Yoga for pelvic floor health: poses for bladder control and fewer leaks

Your pelvic floor and urinary incontinence yoga plan

Mountain PoseTadasana BeginnerStanding Chair PoseUtkatasana BeginnerStanding Garland PoseMalasana BeginnerStanding Bound Angle PoseBaddha Konasana BeginnerSeated Bridge PoseSetu Bandhasana BeginnerSupine Reclining Bound Angle PoseSupta Baddha Konasana BeginnerSupine Cat PoseMarjaryasana BeginnerProne and kneeling Cow PoseBitilasana BeginnerProne and kneeling

More poses that help with pelvic floor and urinary incontinence

Add these once the session above feels easy, or swap one in when a pose does not suit you.

Warrior II PoseVirabhadrasana II BeginnerStanding Goddess PoseUtkata Konasana BeginnerStanding Locust PoseSalabhasana BeginnerProne and kneeling Corpse PoseSavasana BeginnerSupine

Mudras for pelvic floor and urinary incontinence

Hold a mudra while you sit for the breathing practice or a few minutes of quiet. Mudras are a traditional practice; research on them is limited.

Moderate evidence: Randomised trials show a benefit; more research is under way.

Yoga for pelvic floor health combines the classic squeeze-and-release exercise with poses that make the pelvic floor work together with your breath, hips and buttocks. It is one of the better-studied uses of yoga: trials show fewer leaks, although yoga did not beat a matched general exercise programme. This page covers how the muscles work, the lift-and-release breath, why each pose is in the session, and when to see a doctor or physiotherapist.

What the pelvic floor does

The pelvic floor is a hammock of muscles from your pubic bone to your tailbone. It holds up the bladder, bowel and (in women) the womb, keeps the openings shut when you cough or jump, and relaxes to let you pass urine and stool. It also works with the diaphragm: when you breathe in, both drop slightly; when you breathe out, both rise.

So what do pelvic floor exercises do? They train these muscles to squeeze quickly (for a cough), hold steadily (for lifting) and let go fully (for emptying). All three matter. Many people only practise the squeeze.

Stress, urge and mixed leaks

• Stress incontinence: leaks when you cough, sneeze, laugh, run or lift. Common after childbirth, with menopause and after prostate surgery. Exercises for stress incontinence focus on strength and timing.
• Urge incontinence and overactive bladder: a sudden, strong need to go, and sometimes leaking before you reach the toilet. Exercises for urge incontinence focus on calming the urge and bladder training.
• Mixed: both. Most exercise for bladder control programmes train both.

Is yoga good for pelvic floor problems? The research

Does yoga help with pelvic floor weakness and leaks? The evidence here is moderate. In a 2024 randomised trial in Annals of Internal Medicine, 240 women aged 45 and over with daily leaks did 12 weeks of either pelvic-floor-focused Hatha yoga or a general stretching and strengthening programme. Leaks fell in both groups, by about 2.3 episodes a day with yoga and 1.9 with the general programme; the difference between them was small and not significant. An earlier pilot trial by the same team found about a 70% fall in leaks with six weeks of yoga, compared with 13% in the control group.

What this means: yoga for bladder control is a reasonable, low-risk option that works about as well as other structured exercise. Supervised pelvic floor muscle training with a physiotherapist remains the first-line treatment in most guidelines, so the best exercise for urinary incontinence is the one you do regularly, ideally checked by a professional.

The lift-and-release breath: your first pelvic floor yoga exercise

Everything in this session builds on one skill. Practise it before the poses:

1. Sit tall on a chair or in easy pose, or lie on your back with knees bent.
2. Breathe in and let your belly, ribs and pelvic floor soften and widen.
3. Breathe out and gently squeeze and lift, as if stopping wind and the flow of urine at the same time. Your buttocks and thighs stay soft.
4. Breathe in and let go completely. The release is as important as the lift.
5. Do 8–10 slow lifts (hold 3–10 seconds), then 10 quick squeeze-and-let-go flicks. Repeat three times a day.

Do not practise by stopping your urine flow on the toilet; it can upset normal emptying. If you cannot feel anything happening, a pelvic health physiotherapist can check with you.

Yoga poses for pelvic floor muscles, one by one

These yoga poses for pelvic floor strength add load, gravity and different hip angles to the lift-and-release breath.

Mountain pose (Tadasana)

Mountain pose teaches the posture in which most leaks happen: standing. Stack your ribs over your pelvis, feel the weight in your heels and balls of the feet, and practise the lift on an out-breath. It is the simplest of the standing exercises for pelvic floor control.

Chair pose (Utkatasana)

Chair pose links the pelvic floor to the buttocks and thighs, just as when you stand up or lift a child. Breathe out and lift as you sink, then breathe in and let go at the top.

Garland pose (Malasana)

Garland pose, a deep squat, lengthens the pelvic floor and is useful for release. Sit on a block if your heels do not reach the floor. Skip it if you have a prolapse that feels heavier when you squat.

Bound angle (Baddha Konasana)

Bound angle opens the inner thighs, which often grip with a tense pelvic floor. Sit on a folded blanket and let the knees drop without pushing them.

Bridge pose (Setu Bandhasana)

Bridge is the main strengthening pose: breathe out, lift the pelvic floor, then lift the hips. Lower on the in-breath and relax. Some trials used bridge with a block between the knees.

Reclining bound angle, cat and cow

Reclining bound angle is pure release: with pillows under the knees, let the pelvic floor soften with every in-breath. Cat and cow then coordinate the lift with rounding (out-breath) and the release with arching (in-breath).

Yoga for pelvic floor tightness and pelvic pain

Not every pelvic floor is weak. A tight, over-active pelvic floor can cause pain with sex, urgency, difficult emptying, constipation and pelvic pain. Is yoga good for a tight pelvic floor? Yes, when you focus on release rather than squeezing. For pelvic floor tension, spend more time in garland pose, bound angle, reclining bound angle and happy baby, with long, soft in-breaths, and cut back on strong lifts. Yoga for pelvic floor relaxation also helps with constipation: a relaxed pelvic floor and a small footstool on the toilet make emptying easier (see yoga for constipation).

Yoga for overactive bladder and urge incontinence

With an overactive bladder, the urge itself is the problem. Bladder training for urge incontinence works like this: when an urge comes, stop, stand or sit still, do five quick pelvic floor squeezes and take slow breaths until the wave passes, then walk calmly to the toilet. Over weeks, gradually stretch the time between visits. Slow breathing such as Nadi Shodhana without holds can make these yoga exercises for irritable bladder easier. Cut down caffeine, fizzy drinks and alcohol too.

Yoga for pelvic floor for men

Men have a pelvic floor too, and yoga for pelvic floor male issues follows the same steps. Leaks after prostate surgery and dribbling after urination are common reasons. For men, the cue is "lift the testicles and draw in as if stopping urine". A yoga for urine problem in man approach should always start with a doctor, because a weak stream, straining or getting up often at night can be prostate-related (see yoga for prostate health).

Yoga for pelvic floor prolapse and after birth

With a prolapse (a feeling of heaviness, dragging or a bulge), yoga for pelvic floor prolapse means gentle strength, no bearing down, and fewer poses that put the hips above the head for long. Avoid deep squats if they make symptoms worse, and ask a physiotherapist about a support device (pessary). For yoga for pelvic floor and postpartum health, begin with breathing and lifts and follow our postnatal yoga plan.

A weekly pelvic floor yoga workout

Give it at least 12 weeks; muscles take time to change. These pelvic floor exercises at home are free, but a physiotherapist can check your technique, which makes them work better.

Yoga for pelvic floor side effects and when to see a doctor

Side effects are rare. The main mistakes are bearing down or holding your breath while lifting, squeezing so hard that the pelvic floor never relaxes, and doing strong core work too early after birth. Pilates for urinary incontinence and yoga share the same rule: breathe out on effort.

See a doctor if you have blood in your urine, pain or burning when you pass urine, a heavy dragging feeling or a bulge, leaks that started suddenly, loss of bowel control, or numbness around the genitals. These need checking before exercise therapy for bladder control.

Start today. Open the guided 3D session above and practise the lift on each out-breath. Use the practice tracker to keep a 12-week streak.

Research behind this plan

1. Huang 2024, Annals of Internal Medicine — randomised trial in 240 women with daily incontinence: pelvic yoga and general physical conditioning both reduced leaks over 12 weeks; yoga was not superior
2. Huang 2014, Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery — pilot randomised trial: 6 weeks of group yoga reduced incontinence frequency by about 70% versus 13% in controls

Medical note: yoga supports treatment; it does not replace it. Keep taking prescribed medicine and talk to your doctor before you start, especially with heart disease, uncontrolled blood pressure, recent surgery, pregnancy, epilepsy or severe pain. Read our medical disclaimer.