Silly me,
I thought if I could find some way to relax the muscles down there and I was careful...
Well I am definitely feeling worse today.
I was doing these pelvic floor stretches I found in Amy Stein's "Heal Pelvic Pain" book. It is an excellent book, but maybe not for people with an AF who don't actually have pelvic floor dysfunction other than too much tension.
But on the bright side, before I started to do the stretches I spent a couple days just doing the breathing and "drop" http://www.pelvicphysiotherapy.com/Exercise4_Drop.html
The drop is in no way about pushing down though. It is about releasing tension. In the book they talk about it as that moment when you relax to urinate.
I like too the way she describes yoga breathing. You breath into the belly because your lungs extend down that far. When you breath into your chest, you are actually compressing the bottom half of your lungs so aren't getting the deep breath you thing you are. So when you breath into your belly, don't lift your shoulders. You should feel your belly expand and the sides of your ribs.
When I was doing her yoga breathing and "the drop" as often as I could, I definitely felt improvement those two days. Perhaps it was just coincidence. I don't know. I will continue with it and hopefully get past this setback.
-Tanya