As promised, I am going to try to respond to a question I was asked a few days ago. Here is the question repeated:
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I was wondering if you could answer [a] question that I was asked today from [a] female student? [She] suffers from Prolapse and wondered which poses could help. I realize that Mula Bandha will help and inversions but can you suggest anything else and what should be avoided? I'm guessing strong abdominal work where she is pushing or forcing down should be avoided.
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The condition being asked about, upon further clarification, involves both a prolapsed uterus and bladder. This can happen when the muscles and ligaments in and around the pelvis become weak and stretched, which causes the organs to slip out of their normal positions. The reasons are many and varied: giving birth (especially lots of them), age, injury, obseity ...
To learn more about this condition you may want to refer to an article on this topic by Jaki Nett in Yoga Journal (http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/947). She describes causes and degrees of prolapse that can occur.
Your instincts are valid: inversions can help move the organs back into their normal positions while standing poses and strong muscular actions can make the condition worse. It is interesting however that simple mountain pose (Tadasana) is actually thought by BKS Iyengar to help the situation. He also recommends a flow consisting of sirsasana (headstand), supported viparita dandasana, supta baddhakonasana (reclining butterfly), prasarita padottanasana (wide legged forward fold), tadasana, ardha chandrasana (half moon), salamba sarvangasana (supported shoulder stand), setubanda sarvangasana (lying on a bolster with your shoulders lower than the supports) and viparita karani (legs up the wall). {See BKS Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health}
In the Yin Yoga style, one particularly valuable pose could be snail pose, if supported. This inversion can be held for a long time. But, in general, to really treat the condition the student needs to strengthen the muscles in the pelvis. Yin is not about strengthening muscles. She will definitely want to do Yang exercises that target that area. Mulabandha can help. So can Kegel exercises, while in a pose. I have heard that Uddiyana Bandha can help as can Navasana (a low boat), and I would suspect, but don't know, that the Hinge would be good.
As always, she should seek guidance from her health care professional as there may be many causes of prolapse, including disease. She will want to know what is causing it before she tries to "fix it".
cheers
Bernie
