“Don’t lift that!” and “You need to lift weights!”

“Wear a pad,” but also “You must work on bone density.”

“Pop in a tampon to run,” yet “Running is essential exercise.”

The mixed messages around women’s pelvic health are endless — and they’re keeping too many women stuck managing symptoms instead of healing them.

In this episode, I’m calling out the contradictory, symptom-only advice so many women are given — from tampons for prolapse to “just use more lube” to “tell him to go slower.” These suggestions might get you through the moment, but they miss the point entirely.

You’ll learn why these quick fixes keep your pelvic floor stuck in survival mode, how to spot when you’re being told to manage instead of heal, and simple ways to begin rebuilding your pelvic floor from the foundations up.

Think of this as your “couch to 5K” approach for genuine pelvic floor resilience: less for longer, gradual load, whole body awareness and lots of hope.

7 Minute Classes

Pelvic Health Cafe

They Say Don’t Lift. I Say Don’t Limit Yourself: The Truth About Pelvic Floor Healing

This week, we’re diving into one of the most common — and most limiting — pieces of advice women are given about their bodies: “Don’t lift.”

Whether it’s after a prolapse diagnosis, surgery, birth, a tear, a c-section, or simply because you’re “of a certain age,” this message shows up again and again… and the impact goes far beyond the physical. It shapes how women live, move, parent, play, work, socialise — and often leaves them feeling like spectators in their own lives.

In this episode, I’m sharing:

Why blanket “don’t lift” advice is not only unhelpful, but profoundly unrealistic

The real question we should be asking instead

How this kind of fear-based guidance limits women’s everyday lives

What movement expertise actually is — and why it matters

A powerful reminder of your role: you are the world-leading expert in your own body

Simple, practical ways to start rebuilding confidence, strength, and capacity, safely and progressively

How we can move from restriction to possibility — from “don’t” to “how”

This is a passionate one (borderline rant!), but for good reason. Women deserve more than limitations. They deserve informed guidance, collaborative care, and hope — real, actionable hope that helps them return to the centre of their own lives.

If you’re tired of being told what not to do, this episode will give you a fresh perspective, practical next steps, and encouragement to ask:

Is this still true for me today?

And if you want support learning how to move, lift, run, jump, play, and live again, come join our free Pelvic Health Café or explore the Whole Body Pelvic Health membership — where we teach you step by step with compassion, clarity, and community.

There is something you can do. There is hope.

I’m right here with you.

In this powerful and reassuring episode, Claire Sparrow tackles one of the most common questions she receives—from both women and Pilates teachers alike: “Is Pilates good for prolapse?”

Drawing on her own personal experience with pelvic organ prolapse and 25 years of teaching, Claire sheds light on what really makes Pilates healing—or harmful—for your pelvic floor. She explores the difference between isolated “core” work and the true, whole-body philosophy Joseph Pilates intended, explaining why squeezing, clenching, and forcing strength can sometimes make symptoms worse.

You’ll discover how to recognise whether your Pilates practice is truly supporting your pelvic health, what questions to ask your teacher, and how to approach movement through a whole body lens that restores balance, confidence, and trust in your body.

Whether you’re a woman living with prolapse or a Pilates teacher supporting clients, this episode offers clarity, empowerment, and practical next steps to help you move forward with hope.

Listen now to learn:

• Why not all Pilates is created equal

• How “core” cues can actually increase prolapse symptoms

• The importance of whole-body integration and breath

• How to find or become a Whole Body Pelvic Health-informed teacher

• Steps to build confidence and autonomy in your body again

Learn more about Claire’s Whole Body Pelvic Health Membership and teacher mentorship at wholebodypelvichealth.co.uk

Episode 33 — If It’s Not a Floor, Why Do You Call It a Pelvic Floor?

In this deeply personal and reflective episode, Claire Sparrow explores one of the questions she’s asked most often:
If it’s not a floor, why do you still call it a pelvic floor?

Claire shares the emotional journey behind naming her bestselling book Hope for Your Pelvic Floor—from wrestling with professional expectations to realising that accessibility and empathy matter most. Through stories of mentorship, creative struggle, and honest reflection, Claire reveals why language is more than semantics—it’s how we build trust, inclusion, and hope.

You’ll learn:

• Why Claire chose to keep “pelvic floor” in her title, even though she teaches it’s really a pelvic diaphragm

• How breath is the bridge between your two diaphragms—the respiratory and the pelvic—and why this changes everything

• The power of imagination: how what you picture in your body, you create in your body

• What hope truly means in the context of healing—not wishful thinking, but possibility and understanding

Claire also guides you to practical next steps:

1. Try the free 10-minute YouTube class to help your breath move more freely and awaken your pelvic diaphragm → Watch here on YouTube

2. Join the free Pelvic Health Café—a monthly online gathering open to everyone, where you can ask questions, share, and learn together → Join via Zoom here

3. Explore the Whole Body Pelvic Health Membership for ongoing support, classes, and community → Learn more

As Claire reminds us:
“Hope is not passive. It’s the space that opens when we understand our bodies were never broken—only misunderstood.”

Listen, breathe, and rediscover the hope that already lives within you.

In this special Reimagining You: The Pilates Way episode, re-released for Hope for Your Pelvic Floor, Claire Sparrow is joined by long-time client and researcher Sophie Rugg for an open, empowering conversation about pelvic health — what it really is, why it matters, and why it’s time we all started talking about it.

Originally recorded for International Women’s Day, this episode celebrates women everywhere by breaking the silence around pelvic health. Claire shares her own deeply personal journey — from birth injury and prolapse to healing and empowerment — and explains why the “pelvic floor” isn’t really a floor at all. Together, Claire and Sophie explore how reframing how we see our pelvis can change everything, from how we move to how we feel about ourselves.

You’ll learn:

✨ Why pelvic health is a whole-body issue — not just about “squeezing”

✨ The real reason traditional Kegel exercises don’t work for everyone

✨ How to recognise early signs your pelvic floor needs attention

✨ What we can do right now to break the stigma and support each other

This is the conversation every woman deserves — honest, hopeful, and deeply human.

🎧 Listen now and start reimagining your relationship with your pelvic floor.

#HopeForYourPelvicFloor #PelvicHealthAwareness #InternationalWomensDay #ReimaginingYou

The Trust Factor: What Your Pelvic Floor Really Needs to Heal

What if the key to pelvic floor healing isn’t more control, but more trust?

In this week’s episode, Claire explores biotensegrity — the science that shows your body isn’t built in parts, but as one intelligent, self-healing whole. From her recent teaching trips to China, Portugal, and beyond, Claire shares how this principle underpins the Whole Body Pelvic Health Method and why learning to trust your body’s innate ability to restore itself changes everything.

You’ll discover why your pelvic floor isn’t something to “fix,” how healing happens through balance and alignment, and why letting go of timelines (and the idea of being “finished”) is vital for lasting wellbeing.

💜 Join the free Pelvic Health Café → Friday 21st November, 6pm UK
💜 Connect in the Hope for Your Pelvic Floor Facebook community
💜 Download the free Whole Body Pelvic Health app for classes, resources & more

This week, give yourself permission to trust your body — it already knows the way home.

It’s HOPE’s birthday! 🎉 Two years ago today—13 October 2023—Hope for Your Pelvic Floor launched and became an Amazon bestseller by the end of the party. In this special episode, Claire takes you behind the scenes: the dyslexia she had to work through, the decision to self-publish, the six-month writing sprint, and why speed mattered when women needed help now.

You’ll also hear what’s happened since: 2,500+ copies sold across 12+ countries (and counting), the audiobook, Kindle and paperback, and the free companion course that turns inspiration into action. Most importantly, this is your invitation to shape “what’s next” for HOPE. What would help you most? A new program? A deeper dive series? Another book? Tell Claire—DM on Instagram or email—your ideas could become the next chapter.

Come join the conversation: the next free Pelvic Health Café is on Friday 21 November—camera on, not recorded, safe, supportive, and wonderfully real.

Try these next:

Get the book or audiobook

Do the free companion course (scan the QR in the book or use the link in the book)

Share or gift HOPE to a friend who needs it 

Re-read a chapter and notice what lands differently today

If this episode gave you HOPE, please follow, rate, and review—it helps more women find real, evidence-based answers for prolapse, incontinence, and whole-body pelvic health. 

Grab your copy of the Book

Join the next FREE Pelvic Health Café

Follow on Instagram & drop me a DM

In this episode of Hope for Your Pelvic Floor, Claire Sparrow busts one of the most damaging myths women hear: that incontinence only happens if you’ve had children. The truth? Any woman, at any age, can experience incontinence — and it has more to do with whole-body balance, breath, and movement than with childbirth alone. Claire shares how your pelvic floor is part of a team with your hips, spine, and breath, and why imbalance anywhere in your body can affect continence.

Claire also opens up about her personal journey through menopause and how a simple daily habit — rolling out her mat — helped her reconnect with her body, fall back in love with movement, and reclaim her confidence. You’ll leave this episode with practical insights, a new perspective on incontinence, and encouragement to start your own “one small habit” to build

Find out more about Habits here

Find out more about the Whole Body Pelvic Health Membership here.

Is incontinence only something women face after childbirth? Absolutely not. In this episode, Claire Sparrow dives into the truth about continence, busting the myth that only mums experience leakage. You’ll discover why balance, breathing, and whole-body movement matter just as much as pelvic floor strength, and why any woman—at any stage of life—can be affected.

Claire shares the two main types of incontinence, why your pelvic floor doesn’t work in isolation, and how everyday habits (like crossing your legs or holding your tummy in) can quietly create imbalances. Most importantly, she leaves you with hopeful, practical steps you can take today to support your pelvic health.

It’s time to stop accepting incontinence as “normal” and start seeing it as something you can change.Incontinence isn’t just a post-childbirth issue. Any woman, at any age, can experience it.

Two main types matter: Stress incontinence (leakage with pressure like coughing, laughing, or running) and Urge incontinence (sudden, desperate need to go).

Your pelvic floor is part of a team. It works with hips, glutes, spine, breath, and posture—so balance is key.

Movement creates strength. Stiffness, scar tissue, or injury reduce coordination between brain and pelvic floor, increasing risk of leakage.

Hopeful truth: Incontinence isn’t inevitable. Small, whole-body changes—like better breathing and more pelvic mobility—can make a real difference.

In this episode, Claire shares the story of the Pelvic Health Café—where the idea came from, how it has evolved, and why creating spaces for open conversation is so vital. You’ll hear how women’s stories bring hope, how the Café is breaking down stigma, and why community connection can be as powerful as exercise when it comes to pelvic health.

Join the Cafe 26th September or 10th Oct

• Pelvic health isn’t a private struggle — it’s a shared conversation. When women come together, we realise we’re not alone and we gain hope from each other’s stories.

• Community is powerful medicine. Hearing another woman’s journey can unlock confidence and courage you didn’t know you had.

• The Pelvic Health Café is for everyone. It’s free, inclusive, and accessible online — a safe space to ask questions, share wins, and learn together.

• We’re stronger when we challenge the status quo. Pelvic health issues are not “just to be expected” with childbirth, menopause, or ageing. There is always something you can do.

• You can be part of the ripple effect. Whether you join the Café, start your own conversations, or even host a café yourself, every discussion helps break stigma and build a legacy of support for future generations.