Episode 190 with Christina Walsh
There's No Such Thing as a Small Bladder: Pelvic Floor Health
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SHOW TRANSCRIPT:
190 CHRISTINA WALSH
Ginny Yurich Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast. I'm so excited today to be here with Christina Walsh from Tighten Your Tinkler welcome.
Christina Walsh Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here.
Ginny Yurich I love that your tagline is silly name Serious results. It's fantastic. Let me tell people a little bit about you. You live in New Orleans, mum of two, your physical therapist, and you're known with a friend as the Tinkler ladies. You have 36 years of experience between you and Jen supporting women through prolapse. I'm not going to say all these words. Right. You tell them.
Christina Walsh Yeah, Diastasis recti, which is that separation of the abs that comes up, any kind of pelvic floor dysfunction. That's our jam.
Christina Walsh Mhm.
Ginny Yurich All those different things. So pee leaks is a big one. Back pain which I did not know that back pain will be related to your pelvic floor. That's super interesting. So that's going to help a lot of parents. This comes up a lot in especially comes if we're trying to hike with our kids. Yes we want to be outside. We want to be carrying them on our back, but we're leaking pee or we're jumping on the trampoline or jumping up on the trampoline, the water park, and we're leaking pee. So this is a very practical discussion that a lot of women are dealing with.
Christina Walsh It is. And some moms report that it limits their ability to be present with their families the way that they had dreamed. And that definitely includes outdoor excursions, because very often you're far from a restroom or you're you don't have a change of clothes really handy. And it can be this emotional weight that women carry around. This is what we've learned from thousands of conversations, intimate conversations with women who we help support that It's an emotional weight that you don't even realize sometimes you're carrying around because you don't want to know that there's an option to get better. And so you plan your life around a bathroom or you just like I have to confess right now, I'm one of four kids. We used to tease my mom on road trips. She was always the one who we had to stop for a bathroom for her. Not any of us kids. And now, I mean, it's crazy ironic that now what I do is help one without. I wish I had it to give her.
Christina Walsh You then not.
Christina Walsh But so much of what we do. I talked to another mom about camping. She was like, Wait, you mean it's possible I wouldn't have to be the one to get out of the tent in the middle of the night and bear country and yes, it's possible. So it really impacts your ideas of what's possible for you and your family. And when it comes to outdoor adventures and travel.
Ginny Yurich It impacts a lot of facets of your life. Yes. About what you think you can do. Yes. About what you choose to do. And I remember this isn't necessarily have to do with pelvic floor anything. But when our kids were small, even getting to the bathroom can be hard. Yes. So I guess it does kind of really like if you're carrying a bunch of babies or you've got your toddler in your we even at the library, I would sometimes think if I have to use a restroom, I don't know what I'm going to do with my kids. Yeah. So just the mechanics of actually using restroom. And I remember being at zoos and like trying to fit the stroller inside of the stall and leaving the store open because I've got my kids, you know.
Christina Walsh It it's a thing, girl.
Christina Walsh I'm like, I'm feeling all of that with you because mom hasn't been there. And yes, Are we still going to have to use the restroom and figure all that out? Yes. But if you're not trying to do it 20 times a day in your life isn't revolving around it from a place of fear. It is absolutely liberating and it gives you back your confidence and quality of life.
Ginny Yurich Yes. And if it's not an emergency to you, like. Yeah, okay. I would sometimes I when our kids were small, I would sometimes not drink because I would think I don't want to have to be able to use the bathroom. I don't know what I'm going to be able to do if I've got all these kids with me. And so you talk about being able to pee less, like we can actually hydrate properly and be able to pee less and not have to use the bathroom every 5 minutes you are out and about. So let's start there because that sounds incredible.
Christina Walsh Totally. Okay, so I love diving into this. I'll try not to geek out too much. This is absolutely what I love. But so the bladder is kind of a little complex beast because it involves that pelvic floor like strength and also flexibility to function well. But it also involves our nervous system. So we have to tap into all of the things we talk about come from a holistic perspective, because my partner Jen and I found the work we do through our own personal experience, through birth and recovery and needing support in this area. So it is incredibly personal. Tyson We've been there, so we really do know what these limitations feel like and what they do to your life. But so when it comes to like that got to go now sort of thing or peeing many, many times a day we have to talk about certainly don't dehydrate yourself number one concentrated pee so like less hydrated pee actually is a bladder irritant. Right. We think we're stacking.
Christina Walsh That little check in the win column, but like, maybe not.
Christina Walsh So stay hydrated. I mean, obviously, I don't think I need to preach the benefits of hydration from every angle. I mean, I noticed when I would get dehydrated, like breastfeeding, I would also have more fatigue. So, I mean, hydration is important, but it's important for your bladder.
Ginny Yurich I've never heard anyone say that.
Christina Walsh Christina Larson, hydrated tea.
Ginny Yurich Is a bladder. You're I want you to geek out. I want to know all the things.
Christina Walsh Okay. And so the next thing is.
Christina Walsh Get yourself some electrolytes. So and I see all my Facebook page advertised all the time. The elements, the element, electrolyte powders. A lot of women like those because they're flavored and little packets. Janet I also recommend the highlight electrolyte drops. I put those in every cup of water I drink. And here's the why for that. For your bladder health, it actually helps your body make better use of the water you're putting in so you actually get better hydrated without having to drink even more. So that is a huge piece.
Christina Walsh Okay.
Ginny Yurich Well, your skin looks amazing. If people could see you right now, that makes a lot of sense. Okay. I'm vouching for your skin in this podcast that people are listening to because it looks fantastic.
Christina Walsh You are so sweet. I must have the filter on. So the other piece with this is making sure that you're using a toileting stool for bladder health. Okay, This is like the squatty potty that most women and we associate it with complete and easy bowel emptying, right? So we don't have to strain as much. And that is important for pelvic floor health overall. So you're not adding downward pressure, but using that toileting stool actually helps you more fully and completely empty your bladder also by the position that it puts you in. Hello. That is a huge win because like then you're visiting the bathroom less often because you've more completely empty that you're less likely to have to get up to pee at night. Another piece of and it wasn't this cool.
Christina Walsh Interesting.
Christina Walsh MM Another piece is your nervous system. So a lot of times so the fight or flight system that leaves us feeling stressed and anxious and that got to go. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Place of our well-being. That piece of our nervous system actually has a connection to our bladder. So anything that you do from a holistic health standpoint that brings you into a rest and digest place out of fight or flight, we've got a freebie. That's lovely for that. It's a position that you can do at home with no equipment needed that decompress your back, hips, pelvis and your nervous system. So whether it's acupuncture, meditation, walking outside to decompress your nervous system, these pieces are important for bladder health, especially if you're somebody who's dealing with like the got to go leaks or the peeing. Many, many, many two too many times a day or getting up at night. All these are holistic pieces of the puzzle that will help build an upward spiral of positive change in that realm.
Ginny Yurich So interesting and it's a lot of it is counterintuitive and it's things that you wouldn't think of, like I wouldn't have thought to put electrolytes in the water and I would have thought, drink less because then you're going to have to pee less. So that's really interesting. And the Squatty Potty. Okay. Is that new? I mean, new or I remember only hearing about it maybe within the past decade has always been stuff like that. Or did they just kind of corner the market because they came up with a cool name.
Christina Walsh Though I think probably they're the most famous one because they came up with the cool name. But like again, I'm going to geek out from an anthropological standpoint. That is how people used to pass their bottle and barrel like a deep squat over a whole and many other countries. That's still what happens. So we kind of messed that biology or physiology up by a Western toilet.
Ginny Yurich We were just at a national park in Utah, Canyonlands National Park, and at the visitor center there, they have the holes in the ground. I'll send you a picture of it. Actually, I love it.
Christina Walsh Yes.
Ginny Yurich Post one. There was a picture of someone squatting. It's like that's what the little you know, the little stick person was. And we were like, we're like, what is this? And it sure was. It was a hole. And so it seems like it would make birthing easier if your whole life. That's how you went to the bathroom.
Christina Walsh Yes, I think so. Well, and that's a great position. A deep squat is a great position to give birth in. That actually has been shown in research to minimize risk of injury and all that sort of thing. There are several positions that are great for birth, but that's one of them. And it's certainly the ergonomic, let's say, position to pass the both the bladder and the bowel most effectively and with the least amount of resistance. And that's what that Squatty Potty does. It brings your knees up above the height of your hips. So it kind of puts you in like a replicated deep squat and it makes a difference. Jen And I love to joke that her husband's, when we first brought this home, we're kind of like, What is this? And then you notice, Oh, they're always choosing to go in the bathroom with the toileting stool. Now I see they like it as well.
Ginny Yurich Interesting. So it just hugs for people who don't know it hugs the base of your toilet. And so then you can you basically are elevating you put your feet on it. So it's elevating your knees up and it's got a cool name. Squatty Potty, I mean, well done to whoever came up with that company, because that is really catchy.
Christina Walsh Totally brilliant. Right.
Ginny Yurich Okay. So those are great ideas. There's four great ideas there for people. I like what you talk about on your website. What's normal? Yes, because I guess that's not a question that we would really even ever ask. We don't talk about these things with friends. Some talk about it and some wouldn't. What's normal? How much are we supposed to be peeing? What's not normal?
Christina Walsh Absolutely so. There's no such thing as a small bladder, which is what we used to tease my poor dear mother about. It doesn't exist, really. A normal bladder holds one and a half to two cups of urine and up to four at night when it's functioning properly. So what that is, is just a combination of its bladder and pelvic floor dysfunction. If you feel like my poor mom, like I have a small bladder, is what she would say, that doesn't exist. So it's not normal to pee more than ten times a day, no matter how much water you drink. And if you're drinking so much that it's really forcing you to the bathroom a lot. Get those.
Christina Walsh Electrolytes.
Christina Walsh See how that helps you.
Ginny Yurich This is fascinating. Okay, so let me let me see. We just went camping and we were camping, like, in this remote area. And so they gave us a cup to pin, like, a plastic thing. And so it was 32 ounces, four cups. Oh, gosh.
Christina Walsh I testing my math now I. Now, this is the outside my pay grade.
Ginny Yurich I know. This is like way too much information for my listeners.
Christina Walsh I would fill.
Ginny Yurich It in the morning and it felt like a lot. Anyway, mine is doing well. No.
Christina Walsh Well, maybe that means your bladder was functioning well if it was holding up to four cups of urine overnight, that's what it should be doing.
Ginny Yurich I feel like I should win a prize here.
Christina Walsh Especially after five babies. I mean, girl.
Ginny Yurich Yes, it's 32 ounces. I mean, it was. That's a lot. Everyone knows how much I peed when I went to Utah. There we go. Look.
Christina Walsh And you're an outlier. Statistically, 76% of women over the age of 40. Now, I don't know how old you are, So now I am over 30. 76% of women over the age of 40 are getting up to pee one or more times per night. And that is not normal. It is common, but not normal. And it doesn't have to be your life. And so many women who work with us in our signature program to treat these issues and really resolve them, don't join us for that reason because they've so deeply accepted it, because everybody that happens, everybody and that's one of the first things they come back and say, Holy moly, I'm sleeping through the night. I didn't even.
Christina Walsh Know this was possible.
Ginny Yurich And that's got to be life changing.
Christina Walsh It is. It's all little.
Ginny Yurich Because you go through this whole stage of life maybe in your twenties or thirties, depending on when or if you have children, where you're getting up in the night with your children. And then it finally ends. And then now you're in this spot where you're post 40 and now you're having to get up to pee. Yes.
Christina Walsh And we all know what interrupted sleep does to us, especially after being mothers of infants, that we would like for that not to continue.
Christina Walsh The rest of our lives. Right.
Christina Walsh I'm speaking very personally here.
Christina Walsh Yeah.
Ginny Yurich Okay. So recap what's normal and not normal. Can me a recap? Oh, I got distracted by the amount of pee.
Christina Walsh Well, right. Well, that's just one component of bladder health, right? It's not normal ever to leak urine. Like with either the laughing, coughing, sneezing, jumping piece. And it's also not normal to have the got to go leaks. Like I just felt the urge and I can't make it to the bathroom in time. So none of that is stuff you have to live with forever and it's not normal. Sometimes it happens a little bit during pregnancy or maybe for the first few weeks afterwards. But if you're are many weeks or months past having a baby and you're still dealing with that stuff, it doesn't have to be your new normal.
Christina Walsh Mm hmm.
Ginny Yurich So you talk about an easy first step for a mom who suspects that something might be off.
Christina Walsh Okay, so this is a great thing to do. Go take our five minute quiz. We call it our Root cause quiz. It's on the website, on our Instagram.
Ginny Yurich It's right on the top. Yeah. To find.
Christina Walsh Right? Yes. So we make it easy to find because what women told us, we took. So Jen and I did a crazy thing and did three years of research to validate our protocol that we now teach in the program because we're nerds like that. And we had to know for sure that what we were putting out in the world was backed by data.
Christina Walsh Mm hmm.
Christina Walsh So we did that. And what we did is take the questionnaires, the formal academic questionnaires that we use to track progress in our research study and turn them into a quick quiz that you can do online. And what women told us is that it really helped when they went through our research, they were like, Wow, Answering these questions really helps me understand how connected so many issues that I had spliced into separate buckets like my back and hip being constantly tight or waking me up at night. The leaks of P or the getting up at night to pee or that like pressure or heaviness that I was feeling down there after I had kids, they were like, I thought that was all separate. And once you quickly answer these questions and you see, Oh, wait a minute, this is all one problem.
Christina Walsh Oh, that's so interesting.
Ginny Yurich So a five minute quiz. The website for people who don't know is Titan your Tinkler dot com. You're also on Instagram and tightened at your diet Tinkler and YouTube is tightened your Tinkler this is great silly name serious results I love it and people get well I don't know if you share your facts or that came through on my notes and I was like, Oh, that's really fun. I'm not going to share that here though.
Christina Walsh Yeah, that's what I use for the private coaching pieces.
Ginny Yurich I'll keep that in my in my notes here. But yes but Tiner Tinkler dot com people could go and take that five minute quiz because Yeah, I guess you wouldn't know if you're not. Well versed in it. If you're not an expert, you don't know what's normal, what's not normal. Should I be getting up a couple of times at night? It feels like it's normal because that's what everyone is doing.
Christina Walsh Yes. Yeah. It'll give you a score that also helps you discern like, okay, how bad is this? And really, in the end, how bad is it is up to you. Like I get pulled aside at birthday parties and events all the time because people know what I do and they're like, okay, so so I just they pull you into the corners. It's like. And my son's preschool teacher, So he's in pre-K for last year, so precious. He had talked about what mommy does for work.
Christina Walsh To.
Christina Walsh His teacher during the year. And so the very last day she waited until the very last day to pull me aside and say, okay, So.
Christina Walsh Current told me a little.
Christina Walsh Bit about what you do and I have this thing and that thing.
Christina Walsh I'm like, Is.
Christina Walsh There help for me?
Christina Walsh I mean, she.
Christina Walsh Was it was such a big moment for her to trust me with that information. And that is the honor of what we do, is that we are a place where women can turn for safety for things that they've held onto, often from a place of shame. But we can offer them hope for change and positive progress. And like you do, get pulled aside and ask questions about like, okay, how bad is this and is this normal? And I have this thing but not this other thing. And the question often is when do I need to do something about this? And the answer is when you decide it's interrupting your life enough that you want to write.
Ginny Yurich Well, people may not even think that there's any hope for them or they may not think that there's any answers. That's very telling, Christina, that people in all walks of life from your child's teacher to other parents at a birthday party, it just goes to show how much information is needed for this particular topic and how confused. Yeah, probably that a lot of mothers are. And what should I be dealing with? And you know, I just had a baby when she things go back to how they were, will they ever go back to how they were.
Christina Walsh And we we take personal emails as well you know so stuff is personal so email us hello it's Hytner Tinkler dot com and go down the rabbit hole with us on YouTube. Any question we get repeatedly we do an in-depth teaching on there because there are so many nuances and this stuff is not talked about. We get so many stories and comments and the very public platform of YouTube of women just pouring their hearts out. Like I tried to talk to my doctor about this and they kind of told me to go away or they told me why was I complaining or I mean, it's it's an incredibly emotional journey. And so to be present with support is a huge gift. And it came from it came from our own journeys, which. Right. That's always like the reason you find your heart calling.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. I mean I same I'm still in the same spot, same right from my own journey. So you mentioned this just a minute ago about the back and hips. So I wouldn't naturally relate those to pelvic floor. So maybe you could explain that a little bit more. How did back in Hip Pain come in here and even just a little bit more about the pelvic floor in general?
Christina Walsh Totally. I love this question. So I usually get out.
Christina Walsh My gender for what I do. Yeah. Okay. Can we just talk about what I.
Christina Walsh Normally get out of my nerdy pelvis model too? Like on YouTube? You can go watch us like, point and, you know, explain it all. So the bones of you that form your whole pelvis and your hips are connected through muscles and bones to your low back, very directly like your pelvic floor muscles connect to your tailbone, which is the bottom of your low back and also the back part of your pelvis. So it is very much one functional unit and it needs to function that way and that's why it needs to function without you having to think about it. That's why we don't ever recommend key goals or bracing of any kind. And I think that that type of treatment has been recommended and prescribed. All those devices that you put inside, you even have to squeeze around. We don't recommend any of that because we found a better way. Quite frankly, we didn't have any interest in doing all that and we tried it and it didn't work for us. And so that's how we found what we do recommend now, which is a much more holistic approach and our signature program. And that's why we always talk about everything from that place of pulling back the viewfinder. It's a whole system, the deep abs, the outer hips, the core, the pelvic floor, the low back. Those muscles all need to work together synchronously without you having to make it a conscious effort. That's how they worked before you had kids, right? You never had to think about squeezing any of this stuff. And I think that the conscious, squeezing and bracing has been recommended for so long because it's all anybody knew. Nobody who's a therapist has any ill intent or is trying to give you a subpar solution. There wasn't anything else. But, you know, I don't want my pelvic floor to be something I have to think about because we're like, consciously squeeze. Imagine like you're driving a car and you sneeze. If you try to cross your legs in that moment, you're going to cause a terrible accident.
Christina Walsh And so you.
Christina Walsh Don't want to be in a deep squat picking up the laundry hamper and then sneeze and not be able to keep or cross your legs and well, like you need that muscle to function for you without it being like a who.
Christina Walsh Yeah.
Ginny Yurich Well, it makes a lot of sense, though, Kristina, because if you think about the key goal, I mean, that's just one small part of your body. And what you're saying is this is all connected. Totally. So just by working on that one small part, I would say, you know, yearbook goes all the time. That's not going to fix the whole.
Christina Walsh It.
Ginny Yurich Being I mean, there's a lot going on there.
Christina Walsh It doesn't. And for some people it is helpful and that is great. You know, it is up to each woman to turn inward. If you're looking for a solution to these issues and discern like what is right for me, if you want to go with those devices and things, that that's you need appointments, you need in-person therapy, that's up to you. We are just so honored to be able to offer something that's an at home solution that is much more holistic, that doesn't involve anything invasive. It's whole body movements you can do with your clothes on, with your kids present.
Ginny Yurich Wow. How long is it a forever thing? Is it a period of time thing?
Christina Walsh This is a great question too, and it depends on the severity of the issues you're trying to heal from. And I'm sure that's not a surprise. So what.
Ginny Yurich Happens? This is something that happens, tends to happen after childbirth.
Christina Walsh Not always, but most often.
Ginny Yurich Okay. And so is it. If you've had C-section and or vaginal birth, it could be either is you're carrying that heavy baby down there. Things are moving around. Like what happens.
Christina Walsh Yes, absolutely. You're you're so on to it. So many women also think that like C-section. Oh, that can't be me. Or they're shocked when they have some of these issues later. And it's like, well, your body still carried a full term pregnancy, which means all that relaxin hormone was like flowing through your blood and and for the duration of any breastfeeding where your joints were meant to separate and spread in your pelvic floor as prep to give birth. And it's carrying around a giant bowling ball on it for 40 weeks. Whether no matter how that baby comes out. And this stuff is also influenced by past life experience. Like if you had a history of chronic coughing or constipation, asthma, certain athletic pursuits in your past can increase your risk of developing these issues. Certainly birth experiences and birth trauma play into this. So it's a very multifaceted, complex picture and so many things can play into it. So if you're like, gosh, if you're like, I had a C-section, why am I having these issues? You're not alone. They're either.
Ginny Yurich MM Yes. So people come in with different levels of severity in terms of what they're dealing with. And then the program, your signature program, can be adapted to wherever they're at in their absolutely journey.
Christina Walsh Yeah. Yeah. Because Jen and I were very different places when we first started this new protocol, and I needed it tweaked a little bit differently than she did. And that's part of the instruction in the program, is that you learn relief techniques so you can deploy those strategies like you put on this big toolbox of like tool belt of like, okay, which tool do I need for this thing? Okay, this is a little bit flared today because I had to carry my this is what happened to me on a recent family trip. I had to carry my £40 toddler for way longer than I expected on a hike and because he just got fussy, I couldn't anticipate that. But so I did come home a little flared up, so I needed to deploy some of my relief tools a little bit more for the next few days and get back to my warm up exercises that only take 10 minutes. But I knew I was going to feel better even after that flare up. And I think that that's part of the emotional piece of healing from this stuff is energetically we're healing at our very center as women, right? So we can get back to that. But it also, as someone who's walked this path, you start to feel incapacitated and broken. This is your body can start to feel like it's betrayed you as what many women say that it feels like. And to take that back like, okay, I don't have to be afraid anymore. Like, even if something pushes me over the edge where okay, I had a little flare up again carrying the £40 kid for longer than I thought on a hike. It doesn't have to be. Oh, my gosh, I'm. I'm hopeless again. Not at all.
Ginny Yurich Yeah, Yeah, that's interesting, too, because I've talked to some different people about rucking, which is walking with carrying weight so that you carrying your toddler is easy. Our baby wear. And it's so good for women. Yes. Especially for women for building bone density. But if adding on that actually also is causing you to put your pants, it's and that's a really tricky thing. Yeah. So is it ever too late for some women like let's say it's been a really long time.
Christina Walsh I love this question too. So one of my very favorite testimonials that ever came in was from Women in Canada. And, you know, we have participants and clients all over the world at this point. So from Canada, she sent us a message and just was like, I'm in tears. I had my last baby 28 years ago and I had completely given up hope that I could garden without issues, that I could look to a future of playing with my grandkids outside and know that I could be present for them. And I had just thought that that was it for me. And I've been dealing with the stuff for so long. But she went out on a limb and trusted that this felt right for her and it worked. So. I mean, I could cry right now. It is usually it's never too late. If you're concerned about your particular case, reach out. Take the quiz that gives you that scale of like, okay, how bad is this?
Ginny Yurich Yeah, I had copied down a couple of the testimonials are on your website. And so a woman named Annie had written in and she said, After caring and giving birth to four kids, I thought there were certain things I was just going to have to live with. This truly changed my life. So she was talking about normal lower back pain, she says. As an added bonus, Is this kind of what you were talking about earlier? Well, here's what she said. I'm able to lie flat on my back without pain. I can bathe my kids and do the laundry without back pain. I can sleep better at night. And as an added bonus, I can now jump on a trampoline.
Christina Walsh Yeah.
Ginny Yurich So that wasn't even the original goal, right? The original goal was the back pain.
Christina Walsh Right. And yeah, and so many women have a composite of issues they've just been dealing with for so long. And there's one of them that starts screaming the loudest. It's like, okay, my sleep's interrupted by my back. So that's maybe that's what they're looking for. A solution for one. One girl called recently an old friend and said, okay, I've been dealing with these leaks for a while now, but like, okay, it crossed the threshold for me because I was at the beach and I'm in my swimsuit. I couldn't have a pad on and I sneezed and it just ran right down my leg and my swimsuit and that was it for me. I'm done with this. And so for her, her back had also been tight since she had the kids. But that wasn't the thing that was screaming the loudest for her. So it's very individual what thing you are looking for relief from what spurs you to take action to heal. But what happens when you use a holistic approach, like with any part of our health, is that all the other things start to get better too, because you're just giving your body that little nudge to do the thing it already wanted and knew how to do anyway, right?
Ginny Yurich Yeah, that's actually interesting. I wasn't thinking about the swimming because you can wear a pad and so sometimes you think, okay, well that would be the way that you're living now is you're just you're going to wear pad and if you sneeze or cough or whatever. But yeah, there are certain situations where that's not an option. I don't even think about that. Yeah, you're in a bathing suit and that would be so hard.
Christina Walsh Yes. And that that was a breaking point for her. She was like, I'm done. And then, you know, a couple of weeks in with the.
Christina Walsh New.
Christina Walsh With her new protocol, she was like, Holy moly, Oh, I'm getting this.
Christina Walsh Back.
Ginny Yurich Which is a couple of weeks.
Christina Walsh Oh, yeah.
Christina Walsh Those changes start to happen so quickly because it is that is the magic of doing it with that little nudge that pushes your body where it wanted to go. Anyway, It's, it's gentle and it just kicks your body into doing the thing. It, it's just like, Oh, I remember this, I got.
Christina Walsh This.
Ginny Yurich Yeah, that's so true. Because your body was functioning probably for the most part fairly well for decades, maybe up until this point of having children and things moving around. And then you're trying to get back to that place that you were at before. Have you gotten any stories that have surprised you? Are they all kind of the same or similar? Well, they're.
Christina Walsh All individual for sure, but they definitely have. I mean, certainly everything is personal to each person. So why did they want to seek that relief? Yeah. What was that breaking point? What is the thing they really wanted back again? One was a very adventuresome mama and wrote in that she could take a long hike again without having to worry about the bathroom and the discomforts and that long drive with her kids. And I have to be the one to ask for the party.
Christina Walsh You know?
Christina Walsh And so for some women, it's getting back to those things. And I think of one that surprised us. The thing that surprises the most of the women we work with is the sleeping through the night thing. So they are surprised usually about that one.
Ginny Yurich Yeah, you're right. It's actually an odd question because you know what can happen, really, the surprises are coming for these women who like that. Mom said, well, now I can jump on the trampoline. I wasn't even caring about that. But now I can do that or now I'm sleeping through the night. We have a lot of kids listen in, so we'll skirt around it. But it also is helping with intimacy.
Christina Walsh Absolutely. Yes. And that is a huge piece of all of our quality of life in a big, big way is our connection with the person we've chosen to do life with and to heal. Their is very powerful and and possible.
Ginny Yurich Mhm. Yeah. So there's a lot, there's a lot going on here and even just that feeling of pressure I remember after so we had two caesarean sections, I had two caesarean sections for failure to progress and then had a homebirth.
Christina Walsh With your midwife. I love that episode.
Christina Walsh Oh my goodness.
Christina Walsh I connected so much of that.
Christina Walsh Oh isn't she lovely?
Christina Walsh Because my midwife and my doulas, I mean, I feel the same way you described about her. Like I just I would hug them every day. What they give you is such an immeasurable gift. I didn't mean to wrap it.
Ginny Yurich Well, I mean, I think it's worth talking about because I don't know. I'm not really talking about my home birth down here. I've talked on other people's podcast. They have Homebirth podcast. But, you know, our first two kids, you know, we have this baby at the end and the baby's healthy and we're all whole and it's. Great. You know, ten minute appointments all the way through those pregnancies. But then with the midwife, it's an hour long. It's a different standard of care. Yes. Where you are seen as a whole person. And it really is a life changing experience. So. But with our first homebirth, which was a very long, arduous thing, I mean, I was not good at it. You know, you see some YouTube videos, really just outcomes that baby. And I was like, this is not my situation.
Christina Walsh But for what it's worth, I had a midwife, Angela, and that was not my situation either. But it was still an empowering experience instead of one where I felt like everything was ripped away from me. Mm hmm. Yeah. So I don't think there's any easy way to get a baby out. To be clear.
Ginny Yurich That's what my mom says. And my mom has always said that there's no easy way to get a baby out. But yeah, actually, though, our homebirth did get subsequently shorter by quite a bit. So that was an interesting thing because that also does feel empowering. Kristina It's like, you know, if the first one was 24 hours, then the next is 6 hours in the last time was 95 minutes. Oh my. You do see that? Small changes can make a big difference. Is pretty cool to have those. And I know that doesn't work that way with everyone, but cool to see the progression there and the differences. But after the first one and only after the first homebirth, not after the other two, I did feel a lot of pressure, like for where a long period of time I couldn't stand without feeling like my insides were going to fall out.
Christina Walsh Yes, you described that very well. That is what it feels like. And the way we often talk about with women is like it feels like somewhat many of us felt like in those very last few weeks of pregnancy. But the baby's out there. Why? Yeah.
Ginny Yurich So then you're freaked out because you're thinking, is this what I'm going to have to live like for the rest of my life? What's wrong? What's going on in there, and how am I going to care for my other kids? Yeah, if I cannot stand up for, you know, more than 15 minutes without feeling this awful pressure? So that's another thing that you're helping moms. So it's like there's a lot here. Yes. Right. We started talking about the peeing while you're outside. We're talking about peeing through the night, peeing on your road trip, peeing while you sneeze or coughs. We're talking about everything about intimacy, talking about back pain, hip pain, and then also this pressure. So how common is that? It happened for me with one of the kids out of five, but not the other ones.
Christina Walsh It's very common. And for many women it's interesting that it was only the one kind of in the middle. So a common story is like I had a little bit of dysfunction after the first one and then I had another one and then it was like, oh, then I had the back tightness, a little bit of leakage and the pressure, and then I had a third. And now the leaks are more frequent and I have more pressure and now my hip hurts. And then I have so from many women, not always, but for many, that's the story.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. I think that because of the situation with the midwife, I think that I got healthier through each pregnancy that I think that.
Christina Walsh Recovery.
Christina Walsh Is.
Ginny Yurich Yeah, change for me. I actually think I started probably in the least healthy spot and got to the most healthy spot by the birth that was 95 minutes. So the my one was the first vaginal birth where I felt that it was, it was a long that was a long birth.
Christina Walsh So once the right so maybe I was I'll take some of those. The risk of that having that happen later can be increased by like long second stage of labor, like long periods of pushing, which I had for one of my birth. So and then you might need to rest some more, but maybe like my midwife told me, you know, the week in the bed, the week by the bed, the week. But how do they say yes?
Ginny Yurich Are they are they the same people.
Christina Walsh Wasn't aware of it might be.
Christina Walsh Were recommendations. I was like, oh, I know I'm not. I can't do that. You know, I was my first and I was like, I've got this to do. I've got that to do. So that probably was a part of why I suffered with some of that as well. So we really need to give our bodies grace and care and patience, whether it's immediate postpartum recovery or whether it's years later. And you're you've decided you're ready to address these issues. That is why those decompression and relaxation positions are part of the therapeutic process of recovery, because you've got to take the load off of your body, basically give your body the grace and care that you would wish for someone else and take that step back. It's like we say, you know, slow down so you can speed up. So it's a little bit of a pulling back so you can open that door to the dreams you've been holding back on.
Ginny Yurich I totally remember. So we did the homebirth. We did the homebirth because I'd had two caesarean sections and didn't know how many caesarean sections I could have. So I didn't want to limit the amount of kids that we were having based off of you have too much scar tissue, you know, I mean, I know people who have had six caesarean sections. So, you know, sometimes you can, sometimes you can't. So we switched to this homebirth, this beautiful Beth, who's been on our podcast twice now. She'll be on quite a bit here heading into the fall, I think, for just sniffles and the types of things that come up then.
Christina Walsh But oh, she's brilliant.
Ginny Yurich Like she is a brilliant she's amazing. Yeah, she is fantastic. So she took us on. Bless her. She. Really changed our whole life. And I remember being in the appointment with my husband, Josh, where she said the it's one week. It's like two weeks. Like one week. And we are laying down one week where you're sitting on the bed, one week where you're near the bed. Anyway, it's 40 days or something. It's like three or four weeks in that word. There's a book called The First 40 Days, which I ended up reading, which is a really good one. Yes, but we just thought she was out of her mind. But she had to do it with Josh there because she's saying like the family has to come along and support in this situation. Yes. But you have to have that time for your body to pull back together and all those different things. And so it was harder with the first homebirth. And I don't and I think that's why I had a lot of that pressure, because I didn't really totally listen. And people come over and you feel like you should be out with them in the living room, sitting on the couch, and you feel like you should be giving them a meal and you should be hospitable. Then for the last two and she would even put a note on the door, she would have the thing printed out that was like, You may stay for 15 minutes unless you're doing laundry or helping with chores around the house or with the other kids. Otherwise leave. I mean, it was pretty straight up.
Christina Walsh I absolutely adore that. Yeah. And this is this is part of, I think, the pendulum that's swinging culturally back towards more holistic health and natural approaches to these things and empowered approaches to our health and our health journey and birth is I mean, that last interview we did with her, she you both were speaking by language of how important that is and our life journey.
Ginny Yurich Well, she says birth is important to everyone. I agree. That's one of her big things, that birth should be important, whether you're a grandparent, whether you don't have kids, whether you're a mom of ten, whether you know you're a teenager, that birth matters to the whole of humanity. And so the way that we support mothers, you know, the things that we do in those times and we take the pressure off and we encourage them to spend that first 40 days nesting and, you know, like we even talk about, you know, we're trying to get outside, but not, you know, not right after we have a baby. Yes. Maybe a cousin is taking the older kids outside or something like that. But we are still having that time to lay and to rest and to relax.
Christina Walsh Yeah, it's it's all an important part of the healing journey. But while at the same time, of course, like we talked about already, don't feel like if you did kind of mess that up the first, it's not too late to heal even later in life, you know? So, yes, I, I could have done better on that stuff when.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. And some of us don't get a lot of chances. I think that's you know, that's an interesting part in life. Like I have friends who they had a baby and couldn't get pregnant again, or they had a couple of babies and had some complications. And, you know, they you know, we had five kids, so I had a lot of chances to try some different things and to learn what works better and what doesn't work better. Not everybody has that same story. And so I love that you say it doesn't it doesn't matter what your story is. It doesn't matter how old you are.
Christina Walsh Well, right. And all of those parts made you who you are now. And I just there's no sense. And do I believe we should mourn what's been hard? Yes. Give yourself time to grieve, to be sad, to cry. If this is something that has caused you pain and strife in your life, let yourself feel those feelings. But don't stay stuck there because it's not the end of the road. There is hope. There's no sense in regretting looking back. You know, let yourself mourn, but then switch to that place of like. But look what my body has still done for me, you know, Look what I have still been able to carry these children and to get give birth and raise them. And now it's the time for me to tap back into healing me. Maybe that time wasn't right, like you said, for any myriad number of reasons. My mom was dying at the same time I was having my first. So like, did that play into my story? Absolutely. And there wasn't the time and space for me to take care of myself the way I should have, we could say. But in some way, no, my time was later. And so, yeah, you can't look back with regret. You can cry for what's been hard, but then say, Gosh, but I was still able to do so much of what I needed to do at that time of life. And now is now is when I'm ready to tap into this healing.
Ginny Yurich Yeah, that's such a good point because someone could be listening and saying, Yeah, same thing. I'm in, I'm in this awful situation. I can't stay in my bed for three weeks. Are you kidding me? You know, there's no way this is my certain situation. And so you have answers for people, no matter how far past the initial issues, no matter how far past they are. So I love that you say pulling an all nighter, but pulling an all nighter, which means to make it through the night.
Christina Walsh This means to sleep through the night without having to.
Christina Walsh Get up to pee. It's me. It's let's call it alcohol.
Christina Walsh I self-identify as an old lady at 40, but that's. It's a revised definition of pulling in all night.
Christina Walsh Yeah.
Ginny Yurich It's a. It's definitely a goal, a good goal. Do you feel that it's an it's a possibility for almost everyone?
Christina Walsh Yes. Now, there are cases where there is dysfunction and injury that is past the point. And we are very clear and direct about that. We don't want to fill you with false hope. So if there are women who are dealing with prolapse, which is the pelvic organs, like trying to fall down and out of your body, there are different degrees of that. And so if you know for sure you're right, stage three or stage four, you know, it's going to be less of a hopeful situation to address things non-invasively conservatively. And we want to be realistic about that.
Ginny Yurich I tell me what prolapse is.
Christina Walsh So it's like you have your in your sitting on your pelvic floor, you have your bladder, you have your vaginal canal, and you have your rectum. So busy area, lots of action going on in there.
Christina Walsh Yes.
Christina Walsh And your pelvic floor is responsible for its soft tissue. There's no bone in there to hold all this stuff in place. So it's responsible for holding all that holding your guts in. I mean, to make it unromantic. That's what it does. And so it goes through a lot of stretching and pressing and changing to accommodate pregnancy and birth. And sometimes things don't kind of fall back into place where they were before. They've lost some of that structural support because it's all soft tissue. And one of the organs kind of starts to slip, slide down out of its happy place. And then that can be a part of the cause of dysfunction, the symptoms we've talked about. Mm hmm. So it can get to a degree where it's not as realistic to address things.
Ginny Yurich This way and that sometimes when people get a sleeping.
Christina Walsh Yes, a.
Ginny Yurich Bladder sleeping, they'll have some different things put in there to help.
Christina Walsh Yes. But if you're listening and you are dealing with you, if you have a known diagnosis, your stage one, your stage two, and you're like, if you're the woman who is like, I know this is going on and I do not want surgery, I do not want invasive devices, I do not want pills. This is a great alternative for you.
Ginny Yurich Okay. Now, this is incredible. And we talked at the very beginning about how this is going to help if you want to camp and this is going to help if you want to hike and this is going to help if you want to go on some fun road trips. And there's a lot of life that can be affected by using the bathroom.
Christina Walsh Yes. And so often it's stuff that we keep inside. Like I even have a hard time talking to my husband about this stuff I talk about on podcasts all the time. Yeah.
Ginny Yurich I just hear that I can be four cups of tea in the morning.
Christina Walsh Right.
Christina Walsh Well, I'll talk about anything on a podcast, you know, to thousands of people. But it is very intimate stuff. It feels very vulnerable. And so if you can kind of address this stuff and move on with your life, like, wow, that's a lot of freedom.
Ginny Yurich Yeah. So let's tell people where they can go if they're looking for help.
Christina Walsh Yes. Our YouTube channel has a ton of deep dive teaching. Like I said, we're sharing from the heart teaching inspiration tips on Instagram. And you said it all earlier and serums at tight end at your dot. Tinkler YouTube is just tightening. Tinkler And we've got the website Tiner Tinkler dot com. You can reach out to us through email hello at Titan or Tinkler dot com you can find us and all those places and that five minute quiz is on the Instagram page and also on the website. So we're kind of everywhere.
Ginny Yurich And then your signature program. Tell me a little bit more about that.
Christina Walsh Well, that's the piece that I've mostly spoken about is the creation of that. It wasn't a program or a business at first. It was my partner, Jen and I, looking for help for ourselves. And that's where it really all started from. We were already working with moms and a clinic here in New Orleans, and we had both had certain issues with recovering from births ourselves and were left with stuff we didn't want to accept as just the way it was going to be, despite what doctors had told us, and so on and so forth. So as nerdy clinicians who were already, you know, we were we were like perfectly set up to problem solve this in a new way. And we were, you know, gratefully able to do that.
Ginny Yurich And that's what the signature program is.
Christina Walsh That's what the social progress, the protocol that we like really dialed in for ourselves first and then used it with the women we worked with in our clinic and then did the research and then took it online because the women in our research were like, Wait a minute, I want to refer six people to this. Like you've got to make some videos. And so we were like, We have to listen to them.
Ginny Yurich Well, and like you said, I mean, if it's your son's pre-K teacher, then there's pre-K teachers all over the country and all over the world that are looking. I mean, can you imagine? I actually that is a really hard part. That's a really just sidebar if you're a teacher.
Christina Walsh Yes.
Ginny Yurich Yeah, you're up on your feet. I remember being, you know, I taught high school math. You're only able to go to the restroom in between the classes. Really? I mean, it's it's not looked upon. Well, to leave your class because you have to run to the restroom. Yeah. So you only have these limited windows there. Very short. And if you're in a classroom with a bunch of small kids, then even more so, there may be situations where you can't flee or, you know, run.
Christina Walsh Yes. And one of our favorite one of our biggest fan, earliest biggest fan clients was a therapist. So she was in prolonged one on one sessions. I mean, counseling therapists for all day long. And the bathroom break situation was stressing her out so terribly it was affecting her ability to perform her job. And we asked her to check track how many times a day she was peeing. And she came back and it was 20 times. And she's like, I even realized it had gotten that bad, but she knew it was affecting her well-being and her ability to do her work. Oh, and this is one tip I forgot to mention earlier. I'm so glad we talked about this. Stop pushing your pee out. So we. That's the first question I asked her. I said, okay, so a couple quick questions. Are you pushing your pee out? And she was like, What?
Christina Walsh And I said, Well, just spend it.
Christina Walsh Come back next time and tell me. And she came back and was just like, How did she know? Because when you're it's this like spiral, like you said, you start to dehydrate yourself. You're like, oh, this will help. And then you start. You need to go faster because you've got to go so many times that it's interrupting your schedule. Your kids are banging at the doorstep like, I'll just shave a few seconds off this task. You're like, Oh, I'm going to get it out faster. That actually causes incomplete emptying. So you've got you're in left in the bladder, which means you're going to have to return to the potty sooner. You're more likely to leak. And it's also going to cause you to have to get up and pee in the night. So make sure that you are urination should be a passive event.
Christina Walsh You're relaxing those muscles.
Ginny Yurich So that be the title of this one. Urination should be a.
Christina Walsh Passive event is not all of it. This is.
Ginny Yurich Really fun. I'm like, I love statements that you're never ever going to hear again. Like last hydrated pee is a bladder irritant. Like, I don't think I'm ever going to hear that again.
Christina Walsh Even.
Christina Walsh I'm sure Jen and I can draw plenty of those sorts of nuggets. It's like, Well, I never would.
Christina Walsh Have thought anyone would have ever said that out loud.
Ginny Yurich Here's what it shows. I'm 42. I didn't know a ton of this. So, I mean, are women should know this. They should know to stay hydrated. They should know that less hydrated pee is a bladder irritant. Everyone should know. You should know not to push it out. You should know about the electrolytes. So people have to make sure that they're following along. I just looked at your YouTube channel. There's 90 videos here, so fantastic. The truth about bladder leaks, different people, stories about back and hip tightness, prolapse, terminology and all of these different wardrobe injuries. Definitely amazing things to look at. Three things you're not being checked for properly, which is interesting because you had talked about we don't have time to hop into it, but questions that you should ask at your postnatal appointments. Like what? What should we be looking for? There's all sorts of information here so people can go to tighten your Tinkler dot com YouTube channel Instagram to find all sorts of information and really to enhance their lives for the long haul.
Christina Walsh Know take that one weight off of your shoulders. This is one you don't have to bear forever. Like there are many things we can't control in our lives, right? But this is probably one of the ones you can.
Ginny Yurich Yes, absolutely. So, Christina, we always end our podcast with the same question. And we've been talking about how if you have more bladder control, it can help you with getting outside and enjoying that time a little bit more. So what is a favorite memory from your childhood that was outside?
Christina Walsh See, I have so many. It was blessed with a mother who understood very intuitively that she used to say, you know, when in doubt, put them in water or get them outside. Talking about the kids. So when we got home from school every day, my mom's always question was, do you want to do homework? Do you want to go play outside? So guess what? We chose every day. Go play outside.
Ginny Yurich I love that question. Wait a minute. Way to go, Mom. Do you want to go do your homework? That's you know, that's a fabulous way to do it. You want to do laundry or do you want to go play outside? Do you want to help me sweep the kitchen floor?
Christina Walsh It's great. Yes. Take your pick. You're going to go play outside.
Christina Walsh And my dad, much to the chagrin and stress of my mother. At one point in our lives, he'd grown up in Charleston, South Carolina, on the water and loves water skiing. And he purchased a ski boat for our family, at which my mom was sure we couldn't afford. And we ended up we didn't have a lake house. So when we took the boat out, we were in landlocked Birmingham, Alabama, growing up. But there was a lake called Smith Lake. And every almost every weekend, all summer, we spent, you know, trapped, you could say, trapped on the little boat. And we'd pack peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and we would in very intimate togetherness time. And we were always encouraged to invite friends and cousins that visited from out of town, were taken out for a day on the boat over the weekends in the summer. And we were all taught to water ski and it became a core memory for me to the point I could cry just getting on a boat in the summer. It's like we were just visiting friends at the lake and my husband was like, Is this really fun for you? Like the boat was like bouncing and jarring, and he was kind of annoyed. It was crowded. They were kids screaming, and I was like, This is a part of my childhood. This is a part of my family togetherness time that I treasure so deeply. So it is amazing how we develop these associations with the special togetherness time of family when you're outside enjoying each other and the fresh air and the sun and the water and learning new things and supporting each other and cheering each other on. And those are things I wouldn't trade for the world.
Ginny Yurich Christina I had no idea that a Tighten Your Tinkler podcast could be so good.
Christina Walsh Is so much fun to talk to.
Christina Walsh Jenny I.
Christina Walsh Just feel so deeply.
Christina Walsh About your mission in this world and what you're bringing to families everywhere, that we are all just going to grow and benefit from so much. It's a huge part of the healing journey to be outside.
Ginny Yurich Well, thank you for being here. I know that this is this is going to go far and wide. People can share with their friends and find hope and find answers for things that will enhance their lives for the remainder of their lives. So I love your enthusiasm. And one last gift.
Christina Walsh The coupon code 1000 hours gets you $50 off of our signature program for all your listeners. 1000 hours.
Ginny Yurich You are.
Christina Walsh So used to.
Ginny Yurich Saying it. Okay, So they can get $50 off the signature program with 1000 each. Oh, you are? Yeah, that's fantastic. For people that are looking for that man to get your life back, that's for sure. So thank you.
Christina Walsh Thank you so much, Ginny.
