Most women expect their pelvic floor issues to come from childbirth, hormones, stress, or posture—and while those factors absolutely matter, there’s another part of your body that quietly plays a huge role:

Your feet.

It may sound surprising at first, but once you understand how your feet influence your hips, core, and pelvic floor, it makes perfect sense. As I’ve focused more on foot intrinsic strength, coordination, and myofascial tension in the feet during pelvic floor evaluations, I’ve noticed something powerful:

When the feet are rigid, sore, weak, or disconnected, the pelvic floor often reflects those same patterns.

Today’s post explains why this happens, what I see clinically every week, and simple strategies you can start using to support your feet, hips, and pelvic floor.

Why Your Feet Matter More Than You Realize

Your feet are your foundation. Every step, squat, or shift of weight begins with how the feet sense the ground and transfer force upward through the legs, pelvis, and spine.

When the feet aren’t doing their job well, the body compensates—most commonly through:

• the hips
• the low back
• and the pelvic floor

Over time, this compensation creates chronic tension, faulty movement patterns, and pelvic symptoms that seem unrelated…until you look at the whole picture.

Pattern #1: Stiff, Rigid, Sore Feet Often Mirror a Stiff, Overactive Pelvic Floor

One of the clearest patterns I see is this mirroring effect:

Women with very tight, rigid, or tender feet often have pelvic floors with similar tension patterns.

This makes sense when you consider the fascial connections that run along the back of the body from the soles of the feet all the way to the pelvis.

These women often present with:

• pelvic tension
• tailbone discomfort
• difficulty releasing the pelvic floor
• SI joint pain
• pain with intimacy
• a general sense of tightness

As soon as we start restoring mobility in the feet—through gentle fascial work and improved foot mechanics—the pelvic floor often responds faster and with less effort.

Pattern #2: Limited Foot Awareness Often Matches Limited Pelvic Floor Awareness

Another group of women experiences the opposite issue:

A significant lack of awareness or coordination in the feet.

They often struggle to:

• feel the ground
• move the toes independently
• sense pressure through the arch
• maintain balance without gripping

And in many cases, their pelvic floor shows a similar disconnect:

• low coordination
• difficulty activating the right muscles
• trouble relaxing
• a sense of “not knowing where the pelvic floor is”

As foot awareness improves, pelvic floor awareness usually improves right alongside it.

Pattern #3: If You Can’t Feel the Ground, Your Hips Can’t Move Well

Healthy hip movement depends heavily on foot mechanics.

If the toes and arch can’t provide stability or sense the ground, the hips can’t hinge or rotate well.

When that happens, the body has to stabilize elsewhere. Often:

• the lumbar spine
• and the pelvic floor step in to “help.”

This compensatory pattern shows up frequently in women with:

• low back tightness
• pelvic floor overactivity
• SI joint discomfort
• hip pinching
• or difficulty engaging the glutes

Improving the feet improves the hips—which reduces unnecessary load on the pelvic floor.

Why This Connection Matters for Pelvic Floor Symptoms

Foot mechanics influence the pelvic floor more than most people realize. Here’s how disrupted foot function contributes to common symptoms:

• Leaking

Poor foot stability affects shock absorption → increased load on pelvic floor during impact.

• Pelvic heaviness or prolapse symptoms

Collapsing arches influence alignment and pressure patterns through the pelvis.

• Pain with intimacy or pelvic tension

Rigid foot fascia often parallels increased pelvic floor guarding.

• Hip and low back pain

Weak foot intrinsics → poor hip mechanics → lumbar and pelvic floor compensation.

• Posture and balance issues

Feet and pelvis work together to maintain stability.

Addressing the feet gives the pelvic floor a chance to finally relax, coordinate, and do its job more effectively.

What We Look For During an Evaluation

At Pinnacle, we evaluate each person as a whole—not just the pelvic floor in isolation. This now includes a closer look at the feet because they tell us so much about the rest of the body.

We assess:

• toe mobility
• arch strength and control
• ability to feel pressure through different parts of the foot
• foot myofascial tension
• single-leg balance
• connection between foot activation and hip movement
• how the feet behave during a hip hinge

This gives us a fuller picture of how your body is moving and where compensation patterns are showing up.

Foot Exercises and Tools I Often Recommend

These are simple, gentle additions that help reconnect your feet with your hips and pelvic floor.

1. Soft Silicone Toe Separators (5–15 minutes a day)

These are not the stiff foam pedicure spacers. Soft silicone separators gently encourage:

• toe spreading
• improved foot awareness
• better mobility
• decreased tension

I often recommend wearing them while barefoot at home, during everyday moments like:

• doing dishes
• getting ready for bed
• folding laundry
• or moving around the house for 5–15 minutes

Walking short distances in them helps retrain foot mechanics without requiring extra time in your schedule.

2. Foot Rolling for Fascial Release

Rolling the feet on a small ball can reduce stiffness and help the entire back line of the body relax—often easing pelvic floor tension as well.

You can use:

• a 1-inch massage ball
• a yoga tune-up ball
• a lacrosse ball

The smaller the ball, the more intense it will feel. If your feet are very tender or tight, starting with a larger or softer ball is often more comfortable. Benefits include:

• improved arch mobility
• reduced fascial tension
• better balance
• calmer sensory feedback to the nervous system

3. Foot Intrinsic Strength (the exact drills I teach)

These are powerful because they reconnect brain → foot → hip → pelvic floor.

• Short Foot: gently drawing the arch upward without curling the toes
• Big Toe Lift: big toes lift while all other toes stay pressed to the floor
• Little Toe Lift: big toes press down while lifting the other toes
• Toe Spreading: increasing the space between the toes as able

These help retrain stability and coordinated movement at the foundation of your entire system.

4. Dynamic Single-Leg Balance With a Hip Hinge

This is one of my favorite assessments and exercises. We work on:

• activating the arch
• activating the glutes of the standing leg
• maintaining balance
• then adding a small hip hinge

This dynamic movement shows:

• foot coordination
• hip stability
• glute activation
• ability to translate foot awareness into functional movement

It also translates beautifully into daily activities like bending, lifting, stepping, and stabilizing.

Who Can Benefit From This Approach

Because we take a whole-body perspective, this type of evaluation is helpful for anyone experiencing:

• pelvic floor tension or pain
• pelvic heaviness
• leaking
• low back discomfort
• hip or SI joint pain
• difficulty returning to exercise
• postpartum core weakness
• balance issues
• or general movement limitations

Foot mechanics often play a role in these symptoms, and addressing them creates more sustainable progress.

How We Help at Pinnacle Women’s Therapeutics

Our approach is gentle, clear, and personalized. We support you through:

• whole-body evaluation
• targeted pelvic floor assessment
• breath + alignment coaching
• foot intrinsic strengthening
• hip and core coordination
• movement retraining
• manual therapy and fascial work
• realistic habit stacking

We focus on clarity, simplicity, and a plan you can follow in everyday life.

Ready to Feel Better From the Ground Up?

If you’ve been dealing with pelvic floor symptoms, hip pain, or low back discomfort—and feel like something is “off” with how your body is moving—we’d love to help.

Book a whole-body pelvic floor evaluation at Pinnacle Women’s Therapeutics in Vancouver, WA.

Let’s reconnect your feet, hips, and pelvic floor so you can move with confidence again.