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I talk about poop - a lot.
This is a near hourly topic in the clinic with my patients. Pelvic floor patients? Asking about your poop. Low back pain patients? Asking about your poop. It's a topic with my own medical providers. It's a topic with Doc’s veterinary medicine providers, care providers and with my boyfriend. It's a topic with my closest girlfriends while we’re hiking, paddling, or simply catching up about our workouts. These girlfriends, like me, are mostly type-A and constantly stressed.
Shocker: poop-issues plague us all.
Today, while hiking, I lamented that Doc has been taking so very long to get his business done before our morning clinic starts. His walking route is very social and - while this is a great “problem” to have, he gets so revved up that he can’t GO and there is no rushing him. On the same hike, I realized that my common “trail poops” may be the exact opposite of Doc. While his nervous system gets all revved up and he can’t relax in order to poop, weekend hikes for me have the opposite effect. I slow down. I calm down. And the minute my CNS (central nervous system) gets out of its frenetic weekday mode, I’ve gotta go.
This is very akin to conversations I have in the clinic with patients. We need to be calm and relaxed in order for poop to flow. This means our CNS needs to be calm (downregulated) as well as our muscles. Positioning with our feet up on a stool and sitting down fully on the bowl helps us to achieve a relaxed position for our muscles. When we can't find a nice tree for a full deep squat, of course. Hence the apt product name: the squatty potty.
Breathing and finding a calm mental state helps.
And - like Doc - get rid of the distractions that amp you up! If you are stopped up, take a cue from my weekend hikes and move. Gentle exercise like walking helps us to get that poop moving. Diet, water, supplements and medications are for another day.
Hopefully my hiking ruminations help trigger some better pooping for you too!
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