Paris Latka: Your Spine Is Blocking Your Best Orgasms — Here's the Fix | #179 "

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What If the Secret to Better Orgasms Was Hiding in Your Spine?  You've tried the breathing techniques. You've experimented with new positions. Maybe you've even invested in pelvic floor exercises. But what if the missing piece to a more responsive, pleasurable body isn't something you add — it's something you realign? In this episode of the Sex Reimagined Podcast, hosts Leah Piper and Dr. Willow Brown sit down with Paris Latka, a former yoga teacher turned Bow Spring alignment expert, to explore how spinal alignment directly impacts sexual wellness — from pelvic floor health and orgasm quality to emotional safety and full-body sensation.

🎧Get all of the Resources, Links, Show Notes, and the Full Video and Audio versions of this episode > Here 

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• Why "tuck your tailbone" might be ruining your sex life
• The pelvic floor connection most people miss
• Willow's orgasm revelation 
• Paris's PCOS healing story 
• The emotional release nobody warns you about
• What this means for men 
• Why this matters more as you age 
• Bow Spring as somatic therapy 

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Transcript

Introduction: Can Posture Improve Your Sex Life?

Willow 1:05

Do you think posture could change your sex life? As a long time Yogi, since I was 13 years old, I have found postural alignment to be such an, pinnacle part of health and vitality and. Once I learned about this new postural alignment, my sex life did change. So this episode is going to unpack spinal alignment, pelvic tone, and bow spring, a different kind of alignment practice. The bow spring mechanics unlock fuller orgasms, increased sensitivity, and a more responsive nervous system from the inside out and we have here expert Paris Latka, you are going to fall in love with this woman. She is amazing. I am Dr. Willow Brown. I'm here with Leah Piper and we are the co-hosts of the Sex Reimagined podcast. We are so grateful for all your likes, your shares, your subscribes, so please keep those coming.

Leah 2:04

So friends, if you've been a long time listener, you know what to do. And if you're new to the show, join us by tuning in, turning on And falling in love with Paris.

Announcer 2:14

Welcome to the Sex Reimagined Podcast, where sex is shame-free and pleasure forward. Let's get into the show.

Leah 2:23

Welcome to the show, Paris. Hey, so grateful to be here.

Paris Latka's Journey with Bow Springing

Willow 2:26

Yay. I'm so glad you're here. Paris. I, it's such a funny story. I'm, I'm gonna start by telling our origin story, but basically like I learned about bow springing from one of the creators of bow springing. I was traveling in Turkey and just met this woman on the road in Turkey, on the dirt road. There she was, and we've become lifelong friends since then. But she and her sister, the Springer girls, um, went to Africa and had this whole journey in Africa. They were longtime yogis and they started to see, wow, there's something different going on and these people are not walking around in pain around hips and shoulders, especially in particularly. And, um, so Bow Springing was born and then I happened to be in some other community and I was like, oh, there's a Bow Spring training in this other community. And it was Paris. Paris was the trainer in that other community in Naba. which is a really cool community that I, I love being a part of. And so it was so fun because that was really my first introduction. Introduction to the work and to the training. And now I follow Paris. She is my primary bow spring teacher. And, um, as somebody who's been a yogi since I was just a little one, you know, it's been really interesting to realign my body and my spine in this new way. So Paris, why don't you tell us a little bit about your own journey. I know you've had struggles with like pelvic pain, PCUS, things like that in the past. I'm so curious how bow springing came to you and how it really changed the, the structure of your body and the, the way you carried yourself.

Leah 4:08

Yeah. And how you carried yourself in the bedroom, especially.

Willow 4:12

Yeah. Leah, Leah, Leah will keep reorienting

Leah 4:15

Because I'm like, you know, we're kind of doing this biohacking theme, and when Willow was like, posture for better sex, I was like, oh my God, are you serious? but that's what Sex Reimagined is all about, especially from a holistic point of view. if we could step away from shortcuts and have long-term healthy bedroom experiences, what are all the little hacks people can do to live a more holistic life that really enhances their sex life? So, please, yeah. Uh, following up with a Willow's question, tell us how this all came about for you.

Understanding Bow Springing vs. Traditional Yoga

Paris 4:48

Yeah, totally. So I met Bo Springing in 2016, and at that point in my life, I was a very active yoga teacher in the Boulder community. And I loved yoga. I had been practicing and training for eight years at that point, and attending many Vinyasa classes, teaching a lot of Vinyasa classes, and I was in pain. Oh my goodness. So had crazy ass elbow tendonitis. Also, a lot of shoulder pain that would kind of come and go, then neck pain. And it was starting to get to the point where like more yoga classes weren't solving it, and I was in the yoga Mecca of the West Boulder, Colorado. And, visiting teachers who I respected and that I gained a lot of value from see, uh, seeing them one-on-one for these injuries, and it was only getting worse. So I met bow springing and it is almost 180 degrees different than modern postural yoga. So it's a mind trip, it's a body trip. the initial alignment was very, it turned my snow globe upside down, very disorienting, and it was very emotionally triggering. It was physically triggering because it was so different from what it is that I had been learning and teaching and what it is that I knew, and it was asking me to kind of question everything. it was confronting at first, and when I left my first couple of classes, I noticed the emotional rub, the physical uncomfortability, but I noticed that my body was in a lot less pain. I also noticed how freaking good I felt emotionally and energetically just like so much brighter, so much lighter, and that intrigue got me curious to come back for more and more and more. And eventually it healed the elbow tendonitis. Healed the bouts of a crazy neck pain that I would experience. Um, it saved me money because now I didn't have to go to the chiropractor, massage therapist, all of the different healers that I would have to go to for the neck pain. And it really started me on a journey of coming back to myself in a really, really beautiful way.

Leah 7:21

Can, can you share a little bit, you know,'cause I think a lot of people are familiar with what they've experienced in a yoga class and sort of understanding posture for those of us who've been to yoga classes who are listening. So for their minds, how is Bow Spring so different? Bow springing is centered around coming back to the curves of our spine and the curves of our body. So we are so naturally curvalicious. We are not straight lines. We do not move in 90 degree patterns. And so as we integrate the natural curves of the spine, energy begins to flow in a really unique and profoundly healing way. So. If we think about anyone who is listening to this, uh, your experience, Leah, your experience Willow of being in a yoga class. There's common cues that are shared by any instructor who is working with the modern postural template, and that is draw your shoulders on your back, suck your belly in, and tuck your tailbone. And there's an effort to try and straighten the spine. And what bow springing is doing is it's looking at the natural curves of the spine. So like we can all visualize that in our minds eye right now. And there's parts of the spine that where it goes in and there's parts of the spine where it goes out. And if we move with those patterns, not against them trying to straighten them. We move with them, then we begin to move a lot with a lot more ease and not moving against nature, but moving more with the nature of our bodies. So as we integrate the spinal curves, then we're mapping the curves through our whole body. There's a curve that lives in every joint, and when that is embodied and truly. Felt while you're in a posture, then you are training the muscles to engage that are above and below the joint. And when the muscles engage, that's what's holding your body rather than the joint holding your body and letting the muscles get away with not engaging because the joint is holding the body if we are so it. So what that would look like is like. You are where you're bearing weight on your hands and your elbows are hyperextended. Or if you are standing and your knees are hyperextended, this is a very common postural pattern. And if the knees are hyperextending, then you're neglecting that curve that lives in the knees and we're inhibiting the way that blood circulates through our bodies, and we're also inhibiting the muscles above and below the joint to actually. Engage and to play their part in their role at creating a support system for the body. So are they basically the same postures in yoga, you're just not being rigid, and how straight your body is shaping the asana or is it completely different? Uh, Yet

Willow 10:30

it's, it's pretty different.

Leah 10:31

it's pretty different, but there all, there are some similarities as well. Like what? People in yoga would call downward dog. We call Crouching Cat, and so it's on your hands and on your knees. But there are some specific things that we're doing to move with integrating the curves as we move, rather than just moving in straight lines and letting the energy drop and being held by the joints rather than the muscles.

Healing Benefits of Bow Springing

Paris 10:59

One, one of one of the things that Micah was explaining to me is, um, you know, you're, you're more stretching the bones rather than stretching the, the muscles and particularly the attachment sites on of, of tendon ligament to muscle and bone, which is. You know, in, in yoga there's a lot of like shearing of the muscle coming off the bone, whereas with bow springing, it's like you're, you're pulling the muscle back to the bone, but then you're stretching the bone. So it's, um, like, you know, I went to a yoga, so basically you can do anything with bow springing alignment, right? You can hike a mountain, you can ride a bike. Swim in the ocean. You can do a yoga class with Bose spring alignment, but it's just gonna be like a different sort of, um, you're gonna be paying attention to the mounds and the curves, right? The mounds and the hollows, as Paris would say, like the, the top of the knee is a mound, and behind the knee is a hollow. Um. And for me, I, I have just sort of like crossed the threshold from like, you know, I, the point of no return. Like I can't go back. I'm starting to notice like, gosh, if I don't get in my bow springing alignment, I feel pain in my body. Whereas before I was like, gosh, bow springing alignment. Awkward and like not comfortable in my body, but it's absolutely healing my neck and shoulder pain, like, um, in such a profound way and bringing it around to sex. You know, I have experienced some of the most phenomenal orgasms of my life because the, um, Shana Nadi that. Central column of energy that runs from our pelvic floor all the way up to our crown is now, um, is, is the connective tissue around that energetic channel is holding it in that s-curve alignment. So there's just more space for the energy to flow through.

Leah 14:51

Okay, I now I need to go look for a bo springing class in Carmichael, California.

Paris 14:57

Yeah.

Leah 14:57

really curious. I imagined that where the interconnected piece regarding sexuality was gonna be from the energetic. Um, yeah. So tell us a little bit, I think you said you had PCOS has bows springing helped you with that? And can you describe what that is?'cause I know there's a lot of women who suffer from that. Yeah, polycystic ovarian syndrome. It was, uh, very loud in my life about 15 years ago, and it was a lot of congestion. My body was congested and it was congested. For a variety of different reasons. One of the primary reasons was, um, it was, you know, when the front ribs are dropping, I didn't know how to hold my body. I didn't know how to be in my body. I didn't really know how to move and posture my body in life and life is dynamic. And so I had perpetually, uh, was. A posture where my ribs were dropping and my belly was closing and my pubis was tucking under. Um, so like it, you know, a big C curve. And then I would go to yoga and I would stretch all out and I would open my heart and I would melt my back hard and I would feel great. And it was so lovely for the time that it held me. And, um, however, I would leave a yoga class and then I would go back to these old. Postural patterns of closed belly, dropping ribs and getting really heavy and it was lacking any internal support. And so I think a lot of lifestyle had a ton to do with the PCOS. I had a really, um, intense eating disorder for seven years that I know had contributed hugely to the PCOS. So there's a lot of moving pieces. Um. And then it was, you know, it really cleared. I was, I was told by a doctor that I would always have cysts on my ovaries, and I would always probably have very intense. and this, I would probably not be able to get pregnant. And this was just kind of my life and like good luck. And so I swallowed that sub prescription. I bought into that story that was told about. Me in my body and it was, um, me kind of questioning like a couple of years into taking their medication, birth control and metformin, which is like a blood sugar regulator that I was like, wait a minute. I think like, wait, I wanna learn more about this. And so I started seeing a naturopathic doctor and that was huge. Very transformational. And so, you know, I had PCOS maybe like eight years before I met Bows springing. What is incredible is that I was told that my, the cyst would probably always be there and maybe you can manage the hormones. Um, like it is manageable, but the cysts are probably gonna be on your ovaries. And so then fast forward to, a few years after being diagnosed I would get an ultrasound. Cysts are there. Several years later I would get an ultrasound. Cysts are still there. Fast forward to meeting bow springing. maybe two years into my practice I got an ultrasound and the CYS were gone. And that was amazing to me. And I don't contribute at all to bows springing, but I do know that it was absolutely fundamental to helping me to create space in my body and less congestion. And so it's like as you learn to fill and open your ribs and expand the shape that they naturally are, and then. Expand into the shape that my hips naturally are and employ my spinal curves. They just create more space in your digestion, in the womb, in your ovaries, everywhere, and then everything works that much more efficiently. So digestion works that much more efficiently. Detox, elimination, healthy cycles,

Willow 19:11

I've, heard another bow springing teacher talk about how she used to have chronic, constipation and bow springing totally eradicated that for her. So I think what you're speaking to, like the spaciousness that we have the ability to create in our body, gives our body so much more opportunity to function at optimal higher level. Right? And then there's also what you talk about a lot Paris and when you're teaching is like just embodying your body, like being more full and more present in the world, right? It like builds a, a level of confidence, like take up space, take up all the space in your hip girdle and your pelvic floor, and take up all the space in your radiant heart and your shoulders and you know, really lift and open. It, it doesn't have to be right now, but at some point I want you to weave in how the pelvic floor muscles kind of work and, and shift into a more, um, more strengthened way when we're actually spreading the bones and opening, you know, the, the space between pubic bone and tailbone.

Paris 20:22

And what I think is so valuable is that this is a practice that really guides us into safety with ourselves. And oftentimes we're, we don't feel safe in our bodies. There's a lot of insecurities that are like running the show. There is a lot of outdated, limited beliefs that we're still holding in our body and that are influencing. Our behavior towards ourselves, our relationships with others,

Leah 20:52

Holding back our orgasms big time.

Paris 20:53

Holding back to our orgasms, um, holding back our expression. And so what Bow springing does is it, and this is so fundamental to sex, to everything, is that it first teaches us safe, like, how to open and feel safe while opening. Usually we feel safe with closing because it's protected and it's vulnerable to open, our bellies especially and our necks, the places in our body that aren't protected by any bones. And you know, the belly and the neck have a lot of nerves, and so it's so wise to close. When we do feel threatened, when we're really exhausted, when we're highly stressed, like this closure posture is very, very valuable for our health, for our wellbeing, and knowing when to shift out of it and to emerge from our closed posture. Like, okay, I got what I needed to get from here, and now I can open again and I can. Um, and it's through the opening that we actually generate a stronger connection to self, and then we, we carry that open energy in our lives. Going back to what Willow said about the bones very quickly. So in bow springing, and this makes it very unique in that it activates, we learn to activate all of the muscles and the fascia because the fascia lives inside of the muscles. We learn to activate it as a unit in circumferential tone. This is unique to anything else out there because what you typically different Pilates or fitness or yoga, whatever it is, is it's isolating certain muscles and it's working those muscles in isolation to the rest of the muscles, but our muscles don't live independently from all the other muscles. They don't live in a vacuum. They live in relationship to all of the other muscles. So we're asking the muscles that have been really strengthened. They're really well patterned at engaging. We ask those muscles to back off so that the sleepier muscles, the muscles that have been flying under the radar, that have been catching a free ride on all of the muscles that have been overworking, we ask them to show up, to wake up, to participate. It's first as an idea and then it becomes a practice of how to embody and to engage all of the muscles and let them hug in towards the bones. And this is this like, Ooh, I'm coming in towards self. I'm generating safety because it is a hug. It's a hug. And like think about when you're getting a hug from a really good friend and you can melt into their arms or your lover and you feel safe in that hug. This is what we're providing for ourselves first. From receiving ourselves and our muscle engagement, we then expand the bones and stretch the bones as we're simultaneously hugging in towards and engaging the muscles. So it's this really fucking cool dynamic of muscles and fascia and bones and the interplay of how they all work together because like this is one unit. I'm touching my body. I'm, I'm, I'm looking at your bodies, it's all connected. And we've for so long have isolated certain parts from the whole and it has not worked. Hmm. So we create safety inside of ourselves first, and then we can open to life. We can open to our lover. With that much more presence, we're feeling confident and held from the inside. We feel safe to open and we're engaging in life from that place rather than closed.

Willow 24:36

I, I love what you're saying right now,'cause it's, it's almost, it's like. I'm also kind of my sub dom, BDSM mindset activating too, because it's like you're creating containment for yourself, right? With the, with the muscles into the bones. It's like you're creating this more contained, um, experience to your nervous system, so that that's sort of like, you know, the container, the, the sort of like dominant role. And then the, the bones get to soften and expand and melt out and be more submissive and more. Uh, pliable. It's just such a trippy. Really cool. There's a lot of, in Bow Spring, there's a lot of pulling in and stretching out, you know, going on. A lot of dynamic. Go

Leah 25:22

You know, as I'm hearing you speak, Willow and you Paris, it's making me think about perimenopause and menopause and the bone density in women that drop so severely. I'm curious if there's been any studies between people who practice is bow spring and their skeletal health. You guys probably don't know. It's probably too new of a system for there to show. It'd be really great to get a classroom of women who all, who all go get bone testy tests, know, like before they started and then two years after doing a practice or six months after doing a practice to see what's going on with their bone health. Um, because really curious how much this affect it or if it doesn't affect it at all, or whatever.

Paris 26:07

I would be very curious at that data as well. What I do know is that. Whenever, like if you were just to kind of like squeeze your bicep right now without even like doing anything, right? You feel that engagement and then of course relax it. But whenever the muscle is hugging in towards the bones, it is feeding the bone blood flow and it's giving, it's dropping off all the minerals. And so, you know, this is why weightbearing exercises are so valuable for a lot of, you know, especially women who are getting older. But if you're looking for that squeezing of the muscles in towards the bone where it can feed all of the bone, its minerals and nutrients. Um, what is really cool though, is that we emulate a lot of lifting heavy things like we're, we're using our own body weight primarily in Bow springing, and the results, um, are pretty fantastic in just the way that people feel and their journey, their commitment to the practice. Because of that, it's this feedback loop of supporting wellness. They can feel it supporting wellness. They feel stronger, they feel bouncier, they feel lighter and also really, really grounded all simultaneously so. Though those numbers aren't there anecdotally, there's a lot of stories of just feeling so strong.

Bow Springing for Men and Women

Leah 27:30

Well, you know, I, I think if you take a look at the weight loss peptides that are on the market today, one of the most concerning things about them is how they reduce, um, muscle composition, which is then affecting the skeleton. And so like the big thing there is, is they're trying to improve the drug so that there isn't so much muscle loss, which is creating skeletal loss, like the two are really tied in together. And then you've got women who are mid age, you know, who also are having a hard time losing weight, and now we're on these peptides and we're finally losing weight, but it's at the risk of also losing muscle and skeleton. So I just feel like this. From a sexuality wellness standpoint, it all ties in together. And so we have the emotional piece, which is feeling safe and feeling like you can live in your body safely. And if you're, if you can live in your body, then you're gonna enjoy sex more. If you're in your head or you're out of your body, you're not even home for sex, you're just going through the motions. And then we have the physical aspect of like allowing, like who do we become when we allow the curve of our spine and the curve of our bodies, especially as women, when we embrace the curves. Like it's so symbolic again on like another sensual level. Right? And then we have the physiological, you know, the hope that our skeleton is getting stronger, that we're bringing more blood to our skeleton, and that the fascia and the muscles are, we're experiencing a sense of oneness and wholeness within our own system. And so when you bring all those things together, it's actually quite easy to see. But then if you add the energetic, like you were saying, Willow, when we're opening up space and we are moving stagnation and congestion, then energy gets to run through our system with more efficacy and therefore like undulating pleasure. And all the tingles and all the feelings were like An orgasm is no longer a, a sneeze in your clitoris. It's now a full body breath, after breath, after breath, an undulation. That serpent is riding through your body, up through your crown and into heaven and baby, now we're home. Ow. Woo. Exactly. I encapsulate that

Willow 29:46

Yeah. That was well done Leah. Really beautifully. Yeah. Tied tied it all together. I love that. You know when you were talking about, yeah, you know the peptide, I'm super into promoting peptides and supporting people and and I'm as you all really matters to me, you know? I I'm taking them too. Paris will be taking them soon too, but it's, um, it is, and they talk about how important it is to, you know, eat a lot of protein and make sure you're doing weight bearing exercises when you're taking them. That's very, very commonly talked about. And for me, every time I would pick up a set of weights, I would throw my neck out, right? I would be out of alignment and I couldn't move, and I'd be fucking have to start all over again for like two or three weeks of healing and go to the chiropractor and go to the massage therapist and spend all the money, you know? And so with. with bringing Bow Spring in, it's like I now am like just doing the minimal set of weights and going way super slow so that I can actually pay attention to my alignment as I'm doing the weights and I can feel when I go too far so that I know I need to pause, roll back, do bow spring on that neck and shoulder area that you know, the sticky spot so that I can advance in a way that, will actually support the longevity of my bone health.

Leah 31:11

You know. Okay. So we've, we've really kind of covered, you know, a wide spectrum of why this is important for women. Is there anything you can say that would, you know, help the guys listening, the penis owners out there? Is there anything significant that's worth mentioning about how Bow Springs affects their body? I mean, I'm assuming same. Same, but different. You know, I don't know.

The Science Behind Bow Springing and Pelvic Floor Health

Paris 31:37

Same, but different men are so enhanced by this. Oh my goodness. Finally, oh yeah. Finally, they have permission to untuck their butt. Now they have permission to open their pelvic floor. They have permission to open and undulate in their, so I really appreciate that, how you brought the undulation part forth. Because as we know, life is dynamic. Sex is dynamic, right? We're not just standing here not moving it, hopefully. And um. so it's, so we take the dynamism of life and understanding that life moves, and we take that into the bow springing practice. So we pulse, we move inside of our postures because that's the natural living rhythm of life. It Right. of life. Yeah. and so we let that come into the architecture of our poses, and as a result of the undulation, people just feel so much more alive, clearer. They feel like the mind isn't as located just to the brain, but they're feeling their mind open inside of their body. With that there sensitivity increases. Not in a bad way, in a way that I can sense, I can feel more. And that is just a major turn on for life. Is this like. This, this posture that reflects this capacity to move, to feel, to sense. And so men feel, I mean, from the, I I've, I've had the opportunity to teach several men, way more women are, uh, drawn to this practice. But the men who come, they love it and it's so healing for them. You

Willow 33:38

gotta tell you, Paris, real quick. Um, I, I have had several men, including my brother, dear friends, and they're all like, oh, I've got this back pain, you know, like my low back. And so this is another huge thing. It just gets them out of pain. And I'm like, okay, try this. Just stand with your feet a little bit further apart than your hip. Just slightly wide of your hip structure, and then push your heels without moving your feet. You wanna draw your heels back and then wide, so you're making like an arc with your heels and

Leah 34:12

I can feel that.

Paris 34:13

that immediately you can do it while you're sitting. That immediately accentuates the whole back chain. You can feel your S-curve come online, your chin lifts. The back of the neck starts to arc. The low back has its beautiful sway and its beautiful arc, but it's supported by bigger muscle groups like the glutes, the quads, the qls on either side of the spine, and so I've had at least five or six men be like, oh my God. Just doing that immediately eradicates my back pain.

Leah 34:45

So you're pressing your heels back and then you're pressing them out. You're not moving, it's just, you're just yet pressing and pushing. You know what else that came to mind when you said like permission to, what'd you say? Drop your ass. Um, or

Willow 34:59

your butt because, because Leah and I are always talking about coaching men to not squeeze their ass when they're getting too orgasm every time. And women too. Every time you get toward an orgasm, your butt cheeks squeeze.

Understanding Pelvic Floor Tension

Leah 35:13

But you know what else? some research is showing that the predominant cause of, premature Ejaculation is due to a chronically tight pelvic floor. So if you're relaxing your pelvic floor, it could, I'm really curious how it would help people who are feel embarrassed that they don't have a lot of ejaculatory control.

Willow 35:33

Let's talk about pelvic floor and structure then. That's perfect segue.

Paris 35:37

Great. So in the bow spring there is an emphasis because we're just looking at the natural map of the body and we're like, oh wow, the hip girdle. Um, is wide and it will be wider in women than it is for men. However, it is still broad. And so if we move into the broadness of the bones and we allow our hips to expand, they'll move slightly behind the ribs. That is setting the glutes up to be able to engage and to fire, more and more in our lives. So oftentimes there is a lot of fricking tension and tightness in the pelvic floor for a variety of different reasons. Trauma, tension locked jaw, a lot of emotions stuck, but also one of them being is that we just don't, you know, how to really utilize the butt. It. And so we're these big muscles in the back of our body. If someone were to be like, Hey, tone your butt, like, like squeeze your butt muscles, what would you do?

Willow 36:44

You would squeeze, draw down and in. Yeah.

Paris 36:48

and like you can even do that, and you're like, oh, the lower back loses itself when we do that and the pelvic floor. Um, excuse me. The pelvis, it narrows and if you're squeezing the bones down and in, so you're taking what, a part of your body that wants to be wide and you're diminishing that width through, squeezing the glutes, in, and then pushing them down. And ouch. Like, no, we don't wanna be doing that because, well, unless you want more tension and you do want more constriction in your body, then that's a good way to do it. But bow springing, it really emphasizes lighting up the whole back of the body from the hips wide and the ribs wide and lifting, and you actually begin to learn to tone your butt. In an upward direction from your heels. So I'm not gonna go into all of that. It's really fucking cool. It's really, really amazing. But where it is very re

Willow 37:43

sexy.

The Role of the Base Chakra

Paris 37:44

oh. So yeah, this very sexy. And it's sexy because it's functional. We like the shape. And we're like, wow. Like that's a sign of health, that's a sign of back body is online. This is a person who has themselves. And I think that just naturally is very, uh, appealing. And, we're learning how to widen at the base of the spine through the pelvic floor if you're a man or if you are a woman. And as we occupy space in this region of the body, not only do we begin to heal pelvic floor tissue. The chronic muscles that are always firing because the glutes maybe haven't been working, and this is such a high real estate part of the body, the base of the spine. And the nervous system is going to prioritize safety at all costs, like it needs to be supported and. Mm-hmm. Right. Right. so if, if we're not rooted, um, or feeling support because the muscles aren't on board the gluteal muscles, then it's going to be recruiting any muscles in the pelvic floor, ligaments included to, Hey, I need you as a structural support. You got blood flow, you're gonna do it. And so then all of a sudden that pattern becomes chronic and pelvic floor tension increases and so does irritability. And so does like our like being pissed off. Not relaxed in our body and rushing towards an orgasm rather than relaxing into the experience of it. Yeah.

Leah 39:18

So I'm wondering if this would reduce, um, vulva pain, uh, pain in theus, um, painful sex. You know, there's so many women, especially who are suffering from sex, just fucking hurting. You know?

Paris 39:36

I. In my experience. That is, well, there's so many factors, right? Mind, body, spirit. So physiologically, that's where I'll speak to right now is that there is so much locked tension in the pelvis and there are muscles that are involuntarily gripping because it, we need that internal support. And it's not getting it from the major muscle groups, then it's gonna be getting it some way somehow, then done perpetually. It creates pain. Not only when you're having sex, especially when you're having sex though, but when you're like walking around in your life and you're just trying to like live. So if you imagine a central channel moving through your pelvic floor, up through the center of your body, up through the crown of your head, and you want this channel to be open, and as the channel opens at the base, it begins to ripple up through the whole spine, through the neck, and through the head. And everything begins to become like, like we first, we have to create safety to open. not gonna open if we don't feel safe. So we have to create that internal environment of safety and then we can learn to open, and that is our pelvic floor, like is included in that. And so it's so valuable to look at, like why it's tense, why it's closing, what sort of patterns are going on that is perpetuating that. And then going back to this primal alignment, That we experience so much less pain and more freedom inside of, because it's just natural, it's nature, it's what we know and we've been shaped out of it in our modern lives.

Leah 41:22

Yeah, it's interesting too, you were mentioning like emotions, like that can be a lot of emotional release, I think you said at the top of the hour.

Willow 41:31

Tears.

The Concept of Bow Springing

Leah 41:31

Yeah, and so like when you're starting to fix what is closed and chronically tight and protective, physiologically, it helps unwind the emotions that come from holding those frozen grips. And I think it was you, Willow mentioned the base chakra. And for those of you who don't know the Chakras, this is the area of the anal sphincter muscles, a lot of the pelvic floor, the anal cavity, and it really represents security. So when you don't feel secure sexually, when you don't feel secure financially, when you don't feel secure in your ability to open and relax and let go when you don't feel secure, that your heart is being taken care of in the world, when you don't feel secure about your mental health. You know, all these things end up showing up in ways that our body grips for control to try to not feel so fragile. So I can just imagine some of the tears. I mean, you can see that in yoga classes

Willow 42:26

My, yeah, my first, um, bow springing workshop, Paris was there and it was, uh, Desi Springer was teaching it with John Friend and, um, I, we got into these postures and positions, like, I'll just start crying, thinking about it right now. You know, it's like, it just unlocks these deep places where you've been holding your whole life. You know, it's like breaking up these places of protection that are held in the tissues and when you unlock them, it is total fucking relief. It's just like tears of gratitude and joy for like freedom.

Leah 43:20

Yeah,

Willow 43:21

Freedom and also like what you've been speaking to Paris, like trusting yourself, trusting that you got you,

Leah 43:31

Mm.

Willow 43:31

you know.

Leah 43:32

That's really beautiful.

Paris 43:34

It's so powerful. We've heard possibly the adage of you keep your issues in your tissues

Willow 43:41

Oh yeah, we say that all the time

Paris 43:43

Yeah. Okay. So this works with the superficial layers of the body, and it works just as deeply with the deepest depth of our bodies, and it's learning how to meet ourselves there. And it's like just that in and of itself, if a person has been self abandoning themselves, betraying themselves. Not in a trusting relationship with themselves. It begins to orient them back to this place where they can start to rebuild and. And it's really powerful because then as you're breathing and as you're moving in these conscious ways that are signaling safety to your nervous system, that will give you the chance to release the emotions that have been hardened in those places. And on just repeat the, the patterns of holding and gripping and tensing and closing, begin to unwind.

Leah 44:43

It's really shaping up to look like a real somatic therapy, which I think in many ways is probably more productive than talk therapy, which is really interesting. Kind of as we started this conversation, I was like, okay, another exercise class, Right, right. appearing to be much deeper

Core Strength and Flexibility

Willow 44:59

so much more. I mean, as somebody myself, I've been teaching yoga, Pilates, and Qigong for decades, you know, and all three of those postural alignments are all about squeezing the abdominals ribs down and inch shoulders back and down, chin in neck length and tailbone down. You know, it's all a, a, a. Posture of, of rigidity and protection and like being a more, it's a more militant posture actually. You I mean, one of the things they say in bow Spring is like, do you know any animals in nature who do abdominal contractions? No, there are none. And so there's this thing, and what I, one of the things I love about having a dog is I'm like, oh my God, my dog is a natural bow Springer. And so he'll be next to me while I'm doing my practice. Right? And he, and the, because they've got a shorter, they're on all fours, so they've got that, um. What's that big muscle? So this is the muscle that we all spiral out of the soas muscle. It's one of the first muscles to develop in the embryo. Actually, there's a whole book by Liz Koch called the soas Book, and it's fascinating. And I used to study the soas all the time, and it's a huge place where we hold contraction and fear. So the soas is a giant swath of tissue that connects your lower back. To, um, your front of your body and your, your legs, to your, to your. Torso. So it's this huge thing and, and Anani, four-legged animals have a lot more slack in their soas, but because we're standing upright by petal, we've got this super taut soas all the time. So soas is one of the main places that I'll work if somebody comes in with low back pain. And I've been all up in people's soas for years, and it's fascinating what comes out emotionally because it is a place where we hold fear, we hold uncertainty, we hold doubt, we hold insecurity. And so when you're really working and opening that tissue, it's not uncommon for the tears to flow, you know?

Leah 47:14

also very uncomfortable. Like it feels filled with nerve, it feels nervy, Yeah. Can be very of like, oh God, you know, you kinda wanna elbow someone who's working on Yeah.

Willow 47:26

You're like, get the fuck away from me. Yeah.

Leah 47:28

that sensation, there's a feeling of like, uh, threat I need to protect. And almost like I wanna fight, like I do literally wanna elbow the roller that I'm on.

Willow 47:37

Yes, totally. Fuck. Totally 100%. So what, what I love about what bow springing is really teaching though is like how to lift. This is what's been hardest for me and I think hardest for so many who are new to the practice, is like how to lift the upper body away from the lower body so that there's nothing but length space between the hips and the ribs, the belly is actually relaxed, which helps it actually strengthen more because there's all that, uh, length the two and then, and then there's slack. There's so much more slack in the soas.

Leah 48:21

So that was one gonna be one of my questions because when you take a look at things like yoga and especially Pilates and you're working on bringing the belly button back to the spine to create a contraction so that you have a stronger core, how is Bose Springs supporting that desire to have a stronger core, you know, if, if you're, if you're allowing the belly to relax, is there in someplace it getting that contraction to help with core strength?

Bow Springing in Everyday Life

Paris 48:48

Yeah, absolutely. So we don't end on soft. We use soft as the entryway into. Lifting the ribs out of the hips. So like, it's very difficult to ride, like lift your ribs if your belly is, is, is like hardened. You're like lift your ribs. You're like, oh, how do I do that? So you soften the belly, let that energy start to pulse in and out of that tissue. Long, slow, deep belly breaths. We're just all love that, you know, to get. Relax the vagus nerve and to get energy moving through the whole channel from the pubis all the way up through the crown. So then when the ribs lift, the hips root back, they're always moving oppositionally from each other. Then you can begin to uh, and your lower back curve is present, then you can begin to tone your core like none other. And it is the coolest experience that is actually very effective at, at toning the core. So we're evolving from the days of six pack abs, um, especially as women. And because if you, if you think about if you're closing the ribs into the hips and you're shortening the torso, the, let me just show you this visual super quick. If this top hand. Where my ribs and this bottom hand were my hips and they're closing in on one another like everyone's ribs, ribs are dropping into their hips, most likely. Look at the center of the Chinese finger freedom toy. It moves outward really see this in people's old people's bodies as their skeletons start to shrink. You could just, you see ribs hips. Man, so interesting. The waist widens. So if you pull the ribs out of the hips, I'm showing this toy here. You begin to literally, you lengthen the belly and the waist begins to narrow taper in. You come back to this more hourglass ish shape. Everyone is shaped different though, but we want curves at the waist. This is a sign of health. So you first go long. Oh, excuse me. Soft, long, strong, soft through the belly. Then you get long, then you can begin to ignite the 360 degrees of the core. So every direction of the core begins to experience this tapering in effect. And it's so effective at healing abdominal separation, just giving, building more strength through the abs. But it's an intelligent strength. It's not a hard, rigid, shortened strength.

Willow 51:26

I have to say for myself, like since I've been doing bow springing, especially, I mean, I taught Pilates like five to 10 classes a week for over 10 years, you know, so I, um. I have, I have such a different relationship to my core strength now than, you know, it feels so much more flexible, so much more free. not so like, oh, there was always this, like in the back of my mind, this pressure and this like thought process of like, oh yeah, ribs down and in belly back. Oh, you know, constantly kind of like harping on myself to get back into that, you know, militant postural alignment. and since I've been. Bringing this length and this softening to the belly. I mean, that's where a lot of the emotional release comes up from for me, for sure.

Leah 52:13

Fascinating. Well, this has been so cool.

Willow 52:16

yeah, I think especially in, um, you know, our. Relationship to our bodies. As women, there's so much pressure to have a flat, perfect belly and a perfect shaped body, and all of you know that. And so we don't get the, you know, there's so much pressure to like, it's not just a physical health thing, it's also like a,

Leah 52:39

About being desirable.

Willow 52:40

I'm not, I'm not valuable if I don't have, you know, so there's this lack and this pressure mentality that goes with that constant, like belly back, ribs down and in, you know? And so it's just been, I'm like, here's my belly. It's soft, it's open, and sometimes it sticks out a little bit. So who cares, you know?

Leah 52:59

Yeah. Yeah. WI think actually what's very desirable to touch is a supple belly.

Willow 53:07

Oh, every man says it. Like, I love how soft your belly is. Yeah. It's

Finding Bow Springing Classes

Paris 53:12

And you know what is really cool? Okay, like 10,000 things cool about bow springing, but like you do learn to take it into your everyday life, into the things that you're doing. And so that is with sex and there is a posture that is dynamic and full. And after exploring on with yourself first. So like on your mat, like what does filling my ribs feel like? What does softening my belly like, oh my God, what does feel rooting my hips back feel like? So getting to know this alignment with yourself first is very valuable. And then when you're practicing it more and more and you're exploring it in your everyday activities, then you begin to explore taking it into the bedroom and literally embodying this open Posture of vitality while making love with your partner. In my experience, it enhances the physical and the energetic exchange. It increases my capacity to give. It increases my without giving of myself, it increases my capacity to receive. And it's such a beautiful posture. It reflects life and once like your partner gets taste of a bow springing booty, like, oh my god, you know, like it's such, and it's such a turn on for the experience that you all, you know, that people are sharing together.

Leah 54:43

I think, you know, one of the things that I've always been a big proponent of when it came to yoga and sex was helping people realize that as they age, they become more stiff. Once you're more stiff, your ability to be in different positions, it becomes limited and limited. So now you only have like your three love making positions. And people's hips hurt and their knees hurt and they can't bend and they can't sit, and you know, you're basically just lying down, um, or you're trying to get someone to the edge of the bed. I mean, there's all these limitations that happen when you can't sit back on your knees. So how much does Bow spraying, I mean, just from what you've described, I'm assuming by, don't wanna assume that it is increasing people's flexibility.

Paris 55:25

Big time, their flexibility, but more like elasticity. When we're opening and we're opening and expanding our tone, rather than when somebody says, like flex, usually people get smaller to flex their muscles. And so we're learning how to. Expand the bones to engage the muscles. And as a result of that, we build so much elasticity in our body. Elasticity is synonymous with flexibility. We can move in different ranges, um, in, in different planes, and we are also like feeling more flowing. We, it's not as clunky or as like the movement isn't as hard, it just feels more flowing because we're hydrating the connective tissue and connective tissue will feel floating, light, resilient, and very strong when it's healthy. And so, yes, absolutely increasing flexibility, increasing strength, increasing our capacity to be in this world. And then we extend that to all of the things that we do, sex and beyond.

Leah 56:36

How easy or how hard is it to find a bow springing class in, in the average American city right now?

Paris 56:42

Well, we're a rare breed, but it's becoming more and more popular. It just had its 13th birthday and um, so there

Leah 56:53

Are there, like, can people do it online if they

Willow 56:56

if do it with Paris online. it with an amazing membership. She's got free classes

Leah 57:02

tell us about your membership.

The Dish with Leah & Dr. Willow

Paris 57:04

Yeah, so I have, I, if anybody feels intrigued from listening to our conversation, I recommend going to my YouTube channel and checking out some of the free resources that I have there, just so that you're like, okay, like what is this thing that this lady is talking about? And you can like start to feel it. And then a. the name of your YouTube channel? Uh, it's my name, Paris Latka, and then you, if people wanna learn more,'cause it is a pretty in depth system and it's intricate, which is really cool. It takes you through a whole tour of your body, but I don't. Give that download on YouTube. I have, um, online courses for that. And then once somebody has an established practice and a basic understanding of the foundations of Bo Springing, they're invited to come into my membership. But that's more for experienced people, for beginners, I recommend my YouTube channel and, uh, my online course, if

Willow 57:56

even the course you did on Nava, because that course was where I really like got introduced. I thought that was a great, really good, lots of great instruction and introductory, so super good. Um, the other thing I just wanna say in closing for me, it's a white Tantric practic. You know, like I am on the mat making sound and moving stuck energy. And I actually went to this yoga class yesterday and I was doing bow spring throughout the whole, you know, 90 minute class. And at the end, the woman next to me was like, God, it was so nice to be right next. To you because I could really hear your, your breath and your sound, and it felt like you were so embodied in your practice, and it was so inspiring. I was like, I'm glad it wasn't annoying, but she's like, no, not for me. I loved it. I was like, okay, cool. Because I mean, as a dakini and as a tanika, you know, we always are using, using sound to move stuck energy, and I love that the freedom that, you know, you really bring forth in that practice. Paris, it's really valuable.

Paris 59:03

Yeah, Paris, just can't, it's like, it's like trying to make love without any sounds. It's Totally doesn't work.

Leah 59:09

Right, it's just nearly as good. organic and it's, yeah. and what's your website

Paris 59:16

www.Iamhealthsanctuary.com. and can people follow you on social media? What are your do. Yeah. Um, my main active account is on Instagram and it's@Paris-Latka.

Leah 59:32

Thank you so much for being on the show. Really lovely to have you and excited to have you on our biohack series. Um, I'm definitely gonna be looking into Bow Springs. It sounds irresistible. Yay. is.

Paris 59:45

Thank you so for being open to the conversation, especially not knowing anything about Bose springing. I appreciate that and thank you Willow for inviting me, and what a true honor and pleasure to be here today. Thank you.

Willow 59:57

Yay. Thank you.

Leah 59:58

Okay folks, the show isn't over. Please stay tuned for the dish.

Announcer 1:00:03

Now our favorite part, the dish.

Willow 1:00:07

So, what'd you think?

Leah 1:00:08

I really enjoyed it. I really, really loved all the different levels of wholeness that it matches up to. Um, I was just thinking about when you were talking about like the heels, like pushing the heels back and spreading them without moving your actual feet. That that's gonna really help Matt. I can just, I think it's gonna be a game changer for his body. So, um, yeah, I, I'll be really curious to see if there's anyone doing classes here in Sacramento.

Willow 1:00:40

You know, a ca hasn't really like stuck in California. California is so into yoga, like they just haven't, you know, John Friend was the Anusara

Leah 1:00:51

Yeah. Talk about rigid postures

Willow 1:00:53

right. It, it is the total exact opposite of what Anusara taught and you know, and now he's working with Desi Springer and they're just, they're big in Europe, big in Colorado, big in certain places. I mean, I would love to get to a level where I could teach Bow Spring in Santa Barbara, but there's really no point like it. I don't think it will catch on. People are just

Leah 1:01:16

It is almost like you have to teach yoga, but through the bow springing lens, so you're not calling it bow springing.

Willow 1:01:21

Totally. And a lot of, a lot of Bow Spring teachers will go through that transition where they're like, I'm just gonna teach yoga postures with both spring alignment. And you, you can like, you can do some kind of hybrid of that, but eventually all of Bow Spring teachers do just go into a hundred percent

Leah 1:01:40

Can they just call it bow springing yoga? Because then that might help.

Willow 1:01:43

I know. It might help. Totally. Yeah. I mean you could, you could call it that for sure. Desi is and John are really, really open and they're so just generous with their knowledge and their wisdom. I mean, if you go to www.bowspring.com, you'll see Desi Springer's body. Her body is like my body muse. She's got the most amazing rocking, healthy, strong, muscular, tight, but. Flexible body I've ever seen and it's just um, you know, it's really inspiring to be in class with her. And then my dear friend Micah, who lives in Turkey, who I go and visit whenever I can. You know, she just carries her body in bow spring all the time. We were driving around Turkey in her little car and she was never leaning back on the seat. You know, she was always had her. Her alignment on point, like everything she does, she's doing in that way, and it's, you heal so much faster. Like if you have an injury, you have a fall, you have a back thing or anything.

Leah 1:02:43

That was really compelling to hear both of your stories of, uh, p chronic pain in your joints and in your neck, and how you're really resolving that. Because I've got friends who are chiropractors, they're like, my biggest business is yoginis and like coming in. Like they're, they're, that's the market. Who I serve the most is people injuring themselves doing yoga.

Willow 1:03:03

For sure. I mean, and that's what Micah has been telling me for years. She is like all the, all the big yogis, all the old school, big time yogis. They eventually, after having surgeries, hip surgeries, you know, shoulder surgeries and stuff, they come crawling back to bow springing and they're like, okay, I'm ready to change. You know, so it's. Very interesting. And again, this whole, um, this whole alignment practice was born out of Micah and Desi going and traveling around, uh, Africa. Um, Micah is a incredible author as well, so she wrote a book, um, called Keepers of the Story, and she's. Um, then traveled all over Africa. She did like a nomadic journey for a year when she was 20 years old, or 25 or something. I don't young. And so she's got this relationship to the African culture in a way, and people, and, and it was, you know, after like Desi and Micah had. Multiple, um, yoga studios that were really successful all over Boulder and Denver and Colorado. And when they started to do this new form, this new bow springing form, they lost tons of students and eventually they let go of their studios. You know, and now, and then Micah was like, I, I'm done being in the spotlight. You know, so she's off doing her own thing and Desi and John are basically the pioneers of it. And then there's a bunch of teachers who are kind of like just geeked out primary, super committed like Paris. And I just love Paris has a really good online presence and it's, she's very accessible and she's a sweetheart. So.

Leah 1:04:48

Well, it's really telling because when John friend is very well known, yoga communities of his Anusara practice, Anusara was like, it hit the nation like a wave. Everyone was doing anusara, you know, it was like a level up from Ashtanga. It was, it was like considered like this being in such form, you know, it was all about form, form, form. This way of holding the system. So to have him, you know. Go do a 360 really kind of shows a, some flexibility in being able to be influenced.'cause a lot of people, especially when you create a method, you get stuck on that

Willow 1:05:25

That you're so huge and known for.

Leah 1:05:27

you end up having a hard time shifting gears. So the fact that Desi did that and then John followed in that, that same style is, is really says a lot about the practice. It makes me very curious

Willow 1:05:40

I mean, and John is a, John is a deep scholar too.

Leah 1:05:44

cool. Thanks for bringing Paris on. It was

Willow 1:05:46

Yeah. Super fun.

Leah 1:05:48

Curious, uh, yeah. What you all think about,

Willow 1:05:51

Mm-hmm.

Leah 1:05:51

this idea, especially the yogis out there, or have you, has your

Willow 1:05:55

probably gonna be resistance.

Leah 1:05:57

Mm-hmm.

Willow 1:05:58

I certainly had my,

Leah 1:06:00

Did you.

Willow 1:06:00

resistance going through it. I mean, it was, you know, Micah had been talking about it for a couple years before I actually started doing it. But then once I started doing it, I was like, oh,

Leah 1:06:11

I remember, I remember when you first started doing it because you were like, God, this thing is like, you, you, you spoke about it highly, a number of times of how it felt in your body,

Willow 1:06:21

I call myself a born again Bow Springer.

Leah 1:06:24

Yeah. Well, it's kind of like to, it feels more like a feminine way. So much of yogi, of, of yoga culture can be very sort of masculine and militant. So it's nice to return to more feminine roots.

Willow 1:06:36

Totally. You know, it's interesting. One last thing I'll say is I, one of my longest yoga teachers, aside from my grandma, who was my first yoga teacher when I was 13, but my um, one of my longest yoga teachers was Iyengar teacher Kofi Boai. And he studied directly with Iyengar and e even though it's Iyengar and. Still that like tuck the tailbone in that kind of position. Kofi is an African, he's, you know, he is from Africa, so he is always like, Willow, you need to stand like an African, you know? He is always trying. Yeah, he was always working that same thing that Bow spring is working. So it's not that there's not yoga teachers out there who don't have the awareness of the lifting of the ribs and the lengthening of the belly and the opening of the throat. They definitely do. Um, it's just not common, you know?

Leah 1:07:26

Hmm. Okay. Fun. We'll, we'll catch you on the flip side. Y'all love, love, love.

Announcer 1:07:33

Thanks for tuning in. This episode was hosted by Tantric Sex Master Coach and positive psychology facilitator, Leah Piper, as well as by Chinese and Functional Medicine doctor and Taoist Taxology teacher, Dr. Willow Brown. Don't forget your comments, like subscribes and suggestions matter. Let's realize this new world together.