A very helpful book to help women better heal their own bodies. Great for women of all ages and stages, or even without the postpartum part.

The availability of this book was well-timed since I had just delivered a baby. But unexpected events meant I could not try the content before it expired. I can, therefore, not give a full review. It does look like a good book to own.

An important topic for anyone who has given birth. The pages are beautiful with a detailed discussion of exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-read advanced reader copy.

This is a topic that will obviously be of more interest to some than others, and that's ok.
The first chapter on anatomy is long, and pretty cumbersome. This is not the fault of the authors, I don't think, it's just a big and intricate topic. Also, sometimes the diagrams land on the next page from the written descriptions, so I found myself flipping back and forth a lot. It was a lot to take in, especially for my brain (not a science major here!).
Then we get to the sequences. These chapters were definitely more interesting. Being an ARC read, I did not have time to dedicate several weeks to each sequence before looking at the next one, but I understood how they built on one another. I assume if you took your time, and took your practice seriously (trying to feel which muscles the authors instruct you to notice in different positions, for example), this would really start making some differences in the target areas. It's obvious that the authors have studied this for a while.
The one caveat I'd add is that some of the poses, as shown in the book, require a lot of props. While often these are common items like chairs or blankets, sometimes they also reference items like trestles... which most yogis might only see in a professional studio. I'm all for props, but some of these poses have set-ups that seem pretty complicated. I feel like this could frustrate people who are trying to learn on their own.

A really fascinating topic and there's a lot of information that is covered. I think this book would benefit from some more diagrams/graphics to make the information less dense and repetitive

I was interested in this book as that I have a medical condition that can cause the pelvic floor to be weak or even cause prolapse of organs. I’ve been a fan of yoga for many years, and I thought I could surely do the yoga any postpartum person could do! Yeah, no.

The poses in this book ranged to passive to somewhat advanced. I promise I couldn’t stand on my head at this point, no matter what good it would do for any other part of my body. I don’t know that I’d say that this book is for even the majority of healthy folks, but perhaps if they wanted to work hard enough for the results

I’d recommend this to people that are somewhat limber and are able to do a headstand, even if you have to use a wall to help balance. If you have just had a baby or have pelvic floor dysfunction, this could be a great help, but be ready to work for it!

As a postpartum doula, I am thrilled to find this book! I found the section on anatomy to be so helpful in understanding exactly what we are trying to heal with yoga. The information felt comprehensive and accessible to most. I do feel that this book could just as easily easily address others who need pelvic floor therapy and doesn’t need to be limited to just postpartum. Either way, I am very grateful this resource exists!

This book will benefit many women especially those who want to learn more about their anatomy especially the pelvic floor. Lots of thoughtful information included in this title.

It is difficult to judge this book because who this is targeted at will change my opinion on the book.

If this book is aimed at yoga teachers who are looking to learn more about pelvic floor and post partum bodies or as additional information alongside pre/post natal yoga training then I think this is a good book.

If this is aimed at non-teacher yoga people to guide them in their self practice then this is not a good book.

The good stuff first. The anatomy section is amazing. It is important to know the different layers of pelvic floor, the muscle fibres, and how it connects to the rest of the body.

Too many books treat pelvic floor as something completely independent from the rest of the body which is just not true.

This bit was the best part of the book. It was suitable for everyone and was written in an accessible way.

The exercise section is where things get tricky. The models used show a range of body types which is great except they are all super flexible. Even when a modification is given, there usually isn't a photo of it.

Many of the exercises require props which not everyone will have. This includes teachers. I had no idea what a trestle was and I've never seen that in a yoga studio.

Many of the exercises are advanced exercises and not suitable for people new to yoga. I would not recommend these to people without having a teacher guide them. I would also worry they would get stuck in the folding chair because those ones looked dangerous.

Again, this is where the audience matters. There is nothing wrong with having more challenging poses if this is aimed at teachers. If this is aimed at the general population then have them in a separate section or offer many different modifications.

The exercises themselves were interesting. There are better and more accessible exercises than the ones shown in this book. They might not strictly be yoga though.

The special conditions at the end were interesting though they did not cover hysterectomies or pelvic floor dysfunction not connected to child birth which I thought were big oversights.

I wouldn't recommend this to the general population. I would recommend it as a teaching aid purely for the anatomy section.

A solid addition to a library child bearing/child rearing collection or for a library with an established collection of yoga and natural movement books. Although the introduction does a wonderful job of welcoming the reader, and the tone remains accessible and engaging, the depth of information and vocabulary used in the Anatomy section may be too much for some readers, especially if those readers are caring for a young child and have limited free time for reading. In addition, while the blankets, bolsters, belts, and blocks may be familiar to readers who have previous exposure to Iyengar Yoga, readers new to that practice might feel overwhelmed by the thought of locating "stuff" and miss out on the benefits of the gentle Week One sequence. However, the clear instructions, fantastic photographs, thoughtful prompts for interior investigation with each pose, and the diverse postpartum models selected for the book make it a good addition to an existing collection. Thank you to NetGalley for access to this arc,

This book had really good anatomy and explanations. I loved the pictures of the asanas, however, I would definitely recommend this book to someone who has done yoga before. I liked the use of props, but I would have liked to see some more asanas without the use of props to have the same effect. Overall, this knowledge is great and we need more books out there like this. I can't wait to apply the things I learned in my own practice.

This looks to be very complete with clear instructions and diagrams. With so much in the news about women with pelvic floor issues as they age after giving birth, I am hoping that this will be beneficial to me. I have been told Yoga is up there with the best methods to help in this area.

Thank you for approving my request.

The exercises in this book are so well explained that anyone can follow them. The explanations are exactly what I needed so that I knew I was doing each exercise correctly. I wish I had been told to do these things after giving birth to my children many years ago, but was not told anything about exercises or the need to do them. I am so glad this book is out now and women will know all the information presented because it is definitely needed!

I highly recommend this book!

I’m a 500hr registered yoga teacher with over 11 years of experience teaching. Last year I had a hysterectomy and have been in pelvic floor therapy for over a year. I was a bit disappointed to find that there was no mention of hysterectomies in this book, which is another cause of prolapse in individuals born with a vagina. I also think seniors should have been mentioned more because that’s another group where prolapse can happen due to age and other reasons. Maybe they never got help after they gave birth or had a hysterectomy or other surgery. Or maybe just age is causing things to happen.

While I appreciated the anatomy at the beginning of the book, it did take up 25% of the book. Although it did say in the description there would be an anatomy lesson, I was expecting there to be more of the yoga piece of it, based on the title of the book.

The majority of the poses are restorative yoga based. I did appreciate that there was diversity of body type and race in the images. However, all three models are clearly very flexible. Where some variations are written in paragraph form, from my experience in teaching yoga, a lot of these poses are going to be very difficult for a lot of people and images of variations would have been helpful, not to mention the fact that some of these poses might not be something everyone can do. For example, tree pose. It says to place the foot on the inner thigh. Well, most people can’t get their leg that high, and nowhere does it mention that the foot shouldn’t rest on the knee if you can’t place it on the thigh. I also thought trying to do Warrior II with a block at an angle against a wall may be difficult for some to get into.

A LOT people can’t get their head on a bolster placed on their legs either. They might need to stack up 3 or 4 (or more!) bolsters, blocks, or pillows to get their head into a comfortable position to rest. If anyone can’t do a headstand, there’s an entire section of poses they won’t be able to use. Many poses are not healthy for those with any sort of neck, shoulder, and upper back problems.

There’s also some really crazy things done with a chair that I really think would be difficult for people to get through. You have to be skinny enough to fit through the back of a folding chair and then stack things up on either side… by yourself. What if you don’t have help? Or sitting backward in a chair with your legs swung over the top. I think there will be a lot of individuals who can’t do these poses for a lot of reasons. Flexibility, age, and so many other reasons come to mind.

Then, we get to the images where there are props most people don’t have… Don’t have a trestle? Yeah, me either. It does mention using the back of a couch or a railing… but for me, my couch is against a wall, and I have no railings in my apartment. I personally wouldn’t recommend people doing backbends over a railing. That just seems like a safety issue to me. I wouldn’t recommend a senior in her 60s do a backbend over a couch from a standing position- it’s too low.

This is not a book I would recommend to beginners… and I’m not sure I would recommend to anyone. I’ve done so many exercises with my pelvic floor therapist that would have been really great for this book and none of them are in there. There are so many exercises that could be done. Where are they in this book?

I'm giving it two stars because I think the anatomy section was good and there was potential here.

Really great photos and descriptions of pelvic floor health. I think this would work better in video form than book form though.

Where was this book 40 years ago after I had my children? I think this book should be recommended to all women, I only hope the title doesn't stop women who are not postpartum from reading it. It is the most informative book I have ever read on the subject of the pelvic floor.. It is full of great descriptions and images so you know exactly what is being talked about. I have been doing yoga my whole life and this book is very good at the description of the different yoga poses. I love the use of props too. As I get older I find restorative yoga to be very helpful and it uses props.
Thank you to Netgalley and North Atlantic Books for the opportunity to read the ARC.

I was so excited when I saw this book! I have been trying to work on my pelvic floor so this couldn’t have fallen into better hands.
I found this book to be very informative and it genuinely made me feel a lot better about my situation. I felt very alone and ashamed before but reading this made me feel like I am not the only women dealing with this.

This book provided excellent diagrams and information about pelvic floor function, as well as surrounding skeletal and respiratory systems. However, I was expecting more sequenced yoga flows depending on the challenge (ex: postpartum hip pain, try this sequence and breathing, etc). Instead there were a few positions and exercises offered, but not enough for an entire class. Some of the poses were also definitely too advanced for someone newly postpartum, and care should be taken.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book!

Yoga for Pelvic Floor and Postpartum Health, by Rebecca Weisman; Meagen Satinsky is an important book about the pelvic floor health for All women. Not only for postpartum women, this can prevent health problems for menopausal women as well.

I was so excited to see this book pop up on my computer. As a former nurse, and now mom/athlete/yogi, this seemed right up my alley. I will begin by saying I believe the review copy I received in exchange for an honest review had some formatting issues, which perhaps limited me taking it in to its full extent--images misaligned, for example. But I think this is an important book, something we need more of out there. I had hoped it would go into more detail regarding what is safe for women with pelvic floor issues, but I still really thought this was a solid book on this topic, and I would recommend it.