told me I had to be on my back for delivery, but I didn't want to be, it was so painful" is one I hear daily. ABC news just did a special on obstetric violence. I shared in stories today. It's enraging and heart breaking and just plain horrific. How have we let this become so commonplace in 2023? I'm interviewing an incredible OB from Mount Sinai here in Toronto for the @wegotherepodcast this Friday on ways she is pushing for trauma informed care and better training for her colleagues. There is change on the horizon. All this to say, stop letting them not let you. Self advocating is a huge theme in the Push Prep course, and it's a skill I wish for all of us to practice. Because it takes practice. And it's not easy. But it is so so necessary. #birthstory #tailbonepain #birthtrauma #thebellemethod #pregnancytips #laboranddelivery #prenatal #birtheducation #pushprep #doula #takebackyourpower
  • 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, 2023 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Made with Type and Colour + BSpoke Media Inc.