Who Moved Me at Women in Women’s Health LIVE 2016

I’m a country girl who mostly enjoys just. being. home. It takes something really precious or super sparkly to lure me away from my cozy farmhouse and regular routine. When my colleague Beth Jones of MamaSport invited me to share a cab and hotel with her in New York City for Women In Women’s Health LIVE put on by the Integrative Women’s Health Institute (IWHI), and I saw the line-up of guest speakers – many of whom I’d been quietly stalking for quite some time – I knew I had to go. Plus, the emphasis was on the female athlete which is something I always want to know more about.

Beth and I coordinated our flights in and out of JFK, and we took that first evening on Friday to settle in, see Times Square, do some shopping, and compare notes on our recent course work. She’s a Certified Athletic Trainer (qualified for basic rehab unlike a personal trainer) who has been completing her Restorative Exercise Specialist certification with Katy Bowman. Meanwhile, this RYT200 what I finished up last month.

Here are some of the people who moved me

My other favorite speaker on Day 1 was Michelle Lyons and her rubber chicken. Michelle has so many credentials as a pelvic healthy physiotherapist, you’ll have to go here to Celebrate Muliebrity to read all that she’s founded and contributed! When she made her rubber chicken do crunches – which then made the poor chicken’s “pelvic floor” bulge out – we all died laughing. Any pros in the room who weren’t previously sold on avoiding crunches are now!

 

 

Many of the other women’s health professionals at Women in Women’s Health LIVE had never done a FB live broadcast, so I decided to work the room at the end of the event, and introduce as many of them to you as I could. 

During the FB live recording, I knew I had to include Dr. Susie Gronski who is a Doctor of men’s pelvic health and says it like it is. She’s very candid, and I knew she’d be VERY forthright if I took her live, so my face here in this next screenshot cracks me up. You can see me bracing for whatever she says, and her face is so intense! Love it! She’s such a hoot and seriously so passionate. We talked off-camera for a solid 15 minutes about the language of pelvic health and her book for guys that’s coming out soon. Isn’t it silly how we can get so worried about words? While I’m comfortable with lady bits, I need to get more comfortable with guy talk apparently… LOL

Yes, there were also men at Women In Women’s Health

Quite a few actually. Modest ol’ me was looking around nervously, forgetting for about 0.4 seconds that these guys work in the same field I do, when Amy Stein showed videos of how she does internal releases and stretches when there is scar adhesions. I interviewed one in the FB live chat above, and then there was Dr. Kyle who fondly referred to himself as the dude doula or “dudela.”

 

My biggest personal takeaway RE: female athletes…

The whole weekend focused mostly on the female athlete. So each of the speakers took their specialty and aimed it at that main topic: nutrition, hormones, periods, menopause, pelvic pain, physical therapy, fitness ALL around feminine athleticism. It was awesome, and I’m still processing my notes and handouts + all the new ideas churning in my mind.

What stood out to me the most, though, was the talk by Dr. Julie Granger who works with young female athletes. My daughter is currently the age that Dr. Julie spends most of her time with, and what she said about why girls quit sports really wrenched at my heart.

 

When young girls specialize in one sport – which they almost have to these days – and then they start menstruating, they’re not sure how to compete or train while on their periods. They hurt down there. They don’t know who to talk to or where to turn for help. Their coaches might mention a couple things, but nothing deep about how to down train or recover well or eat well. In fact, many sports like gymnastics and ballet demand a certain body size, which means many girls are malnourishing themselves to compete.

So then around age 13-15 these girls quit. And they only know one sport, and all the other sports are full of girls who specialized, and they can’t compete there either. So now they’re falling apart, not exercising, lonely and missing their teammates, and depressed as young teenage girls. Ugh!

Dr. Julie has agreed to contribute to my upcoming “Fit2B Girls” ecourse that will be done next year. It will inform, educate and inspire young girls to look beyond sport and bikinis at how they can eat and move and LIVE vibrantly and beautiful and strong in their own skin.

Now, some random NYC pictures …

 

In Closing…

I always enjoy New York and am so grateful for all the lovely people I met, but this mama is even more grateful to be HOME having coffee in front of my fireplace. What I learned is going to be so helpful to me in answering the questions from all of you and getting you to the resources you need for deeper core and pelvic health. Now to work on that uber tight left adductor. Me and 5-hour flights aren’t friends.