The Things Nobody Taught You: Pelvic Floor, Hormones & Pleasure with Heather Foord
Your Next Space Conversations with Stephanie CannalongaShow Notes
Most of us were never taught what’s going on down there. Our pelvic floor, our cycle and our pleasure came with no education, only shame, jokes and a lot of guessing.
This week Steph sits down with Heather, a former magazine editor turned women’s health practitioner. After her second baby, Heather jumped on a trampoline and leaked for the first time. She was furious nobody had warned her, so she went back to uni and studied health science, Pilates, women’s medicine and clinical sexology. Then she founded Core Restore Co a pelvic floor and core strengthening clinic with five locations across New South Wales.
Heather breaks down the education we should have had in high school. She covers how your pelvic floor actually works, what your hormones are doing across your cycle, and why women have been treated as passengers in their own sex lives. It’s honest, funny and full of things you’ll want to send to every woman you know.
They also cover:
Pelvic floor 101, and why it’s involved in almost every move you make
The four phases of your cycle, and how to work with them
The monthly self-check every woman should be doing
Prolapse: what it is, how common it is, and why not to panic
Kegels done properly, with the squeeze and the release
Why leaking after birth is common, treatable and not something to joke your way through
How stress tightens your pelvic floor and affects your sex life
Why so many women stop prioritising sex, and how to make it enjoyable again
Safety, trust and the link between pleasure and self-worth
The glass ball analogy for balancing everything
Chapters 00:00 – Welcome 00:39 – Meet Heather: from journalist to women’s health 05:02 – The moment on the trampoline that changed everything 08:13 – Pelvic floor 101 12:47 – Hormones and the four phases of your cycle 22:26 – The monthly self-check and prolapse 29:03 – Pelvic floor changes after birth 33:01 – Stress, the nervous system and your pelvic floor 40:13 – Why women stop prioritising sex, and how to enjoy it again 52:51 – Glass balls, self-worth and the myth of balance
This episode is a conversation about general wellbeing and is not medical advice. Please speak to your health practitioner about your own circumstances.
Connect with us: Instagram: @yournextspacepod
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