Hey everyone!!
Today on The Friday Society podcast, Claire Sparrow of Whole Body Pelvic Health joined me to discuss Pelvic floor health and her journey to becoming a best selling author.
This episode was so fun to record because Claire and I have been following each other for years and finally had the time to connect. She is incredibly educated and passionate about pelvic floor health. I was grateful to learn from her and share this conversation with you!
Claire Sparrow’s Journey to becoming a Pelvic Floor Expert
Claire Sparrow is a second generation pilates teacher, international best selling author, podcast host, mother, and so much more! Claire is based in Leeds, which is north of England, but has a beautiful Scottish accent which I love.
As a second generation pilates teacher, she learned from a teacher who directly studied under Joseph Pilates. Claire was taught under a master mentorship with her teacher, Lolita San Miguel, who was one of the two teachers whose lineage links directly to Joseph Pilates. These very few teachers were certified directly by him to continue teaching his method. This is so hard to come by!
Pilates as a way of communication
I love her way of thinking about Pilates as a preventative exercise strategy. She teaches us to feel better in your body now. This will help you feel better in the future as you age. As a teenager she found her way of communicating through dance and movement of her body. Being dyslexic, school was difficult for her but through dance she found herself.
After attending university, she stumbled upon pilates which was essentially what she had been practicing for her entire life! Post knee injury, she started visiting the pilates studio daily to incorporate rehabilitation techniques. Once she returned to the dance studio she was able to dance like she had never danced before!
I love her story because the difference in her movement came from her connection with pilates. After she graduated, she continued dancing but as she began to teach she included forms of pilates because she knew how beneficial it was for her.
After the birth of her son, and the difficulty she experienced with childbirth, it opened her eyes to the benefits that pilates gave her body and mind. It gave her an opportunity to learn a new layer of what she was capable of doing physically and the gratitude of what women are able to do through their physical bodies! This ignited her journey into becoming an expert of the pelvic floor.
What is the pelvic floor?
Claire defines the female pelvic floor that, first of all, its not a floor! It’s not hard or flat, but instead, has holes in it. It’s a series of interlacing muscles that are weaving together and weaves around each of our passages.
The pelvic floor is a diaphragm that works with your breathing diaphragm. While you are breathing in all day long the pelvic floor also moves up and down along with the breathing diaphragm. However, from sitting all day and being tucked in, the back of the pelvic floor is unable to lengthen and instead we move into the lower back.
I found this connection to the diaphragm fascinating. If we pull our stomach in then the diaphragm cannot move down and talk to the pelvic diaphragm so it creates dysfunction between both of these areas working together. Wow!
Claire Sparrow became a pelvic floor expert because of a pelvic floor prolapse that she experienced and decided to do personal exercises versus the traditional strengthening exercises you may see on the internet. She healed her pelvic floor and from there the rest is history! While being overwhelmed by the amount of pelvic floor clients she was receiving she began to host workshops.
I love her take on the pelvic floor, and common myths, because we often only associate pelvic floor health for pregnancy and postpartum but the reality is that every woman has a pelvic floor and needs to maintain its health! Also, not all pelvic floors are weak. It can actually be super tight and rigid that it creates an elimination issue.
Claire is a best selling author
In 2020 she launched her online content. Virtual options enabled her to reach so many people globally and she has quickly grown to be know as a pelvic floor pilates expert. Fast forward, she has now written an internationally best selling book, Hope for your Pelvic Floor. This has helped her reach women from all over the world and provides practical tips on how to restore pelvic floor health.
I highly recommend giving her a follow and checking out her amazing offerings!!
Enjoy the episode!
Follow Claire on Instagram, Facebook community, and check out her amazing online courses!
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