We all know that our waste products (pee and poop) have to be easy and comfortable to pass. But we also need to be supported and comfortable on the toilet. Check out this video for a demonstration of the position and breathing that make elimination easier.
This video is designed as a follow along video model and includes a two minute quiet toilet sit.
A full transcript is available below.
[Chayah] Getting on the Toilet: Breathing and Positioning, with Chayah Lichtig. On the screen, you’ll see me, Chaya Lichtig. I’m an occupational therapist and I’m the director of the Vermont Continent Project. There are some things we can do when we sit on the toilet to make us much more successful at getting all of our poop and pee out quickly and easily. In this video, I’m going to demonstrate how to sit and how to breathe to make pooping easy and comfortable. There’s another video where we explain why you do all of this stuff, so please check that one out too. Here are the steps. Step number one, get a footstool. Remember, bodies are designed to squat to poop. Since we can’t make the toilet seats lower, we need to make our feet higher. Now my knees are higher than my hips, which puts me in a squatting position. Step two, put your knees apart. This helps your pelvic floor muscles relax. You can do this with your feet together or apart. Step three, lean your torso forward. Put your hands or your elbows on your knees, then look down towards your belly. Notice, are you in a ducktail position with your back swayed in and your bum poking out? This makes your bum and thigh muscles tighten up. Try to encourage your back to relax with deep breaths or a little wiggling side to side. Some folks have tight hips or thighs and leaning over might not be too comfortable. If this is you or your child, a ball or cushion in front of them might help. For the moment, I’m going to put the ball aside so you can see my breathing. Step four, start breathing to move things along in your intestines. Big belly, where you take a big inhale that fills you up, and hard belly, where your strong stomach muscles squeeze your intestines, helping poop come out. Watch me do big belly, hard belly a few more times. You can follow along with me. Notice how I put my hands on the sides of my belly to feel it fill up with air. Big belly, my front, my sides, and my back Fill up with air. I might feel my belly getting stronger and more firm. Hard belly, I keep that hard, strong feeling in my belly and breathe out of my mouth with a whew noise. Here I go again. Big belly. I fill up all the way around my belly and back. Make sure you don’t go into that duck position with your back. That makes our stomach muscles lazy instead of active. Hard belly, say, whew, and breathe out. Do you feel your stomach muscles squeezing in? If you’re holding onto your stomach, try putting your hands or elbows back on your knees and looking at your belly. It’s really normal for some gas, a little poo, or some pee to come out when you do this. After all, you’re kind of giving your insides a massage. I’ll stay with you while you do three more big belly, hard belly breaths. Now just take slow, relaxed, regular breaths, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. Stay on the toilet for another two or three minutes. An adult can set a clock for you. If you feel poop starting to come, that’s okay, just keep breathing. If you can feel poop pushing, but it won’t come out, try a couple more big belly, hard belly breaths. This video will keep playing for another two minutes. If you finish your poop sooner, you can wipe, pull up your pants and get off the toilet. If you need to stay, I’ll be right here too. You’re all done. Great try. Make sure to wipe, even if poop didn’t come out. Then pull your pants up, flush the toilet, and go wash your hands. Remember to use this poop position and poop breathing every time you sit. You might be surprised what comes out.
