Kim Vopni (00:01.742)
Hi, Tricia, welcome. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. You were a very active member of the Buff Muff community and you graciously agreed to join me on the podcast and also join me on one of our onboarding calls to share your experience. I really, I love when people are open to sharing. This is a, it's a topic that's kind of hard to get, you know, business testimonials about because not a lot of people talk about this topic.
nor do a lot of people want to share publicly what they have been dealing with because there is a lot of shame and embarrassment. There's a lot of taboo around pelvic health. So first of all, I applaud you for sharing your story and for agreeing to talk openly about what you were struggling with. So thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. Can we start out by just tell us who you are and what brought you to the Buff Muff community?
Tricia Gustafson (00:53.653)
Yeah, so I'm Tricia Gustafson. You know, profession-wise, I'm a communication and life coach.
I'm 62 years old and living in Vermont right now. So what brought me to it was I was noticing a few symptoms. I noticed that when I come home from playing disc golf and I had drank a full water bottle that I had to rush to the bathroom, like I'd come home and I'd relax a little bit, like for five minutes, like maybe making lunch and be like, my gosh. And it was just like quick.
And I just thought that was a little odd. And so I just started Googling and looking. And I also noticed I was bouncing on the Seller Sizer I had, the Reem Bounder. That's the brand Seller Sizer. And that I was feeling some heaviness in the pelvic region. And so I started Googling. And you popped up. And I'm pretty intuitive about sorting through different offerings. And I was very drawn to yours.
And yeah, so I just, I think I signed up that day. I did, you know, I looked through your materials and kind of screened it out and I thought, yep, this woman knows what she's talking about. So I signed up and went, signed up for the community and the whole package right away, I think. And I started immediately, you I started looking at reading things and I started the exercise. I think I attended one of the Zooms that first week and I was right on board.
clueless. So when I was reading other articles and I was like deer in headlights the whole time and it just went it went from there I just dove right in.
Kim Vopni (02:36.526)
Mm hmm. Yeah, I think that's a fairly common experience where people come in and they they come in for the exercise and people have heard of kegel exercises and they see that I show a lot of exercise on my on my channels and pages and what have you. But I don't start there. I always start with the other things like constipation and hydration and all these things that people have never really thought about and they recognize some habits that they may have kind of inadvertently fallen into trying to
or trying to help the problems that they have, not knowing that it's maybe contributing to other words, other symptoms that they have. So you were dealing with some urgency, some heaviness in the pelvis with some of the exercise that you were doing. And so you had your deer in the headlight moment. You were starting to learn what was one of the first aha moments that you had when you started learning about pelvic health.
Tricia Gustafson (03:28.537)
I think the first aha was hard. It was like, there's something wrong with me. you know, it like, there is something I need to address and this could get worse. Like, my gosh, you know, when you read the different levels and...
Kim Vopni (03:35.118)
Hmm.
Kim Vopni (03:38.69)
Mm-hmm.
Tricia Gustafson (03:42.713)
And you wonder like what level am I and you know what level of prolapse and even the word prolapse was new to me. And so there was some fear and some anxiety at first. And I think it took a couple of months to go away at least. But as soon as I felt like, you know I think it was maybe.
Kim Vopni (03:59.246)
Mm-hmm.
Tricia Gustafson (04:04.439)
I can't remember exactly, but a few weeks, just a few weeks or maybe like two months at the most before I started seeing some changes. And also I had I think I joined starting at the in February of twenty twenty four. And then I think I had my first public floor PT in March or April. So even March. So I got right on track right away. And as soon as the more information I got and the more I read your stuff and listen to you,
I started to relax like, I'm going to get better. I just have to do these things consistently.
Kim Vopni (04:39.712)
Mm-hmm, good. Had you heard of a pelvic floor PT before?
Tricia Gustafson (04:42.265)
Uhhh...
I don't think so. think your communication on the website is so clear verbally what you share and also just the written work that it was like, okay, now I need to do this right now. And I had to pay out of pocket and I don't have a lot of money. So I just made it a priority. And that was the best thing I did. mean, I'm lucky I found a woman who's just right down the street who's amazing. mean, she's very into kind of, she has the traditional background, but she's also into more holistic approach and she can do cranial sacral and she checked my
Kim Vopni (05:13.453)
Hmm.
Tricia Gustafson (05:13.797)
posture and it was just like we had a really good connection so it was great and I think I went for I think I went for like five months you know I think I went at least ten times or eight times and then I'll go back but not for like you know till the fall or something.
Kim Vopni (05:19.8)
That's awesome.
Kim Vopni (05:27.149)
Yeah.
Kim Vopni (05:31.51)
Right. Yeah, that's amazing. And I love that you took action and you were just, you kind of dove in. You're like, okay, I can, and it takes a while to find the comfort or the belief that you can get better. Cause as you say, it's scary, especially at the first symptoms and you're thinking what's happening to me and why hasn't anybody told me there's a little bit of anger and resentment and stuff and it can feel a little bit overwhelming, but you just, you trusted the process and you went through and you did the work.
Tricia Gustafson (05:55.647)
man.
Kim Vopni (06:00.728)
think you need to be really proud of yourself for that.
Tricia Gustafson (06:02.805)
Yeah, I was. And they were ups and downs. I when I started doing the hyperpressives too early, because I kind of move ahead really fast. And I was doing the exercises and the 28 day challenge. And I'm like, I'm going to do these hyperpressives. And my body got in mind, got very confused, even though I've been teaching yoga for years and practicing yoga. And so I just said, you know what? I need to back off. And so I backed off for a few weeks. And then I went into the hyperpressives. And now the hyperpressives are great. Like I mostly do.
Kim Vopni (06:31.17)
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Tricia Gustafson (06:32.698)
that and supplement with some exercises and blend in the breath work and the lifts with other things, other exercises. So it takes a while for the brain because I was being critical. was like, wait a minute, I'm an athlete and I'm good at this kind of stuff and I've done yoga and I've done breathing. Why can't I do this? And you just have to meet yourself where you're at, chill out. It's a year process and I'm still in it. There's still some more
strength training I'd like to incorporate, but it's hard when you're busy and you find the time and you know got to carve that time out and then you know day comes and you're too tired you don't want to do it and you don't do it for four days and then you're you're all thrown off again and you just got to keep at it until it gets to be routine.
Kim Vopni (07:07.022)
Mm-hmm.
Kim Vopni (07:21.986)
Yeah, yeah. And that's a really common experience that I see where people come in, they are desperate, they finally found what they think is going to be the solution. And they might have tried many different things and they and they just like give me the exercise. Whereas I just want to do the exercise and they they can't be can I do more? Can I double up? How about if I do this harder or more repetitions and and I always say trust the process and learn the other stuff first. It's a gradual process. Don't and there's a reason why I don't put hypopressives in that initial
because it is it's confusing enough already to learn the core breath for many people. So that's a really important lesson that you learned and hopefully other people listening will recognize that more is not always better. And even when we're desperate to fix something, we need to give our time, our body time to integrate what it is that we are doing. The body needs rest and a lot of times we are so in the doing mode, it's often the allowing mode and the
Tricia Gustafson (08:06.201)
you
Kim Vopni (08:22.296)
just stopping and slowing down where we start to feel better.
Tricia Gustafson (08:26.123)
Yes, and you reiterate that a lot.
And I think it's a really good message for people that have more type A or that have been athletes since they were five, six years old, whether you're skiing or dancing or whatever and playing sports because we have that, especially my age, because, well, I don't know about when you were young, but we were taught to push harder. when you went, you were in a school sport, you push, you push, you train more, you train more. And that's not, we're learning that's not the best. So I'm in the probably the
best shape I've been in years and I do half hour exercise every day sometimes a little more plus walking but I've toned way down and cut the adrenaline and the rush and my you know everything's balanced more and I still have strength and yeah
Kim Vopni (09:04.078)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Kim Vopni (09:15.192)
Yeah, which is important when we're aging. I'm witnessing my parents aging. One is declining very quickly and I think I'm looking going, I really want the opposite of what that is. And so how can I live in a way that is going to help me age with power and grace and stay active and mobile and not fall and not break hips and all the things. So it's important. And of course, I think the pelvic floor's the...
Tricia Gustafson (09:36.693)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
the core, isn't that the
Kim Vopni (09:42.7)
The foundation, we have to have that in place first before we can do all the things. I'm a little biased.
Tricia Gustafson (09:47.061)
No, I am too. I agree. It's the core, know. It's the foundation.
Kim Vopni (09:51.544)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So you mentioned you've been teaching yoga. What after you so you mentioned kind of after it was maybe a couple of months, you started to notice some change. You you were in the membership for about for the year long, you joined for the year. Where are you now in terms of your you mentioned you you exercise half an hour a day. Are you always kind of integrating your
Tricia Gustafson (10:06.338)
Yeah.
Kim Vopni (10:17.294)
pelvic floor into that workout? Do you do a separate pelvic floor workout or what does it look like for you now?
Tricia Gustafson (10:21.977)
Yeah, so now what I do is I start out the day with hyperpressives and then with a little bit of yoga into that. So that's and incorporating the breath and the lift and the whole thing in there. then also and then I'll get on this and I do that for about a half an hour or 20 minutes or so. And then I get on the solar sizer for anywhere between 10 and like usually 20 minutes, usually closer to 10 or 15. It doesn't take
much and I just kind of pay attention. I'm not like, I think I'm to the point now where it just kind of the lift and the protection, it's like my brain knows how to do it without really thinking so much. When I'm doing the hyperpressive exercise, I'm very calm and grounded and conscious because that's the only way you can really feel every little tiny little detail.
When I was starting out, my brain just wasn't in tune as much there. I was more, I don't know, I was still grounded, but you get more detailed and you get to notice more of the real, real fine details. So I kind of incorporate that and then I'll bring my brain back occasionally to the pelvic floor and really try and get a deeper lift or a softer lift. I kind of intuitively feel like you don't want to be too tight.
to figure that out. And so I do that in the morning and then sometimes I'm blending in like the ball work of your exercises and like the warrior walks and that type of thing just because I'm you know I'm getting older and I just need to keep my strength up but often you know when you do like a lot of the yoga poses the other stuff you don't really need because you're doing planks and doing down dogs you're doing you know you're doing isometric stuff.
Kim Vopni (12:20.098)
Yeah, yeah. you did hype, when you were starting to learn hyperpressives, I know you said you jumped forward and then you said, hold on, this is too much. And you, came back to them later. How long did it take you to grasp the concept? I know it's a bit of a, like I think from people who've done yoga, who are maybe familiar with Udiana Banda may be able to grasp it quicker. it can be a little bit challenging to learn online, but what was your experience once you gave yourself the space to be ready to learn that?
Tricia Gustafson (12:20.877)
So.
Tricia Gustafson (12:36.153)
Mm-hmm.
Tricia Gustafson (12:48.569)
I think I could learn it. I learned it right away because, I did do a lot of Ashtanga yoga in the beginning, like years ago. But what happened is when I would go back to the other kind of breathing with like the exercises, you know, on the ball and all that, then my brain got so mixed up, I would do like the wrong kind of breath at the wrong time or I do hyperpresses. My brain just couldn't sort it out. It was really weird because I'm like, what? This isn't like me. Like, I'm not this uncoordinated.
Kim Vopni (12:55.201)
Mm, yep.
Kim Vopni (13:13.038)
Yeah.
Kim Vopni (13:17.838)
You
Tricia Gustafson (13:18.523)
And
So that's when I decided I can't, my body's just not going to do it. So I have to just focus on it. Because I wanted to do the buff mouth exercises because I just, I don't know, I just felt like that was a place to start. I guess now that I look back, like I didn't want to just dump that and then do a hyperpressives only. Because I could do the hyperpressives pretty much from the start. But I don't know, I just felt like I needed the other. So that's what, yeah. So it took me, I dropped it for a while.
Kim Vopni (13:39.342)
Mm-hmm.
Tricia Gustafson (13:50.763)
I probably at least a couple months and then
I didn't do the hyperpressives, you know, maybe only a couple times a week or something. And then it all kind of blends in. And then it wasn't until probably late last summer that I felt like I was really had both well. So that's what, like February to August or September, that both were going very pretty well. And if I didn't do them, I'd be weaker, but at least I knew how to do them. My body and brain were working together. Yeah.
Kim Vopni (14:20.812)
Yeah, okay. And so the urges, the bladder urgency that you were experiencing, do you still have episodes or has that completely gone?
Tricia Gustafson (14:31.481)
If I don't do the exercise, think it kind of comes back a little bit. Like if I don't go, like I was sick and I think I went a week, I had the flu in February, March, and I think I went a week without doing anything and I think I was noticing a little coming back. But then as soon as I went back, it's all gone. Yeah, it's right back and I don't really notice anything. Dinner.
Kim Vopni (14:49.995)
quickly again. Yeah, yeah.
Kim Vopni (14:55.532)
Yeah, that's good. And then the cellar sizer. So for those that aren't familiar, rebounders are like the little mini trampolines. So you were noticing some heaviness in your pelvis and now you, you'd said you feel a bit more connected, but that heaviness is not bothersome anymore. Yeah.
Tricia Gustafson (15:00.642)
New Trump.
Tricia Gustafson (15:08.185)
totally gone now the heaviness is completely gone like i don't know how when it stopped but i mean i'd say within
Like I'm sure I felt it a little bit when I, let's say I started to do the seller, so the rebounder again, maybe a couple of months after I started doing buff months and I felt a little heaviness and you know, not bad, but I just jumped really gently and, then I started doing more of the rebounder in the morning right after like within the last month. And I noticed nothing.
Kim Vopni (15:19.95)
Mm-hmm.
Kim Vopni (15:41.314)
Hmm, that's awesome.
Tricia Gustafson (15:41.933)
You know, yeah, and I can jump high. mean, I wouldn't jump for an hour, but you know, but I mean, I can go for, you know, I don't need to jump high. I think it's very effective. If you jump really low, you just have to be consistent doing it every day or five days a week. It's amazing. It's gentle and it's amazing.
Kim Vopni (15:46.412)
Yeah.
Kim Vopni (15:55.83)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. The consistency is a big part. Yeah. What about you hear me preach about vaginal estrogen and vaginal moisturizers a lot? Is that something that you either had already been on or that you have started since you found the program?
Tricia Gustafson (16:14.113)
Yeah, I had no clue before. So all your information that I absorbed was very helpful. I did go on vaginal, what do call it, compound, without the parabens, yeah, the estradiol, internal, for, let's see, think I did it like three times, I think. And then I actually, honestly, switched to a product called Parlor Games. Yeah, and I've been very happy
Kim Vopni (16:25.61)
estrogen. Yep. Yep.
Kim Vopni (16:41.046)
Mm, yep, I've heard of them.
Tricia Gustafson (16:44.027)
with that and I do moisturize after almost every day with this other product called Rosebud or castor oil or coconut oil. I'm still trying to figure out the exact. The Parlor Games is new to me. I'll see if I continue with that. I'll try it for six months or a year or whatever. But it seems fine. mean, no pain with sexual intercourse and yeah.
Kim Vopni (16:51.438)
Yep. Yep.
Kim Vopni (17:10.754)
Yep, awesome, awesome. Before we started recording, one of the things you said, you felt passionate about like why you had agreed to come on the podcast and you came into the community to talk to a new group of people who had joined was that there's nobody talking about this and you now are, you kind of had this similar passion to myself where we need to talk about this, we need to get this information into the ears of others.
So what would you say to people who are maybe hearing this for the first time and really know nothing about the pelvic floor, maybe are dealing with symptoms, maybe are not dealing with symptoms? What would your words of advice be?
Tricia Gustafson (17:48.233)
This happens a lot. And I have to be very careful what I say and how much I say. But you have to read people. I usually often what I do is, you know, people ask me something what I do for exercise or whatever. They'll be like, usually a lot of people like, oh, you look great. What do you do? What do you do when they want to know?
Kim Vopni (17:54.403)
Yeah
Tricia Gustafson (18:08.185)
And for my age or whatever. So I tell them and I'm like, I always say, well, and I start the day with pelvic floor exercises and I kind of hesitate. And most people are like, yeah, whatever. And I'm like, oh, you know, and then I just kind of, you know, it depends on the person, but I'll say one other little tidbit and, know, and then they'll bite. And sometimes people say, oh, yeah, I know this. I've done this or I'm on estrogen or whatever. I am very holistic. if someone gets all into like they're just wanting to do the drugs and
and not do anything else, I tend to just back off. But I, and I also, I openly just kind of mention it to people about that age. Like I ran into somebody, I was a yoga teacher, something at a yoga conference and somehow we, I don't know how I got onto it. And I said, yeah. And you know, pelvic floor too. and she's like, oh yeah, I've heard, said, do you know about that? Cause she was only like 40. And she said, yeah, a little bit, but not much. I said, well, you need to do your research. I said,
I always say, Kim, you, say, out Bobnath. I'm like, look up Vagina Coach. And people on other Facebook pages, they're like, what do do for this? And I keep saying, say, you know, Google Vagina Coach, Kim Bobnath, you know. So I think it's about really important. I've educated my 20-year-old daughter. She doesn't want to hear it. But I'm like, you know what? You just need to be aware when it's appropriate. You'll do, at least you're not clueless.
Kim Vopni (19:12.051)
Thank you.
Kim Vopni (19:37.192)
Exactly. And they, yeah, I remember my mom sharing information with me that felt cringy at the time. And I thought, like, mom, it was and learning it with my brother. And but I'm very grateful. And that's all it takes is just it's the mention. At least it's in her brain. She will remember it at some point. And and that's better than never having heard this information before. And then be, you know, 30, 40, 50, 60 years old and saying, why didn't anybody tell me about this?
Tricia Gustafson (19:37.825)
Yeah.
Tricia Gustafson (19:47.641)
Mm-hmm.
Tricia Gustafson (20:04.021)
Yeah, and the more we even mention a little bit of some people talking about it, the people that are really shy and don't like to talk about it, maybe they'll be like, well, maybe it's not that bad, you know, and then we need to, listened to your
podcast about the men. And I'm like, men are talking about their prostate issues. So hopefully the more we normalize these difficult conversations, it's just a body. We all have one that maybe fewer people will be suffering. It saddens me to hear that so many people can't do things because they're going to have to go to the bathroom. And even on travel sites, I'll hear people write, they're like, where can I find?
Kim Vopni (20:20.854)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Kim Vopni (20:29.346)
Yeah. Yeah.
Tricia Gustafson (20:46.379)
Are there frequent bathrooms in Scotland? Where can I find them? Do you have to pay for them? Are they in rural areas because I'm 72 and I need to go to the bathroom every hour, whatever. And that saddens me.
Kim Vopni (20:58.914)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I agree. And that's a big part of my mission too, is we, our lives become very small when we need to always be thinking about a bathroom or when we feel like we're not sure if there's, if, if we've had a successful bowel movement or if I'm not going to commit to this exercise class, but because what if this and, and we, right, we become very limited and, and I just, I, I want, I want people to live a really full life.
Tricia Gustafson (21:03.672)
Yeah.
Tricia Gustafson (21:19.489)
I like.
Kim Vopni (21:28.258)
I want them to age powerfully, I say that all the time. I want them to feel confident in their body. so I'm happy to have ambassadors like you out there also spreading the good word. Yeah.
Tricia Gustafson (21:38.417)
I am. I'm talking about it in you all the time. It's like, don't, you know, and other people who are also doing the same kind of work. think you're one of the more visible ones. But there are other people and we need to just in products. There are a lot of products out there. We just, you just don't know about them. And then when you start Googling them, you get them all and, know, coming up on your Google, you know, so you can choose and then just try them all and see what like you like best.
Kim Vopni (21:58.988)
Yeah, then they'll be in your feed.
Tricia Gustafson (22:05.283)
But everybody's body is different. That's another thing I want to reiterate because for me, I think my curiosity and my drive and commitment, because you have to be committed. It's work. I mean, you don't want to always get up at 7 o'clock and do this, especially when you're learning. It's hard. Now for me, it's easy. But a year ago, it was hard. And you just got to keep showing up. And nothing happens automatically without effort.
Kim Vopni (22:05.538)
Yeah.
Kim Vopni (22:35.48)
Yeah. Yeah.
Tricia Gustafson (22:36.317)
And but to just, you know, to know that you can improve your life and have that commitment is really nice. And anybody can do it, you know.
Kim Vopni (22:44.13)
Yeah, you've probably, yes, yeah, the oldest member that I know of is 93. 93, which I just love that she still is curious and still trying and still committing and yeah, that's amazing.
Tricia Gustafson (22:50.905)
It's awesome.
Tricia Gustafson (22:55.307)
Yeah. And no comparison. Like that's what I was going to say a minute ago is you can't compare yourself to other people in the group or other friends you have. Like everybody has a different body and different needs for different products and the exercises will all experience the exercises a little differently and the pace of improvement. And you just trust you're just keep working where you're at, not compare and.
Kim Vopni (23:24.482)
Yeah, one thing that we talked about when you joined on that onboarding call was kind of identifying what your why is. So you can say, why is, because I leak urine. But why do you want to address that? And so when people really get to the root of why they don't want to leak urine, then it gets like, because I want to be able to play with my grandkids, because I want to go to Scotland and not have to plan my day around the bathroom, because I want to have
Tricia Gustafson (23:24.867)
You'll get better.
Kim Vopni (23:54.766)
intimate relationships because I so it's kind of like your why is you're here and you want you're going to do this work so that you can and another thing you've probably heard me say is choose your heart and as you said this is hard at the beginning it's a it's it's a mind it's mind challenging its body challenging you have to set aside that 10 or 15 minutes out of your day it's it is hard but it's also hard to be buying pads.
to be leaking, to be constantly afraid, to fall and break your hip because you weren't building your bones, to have heart disease, right? So we kind of have to say we deserve and need this investment of our time for these amazing vessels that we live in. They need some care. We sometimes put, think people pay more attention to their cars than they do to their bodies, right? And we need a little care, yeah.
Tricia Gustafson (24:43.383)
Yes.
Yeah, is a taste self care. Yeah, it's really important. And once you get into the routines, it's really not that hard. It's just going from not doing it to doing it that transition because we're used to doing other things like being too busy and, you know, doing other things that are dragging us down. And once we find what's allowing us to thrive, then it's like almost addiction to keep doing that. Like, we don't want to stop doing that because you don't want to feel you know, if you feel better, like
I don't want to feel like I used to feel whether it's with food or exercise You know and I've backed away. I think exercise is huge, too It's you know we have to do it, but if you've been an athlete your whole life is your age You really benefit from a little less So it's you know not like pelvic floor exercise, but I mean like fully pushing and burning you know But yeah, it's right so you know thank you so much for everything you shared with me and continue to share with everybody
Kim Vopni (25:17.72)
Yes.
Yes.
Kim Vopni (25:37.048)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Tricia Gustafson (25:45.395)
because it was life-changing for me. I mean I didn't have that bad symptoms but they were bad enough for me to be annoyed and worried and for me they were really bad but if I compare I you know other people it probably wasn't as bad but it changed my life and I you know I know I'll just now I have the habit of doing this I'll do it the rest of my life and I think you know we'll see what my body does but I feel confident I'll be able to continue exercising and do the things that I want for my
why, you know, just travel. I love to travel and just to feel good about myself in my body. Yeah.
Kim Vopni (26:21.506)
Yeah, yeah, amazing. Trisha, thank you so much for sharing your story. Thank you for trusting me and in the process and for also now spreading the word and helping others get this information. I so appreciate your time and I so appreciate you sharing your story with us.
Tricia Gustafson (26:36.154)
thank you so much for having me. It's been fun sharing it and fun meeting you.
