Welcome to The Anxious Pelvis Podcast
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Gina: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Anxious Pelvis Podcast. This is for my anxious girlies or anyone else who wants to listen, where we will UNC unclench our attention. Unlearn the bullshit that you've been taught, and find out about the stuff that you should have been taught about your pelvic, sexual, and mental health.
Because it's all connected.
Hello and welcome to the very first episode of the Anxious Pelvis Podcast. I'm your host, Gina, and this episode I'm gonna tell you a little bit about what you can expect. So who the hell am I? Well, I am Gina Inglese. My pronouns are she her. I'm a pelvic floor occupational therapist. I am passionate about getting you the information that you deserve so that you can reclaim your autonomy, your power, and thrive in this life.
Because pelvic health education out there right now, it's getting better, but it is pretty shit. This podcast is all about the things that no one taught you about your pelvic, sexual and mental health. [00:01:00] So we're talking pee poop, sex, the nervous system, anxiety, menstrual cycles, chronic pain. And so much more, all delivered with a mix of evidence-based insight, real talk, maybe some real stories and maybe a touch of humor, I don't know.
But the goal is to have no to limited fluff and just take you guys right to the point. So I started this podcast because pelvic health is often misunderstood. It's stigmatized and it's flat out ignored. My goal is to help break the silence. Scrape away at that shame and stigma that is deeply woven into this area of our health and just make these conversations normal because they are normal things that we're doing every single day.
I wanna weed away the bullshit that's out there because there is a lot, and I wanna give you guys the knowledge that you owe so deserve about these aspects of your health. As you have noticed, this podcast is called The Anxious Pelvis Podcast, so a big focus will be on anxiety, but also shame, [00:02:00] stress, other nervous system based elements, and how they affect your body, your pelvic health, and how you can address them.
So we are going to explore everything about how anxiety affects your sex life to why you're peeing 20 times a day, to practical tips for reducing pain. Should you do that new treatment fad that you found online? What does your poop tell you about your pelvic floor? Should you kegel or should you not kegel even how to have better orgasms?
Many episodes will be solo, so just moi. Others will feature amazing guest experts, people I have connected with who are incredible in these spaces. Maybe some real people to interview and talk about their, real experiences. Um, there might even be some extra short episodes with just some quick reminders or intentions to start your day.
Maybe even a meditation. We'll see. I am new with this whole podcast thing, so sometimes things are going to be imperfect. So welcome to my journey and I will try really hard to not be a perfectionist about [00:03:00] it. Also, I wanna hear from you guys. What is something that you want me to talk about? Let me know.
Did you experience a big aha moment after something that was on an episode? Please, I would love to hear it. Sometimes you might be like, Hey Gina, I didn't like the way that you talked about X, Y, Z, and you actually experienced that thing. Or, you're in that group. I'm all ears. I'm always here to grow along with you.
Um, unless you are just trolling and being a little turd, then you'll just be ignored. This is a safe, inclusive space. Whether you are here because of your own battle with pelvic issues, your desire to optimize your pelvic health curiosity, or you just wanna learn something new. Welcome. There is no TMI.
Here we are talking pee poop sex. So nothing is too much information. So let me tell you a little bit about my journey here. Like many people, I did not know much about my pelvic health, even though I had a pelvic floor and even though I actually was experiencing pelvic floor symptoms, I [00:04:00] wasn't really aware of it.
It wasn't something I had much knowledge of that was even a problem, or that there was anything I should or could be doing differently. I was actively doing habits every day that were working against my pelvic health. And then when I got into the profession and into the specialty, my awareness of that skyrocketed.
And then I knew all of this. Stuff. All of these habits, all of these changes that I could implement to make my pelvic health better and prevent symptoms from getting worse or developing down the line. And I think it's bonkers that we don't know these things as a society, that we just don't even learn them in grade school.
So I wanted to provide a space where we could learn these things together and people could have this information that they really, really deserve. I've also always had a love for the brain body connection. And in pelvic health, that intertwined connection is all up in there. Our body is one unit, one entity, all [00:05:00] working together, not as just these separate parts.
So we wanna think of the body holistically, and I've seen firsthand how pelvic health and anxiety and the nervous system are deeply connected, and I've helped countless people improve their lives by addressing these issues together. I've been in pelvic health for a little over four years now, and I'm an occupational therapist at my core.
This means that I take a very holistic, whole body approach. I care about what you value, not insurance, not where I think you should be, what you want, what you need, and what you actually value and are interested in. I love the nervous system. I'm basically a professional problem solver and I'm also a certified clinical trauma specialist, certified sexuality ot, and I have a certification in pelvic sex counseling.
I've participated in a pelvic collective in Portland, Oregon when I started this profession, and I met with amazing other therapists and other professionals in [00:06:00] Pelvic Health Monthly and learn from each other.
Shared skills and then helped lead a group similar to that in the greater Philadelphia area, which is where I'm from, go Birds, and I've worked in a clinic, I've worked independently. I say this, not just to tell you that I know what I'm talking about, but I love networking. I love talking with other people.
I love learning. I love knowing different methods. I love having a diversity of strategies and. Thought processes and ways to address an issue. So I want to bring that into this podcast, having these experts that I've gotten to learn from Talk on the podcast. Teaching you guys about stuff that I have learned over these years and through different people and really coming into it with a, um, diverse perspectives and well-rounded knowledge around these conversations.
If there's something that's maybe a little spicier, a little, um, know people [00:07:00] have different opinions on it in these specialties, then maybe we'll have multiple people. That can talk about those different views on it, but coming from an evidence-based lens and making sure that these people are vetted. I currently live in Denver, Colorado.
I do workshops around the city, but I also serve you virtually through online education and coaching through the anxious pelvis. So back to why we are here and the best part of this all. I truly believe if we were all more regulated in our nervous systems, so more able to handle anxiety, overwhelm, stress, anger, all of that, we understood our bodies better and how they function.
We would be better humans and have a better society. We would be happier, less anxious, more independent, nicer to each other. Because we'd also be more understanding of each [00:08:00] other and we'd be more regulated. We'd better be able to advocate for ourselves in society, at the doctor, with partners, with anyone.
I believe this knowledge and advocacy piece to be especially true for marginalized populations, getting the short end of the stick, not only lacking in research or awareness and care in these pelvic and sexual health spaces, but also are often a target in our society, culture, and marketing. Which is really anyone who's not a cis white hat male, but they're affected too.
Everyone is affected by these issues. So I'm especially here for my girlies and my afab individuals because we will be talking about a lot of vulvovaginal based stuff, but. We will also just be talking about pelvic health as a whole, and everyone has a pelvic floor. Everyone is impacted by these things. And my men too, you guys really impact the lives of my girlies, so y'all should listen up as well.
But at the end of the day, as [00:09:00] Emily Nagoski would say, we are all made up of the same parts, organized in different. So a lot of this can help really any of you listening. All right, anywhosile . If you want to know more about your bladder, bowel, sexual functioning nervous system and so much more, hit that subscribe button.
And if you have any requests or questions or topics you want me to cover, please email me at [email protected]. You can also DM me @anxiouspelvis on Instagram, I want this podcast to be as helpful and fun for you guys as possible. So please give me your feedback.
If you wanna get started today on your pelvic wellness journey, you can head to anxious pelvis.com and check out our resources, including a free ebook to better understand your pelvic health. So if you're like, Hey, I only poop two times a week, is that normal? Check out that book. We also have a starter guide for those of you having painful vaginal sex to release that pain and various other resources on there.
So go ahead and check that out. All right. Well, thanks for joining me on [00:10:00] this introductory episode of the Anxious Pelvis Podcast. I cannot wait to dive deeper into these topics with you. I will see you next time.
