A Pelvic Floor PT’s Holiday Survival Guide for Moms

Support, strength & sanity for the season ahead.

The holiday season brings joy, celebration, and connection—but for many moms, it also brings physical strain, stress, and a demanding mental load. Between hosting, shopping, cooking, traveling, and caring for little ones, your pelvic floor and core often take on more than you realize. As a pelvic floor physical therapist (and a mom myself), I see the same patterns every year: increased tension, more leakage episodes, a spike in low-back pain, and a general sense of overwhelm.

This guide is here to help you move through the holidays with more ease, comfort, and confidence.

1. Managing Holiday Stress—For You and Your Pelvic Floor

Stress isn’t just an emotional state; it has a physical impact. When stress rises, the pelvic floor often becomes tighter, contributing to discomfort, urgency, or difficulty relaxing during bowel movements.

A simple grounding exercise:

• Inhale for four seconds

• Exhale for six

• Drop your shoulders

• Release your jaw

• Allow your belly—and pelvic floor—to soften

You can use this reset in the car before going into a gathering, while waiting in a checkout line, or any time you feel tension building.

2. Preventing Leakage During Those Big Holiday Laughs

From family gatherings to school performances to festive movies, holiday laughter is usually a highlight—unless it triggers an episode of leakage.

Strength plays a role, but timing matters just as much.

Try this strategy:

• Before a big laugh, sneeze, or cough, gently engage the pelvic floor (a subtle “lift and hug”).

• Maintain upright alignment—ribcage over pelvis—to reduce downward pressure.

• Avoid gripping your glutes or holding your breath, which can increase strain.

Quick 1-minute activation: 10 gentle quick pelvic floor contractions + 5 slow 5-second holds

This can be done discreetly while sitting on the couch or waiting for water to boil.

3. Protecting Your Back While Wrapping Gifts

Gift wrapping has a way of turning into an unexpected marathon. Many moms end up sitting on the floor, rounding the spine and straining the neck and low back.

A few posture shifts can make a big difference:

• Wrap at a table or counter when possible.

• If you’re on the floor, elevate one knee on a pillow to reduce spinal load.

• Take breaks every 10–15 minutes to stand and reset.

• Align your ribs over your pelvis to maintain more neutral positioning.

A quick posture check: Inhale to soften the belly → exhale and gently engage the low abdominals → lengthen through the spine.

This small reset supports both your back and pelvic floor.

4. Setting Boundaries to Support Your Body and Nervous System

The emotional and social demands of the holidays can be just as taxing as the physical ones. Overwhelm, overstimulation, and constant multitasking can contribute to pelvic floor tension.

Healthy boundaries can help protect both your energy and your body. Consider:

• Excusing yourself for a few minutes if you need a breather

• Delegating parts of hosting instead of carrying it all

• Keeping routines simple and manageable

• Saying “We’re simplifying this year” without guilt

When your nervous system is more regulated, your pelvic floor functions better—it’s all connected.

5. One-Minute Exercises to Keep You Moving Through the Season

Short, intentional movement breaks help counteract long days of cooking, driving, wrapping, and carrying children.

Here are three quick resets you can fit in throughout the day:

1. Side Body Mobility (30 seconds) Reach gently overhead and lean side to side to ease rib and pelvic tension.

2. Standing Pelvic Tilts (20 seconds) Rock the pelvis forward and back while standing—excellent for low-back and pelvic floor stiffness.

3. Calming Breath With Pelvic Floor Drop (10 seconds) Inhale fully, allowing the belly and pelvic floor to gently expand.

Small, consistent resets add up, especially during busy seasons.

A Final Word of Encouragement

You do so much for everyone around you, especially during the holidays. Your body—your core, your pelvic floor, your nervous system—deserves support too.

Give yourself permission to slow down, breathe, and care for your own well-being. A more comfortable, grounded, and joyful holiday season is absolutely possible, and you deserve nothing less.