Trista Zinn is a personal trainer who specialized in pelvic health and core pre-programming. Trista is the founder of Coreset Fitness. Her interest in pelvic health began when she was diagnosed with a grade 2 prolapse as the condition could not be corrected by surgery she sought out alternative treatments.
Trista connected with the Hypopressive®Method so strongly that she travelled to Spain to train under the only English speaking teacher at the time. Trista is now Canada’s highest qualified and most experienced trainer in Hypopressive®- Low Pressure Fitness.
Trista is incredibly passionate about continuous education in the fitness field, feeling that new knowledge should be embraced and shared. She is a mother of 2 and an outdoor enthusiast.
In this episode Shannon and Trista discuss their mutual interest in pelvic health, in particular, how it relates to breathing. Are common breath practices helpful or perhaps harmful to our pelvic health?
Intro to Trista Zinn [5:15]
What is Hypopressives? [6:25]
Trista defines the Core [7:15]
Importance of Posture [8:00]
Benefits of Hypopressives [8:55]
What Hypopressives encompasses [9:30]
Who Should do Hypopressives? [10:10]
Trisha’s Tube of Toothpaste Analogy [12:00]
Rib Cage Breath [13:35]
Jelly Fish Breath Analogy [15:00]
Belly Breathing [17:10]
“Engage the core” in yoga why Trish believes this is a harmful cue [18:00]
“Do Less”- helpful mantra with this practice [21:15]
Uddiyana Bandha- similarities and differences between this breathing practice and Hypopressives [23:15]
Caution around teaching Belly Breathing [25:00]
Pelvic Floor Dysfunction [27:00]
Caution around cueing Kegels [27:50]
Trista’s story- her Pelvic Prolapse [32:00]
Taking the Hypopressive Course [34:45]
Other Compatible Courses [35:25]
Diaphragmic Breath- an unnecessary term [38:15]
Links:
Article: Jelly Fish Breath and Definition of Core by Shannon Crow
Article: New Thoughts on Belly Breathing by Shannon Crow
Video: Facebook Live: Introduction to Pelvic Health by Shannon Crow
Video: “Your Diaphragm and the Cheetah” by Leslie Kaminoff
Deepha R. Romuwalt PT, C/NDT, Physio Plus, Owen Sound, Ontario
Search for a Canadian Physio Floor Specialist
Pelvic Health Solutions– Introductory Pelvic Health Course
Today’s Episode is Sponsored by:
Shannon Crow’s Yoga for Pelvic Health: Online Training for Yoga Teachers
Special Thanks to:
Laura Cameron, (writer, cat lover and yoga practitioner), for compiling such great show notes
and
Rob Muir for editing each and every show.
…about engaging the core. I agree with what Trista is saying about cues to engage our inner core – that it should naturally engage, when functioning well. I find, however, that many of my therapeutic yoga students have very little inside core strength and are not even aware of the Transversus abdominis or rib cage movement and they are often reverse breathers. To help them to strengthen the TA I have them verbalize the sound SSHHHHH so they can connect with this corset muscle and through this sound they begin to strengthen it and at the same time they re-connect to the movement of their rib cage. It’s a very gentle approach and restores proper natural breathing. I’d love you to comment on this.
Such a great point Joanne. This is why it is really about the individual yoga student and not the ailment or symptoms they are having. I also love the “S” breath for engaging the transverse abdominis. I think you are going to love the part where I share other cues for engaging TvA (transverse abdominis) in the Yoga for Pelvic Health online course.
Aloha! Newbie but instant fan here. I’m catching up really quickly on ALL the podcasts (Namaste, Shannon for your light!). This podcast actually SUPRISED the *&#^! out of me. Not because it was new but because I thought everyone already new this or was taught this in their trainings. The teachers I studied with intensively introduced these techniques and many other types of breathing with their own name as Pranayama, via the yoga framework Hatha Yoga (Integral, Sivananda, and Bihar backgrounds). Trista’s cues and description of Hypopressive Methods on this podcast were almost verbatim of my teachers. In fact, I had a flashback of being in the old studio with my teachers when she began describing holding the ribs… While we didn’t talk about it with western anatomy terms, I was easily able to make those connections as a western anatomy geek and then later in my formal Master’s Degree program. I do appreciate the reminder that language (“engage your core”) as an instructor, or coach, makes a huge difference in the experience of the client. Also, it is a good reminder at how lacking most YTT’s are in their human anatomy department if yoga teachers are using the term “core” for abdominals only. This is basic anatomy 101 information that is so needed for many YTTs. Off my soapbox. Shannan, since your studied this method, how IS it different from other Yoga breaths? There are so many types of pranayama which can be combined with the different asana. I guess my I-see-the-world-through-everything-yoga-Chinese Medicine lense is really curious: is this just a rebranded pranayama practices with integrated western anatomy and kinesiology terminology? Keep up the good work Shannon! And thank you community for being so supportive and inspiring.
Thanks for sharing all of this Haunani!
Wow, I think it is amazing that your yoga teacher training contained so much of this information.
To answer your question to me, (by the way I love questions!) What makes the Hypopressive method different from Uddiyana Bandha, in my opinion, is the poses that are used along with it. What I love about that part is that even if a student struggles to “get” the breath part of things for a while — they have poses that really fire up the core 4 in a very safe and stable way. This technique is mostly used to help to decrease a pelvic organ prolapse (even though there are many other benefits). I know that I can safely offer these poses from the Hypopressive method to anyone with a prolapse.
Your question does make me wonder Haunani, maybe there is a link to yoga somewhere. Trista went to Spain to study. I don’t know where her teachers learned this though.
Thank you so much for this episode! I am a prenatal and postpartum yoga teacher and after learning about hypopressives for the first time was instantly struck by how similar it seemed to the uddiyana bandha. That led me to google searching in hopes of finding others that were talking about this. THAT led me to you. I also want to be more mindful about how I teach pranayama in all my classes, but particularly my prenatal class. I have definitely used the term “belly breath” many times, but I will start adapting my language to speak more to lateral movement of the ribcage, and steering away from the “balloon”.
You are welcome Stephanie. Trista has so much information to share on this topic of breathing and pelvic health. There were some huge light bulb moments for me as a yoga teacher when I took the hypopressive training with her. I love that this is reaching into your prenatal classes especially around pranayama. Thanks for sharing!
Stumbled upon this I don’t know how but I love the focus on pelvic health as the 2nd chakra is so pivotal to women’s health. I’d love to see the video of the introduction to pelvic health and latest training details if any
Hi Auroshikha, we are so glad you found this episode useful! Trista has so much information to share on pelvic health. We have an online Yoga for Pelvic Health training coming up in September, you can find more information on that through this link – https://www.theconnectedyogateacher.com/pelvic-health/