Women's Health and Your Pelvic Floor with Ash Sorensen, Mrs. Washington County, Utah

Today, we are joined by a fantastic guest, Ash Sorensen, Misses Washington County, and a woman’s health advocate. She’s spilling the tea behind the scenes in the pageantry world and women’s health and wellness.

Our conversation was eye-opening about an often overlooked part of women's health - the pelvic floor. It's not just about doing Kegels; it's about focusing on the entire pelvic floor and all the holes to avoid issues like urinary tract infections and pelvic floor dysfunction.

Ash emphasized the importance of paying attention to your body and not just "training" your bladder, especially as adults. Although leaks, pain, and tightness are common, they are not normal. We need to start talking about the truth behind these symptoms and give hope to others about the possibility of stopping them.

It is possible to jump on a trampoline without peeing yourself, ladies.

Lifestyle changes, such as maintaining proper posture, checking stress and tension, and relaxing the upper body, are all crucial for pelvic floor health.

And speaking of running, if you're a fan of trail running like me, it's important to remember that external cues and habitual behaviors can impact pelvic floor function, leading to the feeling of needing to pee frequently.

One of the main factors we often forget in our wellness journey is JOY. We need to start focusing on things we enjoy in this fast-paced world. We talk about the fun parts of life, like hiking, trail running, and even the joy of enjoying a good book series for some escapism from stress.

And speaking of JOY, if you are in the Southern Utah area, you must check out the upcoming adult prom event that Ash is organizing to raise funds for women’s wellness scholarships. Jake and I are in.

Remember to check in with our bodies, prioritize our health, and add some joy. Together, let’s change the conversation around women's health and wellness!

Connect with Ash on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ash.sorenson/

Connect with Sam on Instagram or TikTok

Chapters

• 0:00 Postpartum fitness.
• 4:39 Pageantry Interview process with judges about women's wellness.
• 10:59 Pelvic floor: crucial muscles, vital for health.
• 13:26 Common symptoms doesn't equal normal.
• 22:09 Corrective exercises improve mobility
• 24:21 Managing stress for pelvic floor health.
• 26:04 We forget joy in our busy lives.
• 40:12 Common pelvic floor exercises may not be necessary
• 45:17 Women's health and wellness programs

Transcript

 the reason I chose to run for Mrs.

Utah in the first place was to talk about women's health. And to be able to talk about women's wellness in a, more of a magnified, more public way than I had been. 

the first signs of pelvic floor dysfunction would be pain or leaking. So anytime you feel pain that you're like, Oh, that's not normal.

And it doesn't go away. And what kind of pain are we talking about? Yeah, that can be, for me, it was pubic symphysis pain, which is the very, very front of your pelvis, and I had severe pain when I was walking upstairs or anytime I would step on uneven ground. But it can also be painful intercourse, leaking, whether that's That's like urgency or whether that's when you jump, when you take a hard step, that's what we call stress incontinence, laughing, sneezing, things like that.

But also like sciatic pain and low back pain

I always say common. doesn't mean normal, right? 

Everyone assumes like, oh, everything's just so loose down there after I've had kids, or I'm getting old. But a lot of times it's actually because of tension. And so we need to figure out how to relax our pelvic floor. 

We're on a wellness.  We're on a wellness journey. Okay. 

 Hey guys. Welcome to the Samantha Parker show today. I've got Ashley Sorenson in the Samantha Parker office. Do you like the office, Ashley? I love it. It is beautiful here. It's kind of fun.

We're like in our own little world over here and the plants are taking over. So I love it. The plants are welcome. Yes. Okay. So Ashley is miss Washington County,  right? Do you like that title? I do actually. Mrs. Washington County. I better click. I just wanted to clarify for my husband's sake that I am married.

So I'm in the, I call it the old lady category. I did write missus, but I bet I said miss, huh?  Missus in pageantry is unusual. It's a little different. So, yeah. Well, I have some follow up questions about that, but you are mostly a pelvic floor specialist, correct? Yes, that's right. So I take a corrective exercise approach to healing the core and pelvic floor.

How did you get into that? Or is like, what is your title or like, what are your accolades? Yeah. So I started as a personal trainer. I'm a NASM certified personal trainer, and I was working in the personal training space for quite a while. And I just kept gravitating towards, I would call them special populations clients.

It's either people who are struggling to come back to exercise post illness or post baby. And I noticed that everything came down to core and pelvic floor strength. And then I proceeded to get my corrective exercise specialization and then took that one step further with a postpartum corrective exercise specialization. 

And it's all about the core and pelvic floor and how to kind of rehab those things. So it goes to me on the Kegels. Okay. So we're going to get in that in a minute here, but how did you become Mrs. Walsh?  I was like, I got to know, I got to know all the things. So I had a cute friend that I followed on social media, just internet friends.

Her name is Bailey DeMars and she was Mrs. Utah, 2023. And I just watched all of her stuff and I was like, Oh, that's so fun. We were DMing on Instagram a little bit. And then she's like, you should do it. I was like, what do you mean?  I know I filled out an application and then I got an email that said you are Mrs.

Washington County. Congratulations. So it went like super fast and then I got my sash in the mail and then I got to work figuring out how to be a pageant girl, but it was the most surprising, unusual out of my comfort zone yet. Amazing thing. So you didn't have to like go through like a competition. I didn't.

So in Utah. There aren't enough women applying that they have to have local competitions. So basically it's your application, occasionally I think they'll do an interview, and then if you're selected to represent your area, then you compete at the state level. Okay, so, is there a Miss Utah and a Mrs. Utah, or is it just like Yeah, the, there's a lot of actual different pageant systems within the state and also the country.

Okay. So there's like Miss Utah, Miss Teen Utah, Miss Junior Utah, there's the Cinderella pageant, there's the America pageants, there's the USA pageants. So there's a lot that could potentially hold the title of Miss Misses. So are you competing for Misses Utah? I competed for Misses Utah in March. Okay, and how did that go?

I took third runner up, which was awesome for being my very first pageant experience. And now I'm just trying to decide if that's That's something I'm going to do again or not. So third runner up, like, tell me about the pageant. What did you do? There's an interview process where we sit down one on one with judges and talk about our platform, which the reason I chose to run for Mrs.

Utah in the first place was to talk about women's health. And to be able to talk about women's wellness in a, more of a magnified, more public way than I had been. And so the interview was actually my favorite, I got to sit down with five different judges and tell them my plans for what we can do to really  provide better care.

In the women's wellness industry. Oh, that's cool. Do you have kids? I do. I have three kids. You have three kids. Okay, so this is feeling very amazing to me.  Did you have to like do a talent or anything? No, thank goodness. I don't have what I would consider stage talent. I would get up there and probably tell jokes or something ridiculous, but so there is no talent.

There is the interview, but there's an evening gown and a swimsuit competition.  So you had to put a swimsuit on? Oh, I put a swimsuit on and heels and walked on stage. Probably the craziest, most nerve wracking part, but it was, it's actually very empowering. Like you did that, especially as a mom of three.

Yeah, definitely. Most of the women that I was competing with are also mothers. Some of them have been through major mental health journeys. Some of them have just,  one of the great ladies that I competed with has 10 kids. So it was really fun to share the stage with them and say, yeah, here we are, grown women walking on stage in our swimsuits.

And it was really fun.  That's really cool. I don't know. I was thinking, I was like, wait, you do, yeah, you did a swimsuit. You did the evening gown. What, what did you wear for your evening gown? I had the prettiest dress. So there is a cute dress shop in Hurricane, Utah called Susie's closet. Shout out to Dina.

It's where all the girls get their prom dresses here because there isn't anywhere to go. It is. And she's amazing. So  she allowed me to kind of look through her books and order a dress. It was an amazing, beautiful, I don't even know what color it was. It was almost just nude, but.  So many sparkles. Did you feel just so good?

It was amazing. It really was  empowering is such an overused word. I feel like, but there's no better way to just like, you feel like a million bucks. It was really cool. And I bet that's something. Have you ever thought about it before? Did it just like come into your space and you're like, I'm going to try it.

It was definitely, I've never done anything like that before. I wasn't even a dancer performer,  never spoken on a stage before in my life. And then,  here we are competing at Mrs. Utah. I love shit like this because, I just started running and I'm 39. Every podcast, they have to hear about me running. But  I'm like, if you think you can't do something, you should freaking do it because you feel so different.

Like I'm just walking through the world and I feel different. It's like, yeah, Sam's a runner now. Okay. Like you're Mrs. Washington County. Yeah.  Yes. Mrs. That's a hard word to say. It is. It adds a couple extra syllables there, but it it's really been so fun and it's allowed me to go on different podcasts and speak to audiences that I wouldn't normally have reached just through being Ashley, the public floor girl, but having the title of Mrs.

Washington County opened up doors and I was really cool. So does it have any requirements? Like are there things you have to do this year as Miss Mrs. Washington County? That's the best part about the Mrs.  Part of pageantry is there's really the focus on. Your wife, your mom, you have a career, do those things first.

But I am working on putting together a fundraiser adult prom  for all of Southern Utah, which will be in Tocqueville on September 13th. And we are doing a fundraiser for scholarships for women's wellness. So any of the things that insurance doesn't usually cover, like. Mental therapy, pelvic floor rehab, if you need a life coach, you can apply for those scholarships and potentially be awarded some money to help you progress in your wellness journey.

Well, that's really awesome because I recently have gone through this whole hormone journey and I had to go see a functional practitioner and of course I'm just paying for that. Yeah. And it's, it can be expensive. It's expensive and things through, so I'm working with the birth village, which is the local 501c3 non profit and we're, Giving scholarships for, if women need a doula for their birth, if they need a postpartum doula, if they need more care, these things aren't covered by insurance.

Oh, a postpartum doula would be so amazing. Yeah. We have some awesome ones here in Southern Utah and just the care that we need isn't really covered by insurances anymore. And I think that the things that have helped me the most as I came out of like postpartum anxiety, postpartum depression is  the coaching and the, like, get out there.

And therapy and things that  we just don't get. And sometimes in that young motherhood phase, people can't afford to pay for. Yeah. So, okay. That's really rad. So it gives you an opportunity like to have an advantage to give back. It's basically what I'm hearing. Yep. Definitely. We can talk about the things we can raise money for the things that I think are super important.

Oh, I love this. This is so cool. Okay. So you have a stash, but why aren't you wearing it?  I mean, I try not to just wear it everywhere I go. Oh, that does. Us feel a little pretentious come not you're not gonna wear it to the grocery store. I think you should. A sash. Maybe I need to get myself a little tiara and just wear a ball gown everywhere I go too.

But did it not come with a tiara? I didn't get a tiara. You have to win Mrs. Utah to get a tiara. So maybe I'll be, and when you win Mrs. Utah, you get a pretty amazing crown. So may maybe I'll be going back for the crown. Do you keep it or is it, how does this stuff work? I know nothing about pageants, so I think I, I think you get to keep it as a souvenir.

And there's a new one ordered for like. I've always wondered your next person, but I'm not positive. Yeah, we'll  do this. We'll do this in a couple of years and you can ask me after I've won. Okay. So you're going to do it again. I think I might, I think I might do either this patent system or another patent system.

It's just, it's an incredible experience that really forces you to work on yourself  and put your best foot forward.  And if you don't, you're on stage for everybody to see. So good luck.  That's amazing.  Okay. I think that's awesome. Okay. But I really wanted to bring you in to talk about pelvic floor. And really just like, what is pelvic floor dysfunction?

Why should we care and why are you so passionate about it? Yeah. The public. Pelvic floor has amazingly got a lot of attention recently. If you're on social media, you've probably seen some stuff about the pelvic floor, but it is all of the muscles in the lower portion of your abdominal. It's what holds up your organs.

It's important for all bodily functions and  yeah, so pelvic floor dysfunction is commonly found in women. and postpartum women where you are leaking or you're having pain, painful intercourse, or even just like pelvic pain and back pain. And it really affects everything,  everything we do.  So how do you kind of tell, like, you're like, my pelvic floor is having issues.

Like what would be like one of the first signs and symptoms? So the first signs of pelvic floor dysfunction would be pain or leaking. So anytime you feel pain that you're like, Oh, that's not normal.

And it doesn't go away. And what kind of pain are we talking about? Yeah, that can be, for me, it was pubic symphysis pain, which is the very, very front of your pelvis, and I had severe pain when I was walking upstairs or anytime I would step on uneven ground. But it can also be painful intercourse, leaking, whether that's That's like urgency or whether that's when you jump, when you take a hard step, that's what we call stress incontinence, laughing, sneezing, things like that.

But also like sciatic pain and low back pain, or even just like that lower belly that you can't seem to get to go away. Even if you're eating well and exercising, those are all related more towards your pelvic floor. Then Oh, this is interesting. Okay. God, I feel like if they would have given us a handbook when we were 20 and they're like, here's the things that are going to actually happen in your life, we would be so much better off.

Like I was just floored. I feel like I learned so much every day. Yeah. And it's, that's part of like my reason for the pageant and my reason for like creating content on social media is just to educate because there are, there are a lot of first time moms that  have no idea. And we're not taught this in the hospital.

We're not taught this in high school. We're not told that by the time you're. 30, 35, whether you've had children or not, you're going to need some sort of public floor help. So the first time I went to like one of those trampoline parks after I'd had my second child and I jumped and I peed a little and everyone was like, that's just what happens.

That's like, I've just always thought maybe that was normal. Like my mom wouldn't jump on the trampoline, you know? Yeah. So I always say common. doesn't mean normal, right? So, you know, not losing the baby weight maybe is common, but do we, do we want that, right? We want to be able to have like full function.

I want women to be able to jump on their trampoline. I can proudly say that after three children, a miscarriage, a C section, I can jump on the trampoline with my kids.  And probably not with a full bladder for a whole hour, but I can jump on the trampoline with my kids. And I think that that's super important for women who are being held back from maybe not necessarily jumping on the trampoline.

But if you feel like you can't chase your kids or hike because of pain, or if you're worried about going too far away from home because you are gonna have to pee too often, Those are when it's like, okay, that's not quite normal. Let's get some help. So I just had a friend, I was having lunch with her and she's like, I've been so inspired by your running.

And I was like, you should try, you know, like, it's really impressive what you can do. And she's like, well, the last time I ran, I just peed the whole time. And I was like, well, I don't know what to tell you about that. Yeah, nevermind. Tell her to come see me. Let's let's talk. Let's figure out why.  A lot of times what people don't understand is sometimes that leaking can come from tension.

Yeah. Everyone assumes like, oh, everything's just so loose down there after I've had kids, or I'm getting old. But a lot of times it's actually because of tension. And so we need to figure out how to relax our pelvic floor. And then you can go on to do your activities. Okay, so let's say I come to you and I'm like, hey, I want to take up running.

But I run and it's just slowly just peeing myself the whole time. Like, what do you do next? Yeah, so I start by basically getting everyone's life story. Okay. We're looking for things like trauma and that can be any sort of trauma that can be a sexual trauma that can be maybe when you were 13 you fell and broke your tailbone or You had five babies like all of those things would be considered a pelvic trauma So we I ask a lot of questions and then I just look at how you move So if you have good posture and like I'm hunched over into my microphone right now We both sat up straighter as I said that as I said posture But so I look at your posture, how you walk, how you move, if your pelvis is tilted forward, if you're clenching your jaw, a lot of it is just kind of looking at you.

Do you feel judged?  Do you feel judged right now?  I do. But  We can tell so much about your pelvic floor based on how the rest of your body is responding. So the cool part about me and what I do that's a little bit different than what you would see from a physical therapist that specializes in the pelvic floor is everything's done externally.

So there's no internal exams. You stay fully closed the entire time and it's all based on postural assessment and exercise. Okay, so how can someone start to heal their pelvic floor? That's just, I always think these things are great in theory, but I'm like, okay, so like, what do we do? Yeah. Yeah. So the best thing is to just posture, making sure your shoulders, your ribs and your hips are stacked on top of each other and making sure that if your pelvis is tilted forward, that you actually kind of scoop.

Everything back up. So if we're stacked evenly, I'm like, I don't know. Shift, shift. Yeah. If we're stacked evenly, the pelvic floor has a better advantage of just being in like the best function.  So that's the first place to start. And then if you are doing Kegels  or dude, I've heard the Kegels are like absolutely horrendous for your body.

Yeah. So the problem with Kegels is they're not actually, Too awful for your body, but they have to be done correctly. So if you're doing Kegels when you're on the toilet going to the bathroom, you could cause Urinary tract infections. So, don't do them on the toilet. If you're doing Kegels that are just the squeeze, squeeze, squeeze of only the vaginal muscles, you could be making that area extra tight when it's already tight to start with.

So, the important part about Kegels is to think about all three holes. We have three of them. Don't give one all the glory and we want to be able to fully relax and to be able to fully contract. In all three. So we're thinking of the actual pelvic floor muscles that are up under your abdomen when we're doing those kegels and not just the vaginal cavity.

Okay, so you mentioned all three holes, because this is a question that I've been thinking in my head the whole time since we sat here. What if it's not just like, I feel like I'm going to pee myself. What if it's like when I run, I feel like I'm going to like poop myself. Yeah, definitely. Completely related.

I mean, I recommend running on, maybe after you've gone to the restroom so that if you, if that's your normal number two time, you're not interrupting it with a run. But all of that is completely related if you're having a hard time holding it. And like the second you feel the urge to go, you either have to go or there's going to be a problem.

That's a pelvic floor issue as well. Okay. What are your thoughts on this? I've heard people talk about how we train our bladders. So I have this problem when I pull in my driveway instantly, my body's like, we're going to pee. And I'm like, you don't even have to pee. Like I sit and have this conversation with myself and I'm like, stop it.

You're not in charge right now. And then sometimes it wins because I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm going to pee myself, but I don't even really have to pee.  Do you, are you able to go? Yeah, but it's not like I was going to pee myself, you know? Yeah, I think that our bodies just respond to like systems and cues and external cues so well that unless you're, I always say like the just in case pee isn't necessarily as important as an adult, right?

We always tell our kids if we're going on a road trip, you have to pee, go pee, make it come just in case so that we're not stopping. But the just in case pee as an adult is a little less necessary. And also, not great on your pelvic floor. Anytime you're forcing, you're creating more pressure. So if you're able to get pee out easily when you pull in your driveway, you're not having to bear down.

No, I just feel like my body has like, this rhythm going on where it like, picks up a cue and is like, we're going to pee now. And I'm like, what in the hell? Bodies are cool.  I heard someone talking about this online though. They're like, where you can literally train your body. Like, you need to be like, no, we're not doing that right now. 

I mean, unless you have to pee,  right? I think it depends on if it's something that's like creating a problem. I don't think there's anything wrong with peeing when you first get home. Yeah. It would suck if like you passed a sign on the freeway and that's the sign that made you feel like you had to pee, then you'd be in trouble.

Right. But where it's at home, I wouldn't say it's a huge deal. It bothers me because I'm like, listen up lady. You don't have to pee. You have not had anything to drink. You're fine. We peed before we left.  That's so funny. Bodies are cool. Bodies pick up on a lot of like external cues and  we just, we're habitual creatures.

It's pretty awesome. Do you do that?  Now I'm going to have to think about it and think like, but I'm pretty sure I do always have to pee after I get home. I also live in the middle of nowhere. So that kind of adds to it. Yeah. You were saying you live clear on apple Valley, which is really far. It is. It's about 40 minutes from St.

George. 40 to 45 minutes from St. George and 20 minutes outside of Hurricane. So to get to work, to get to school, to get to the grocery store for 20 minutes out. It's kind of crazy. It's so beautiful out there though. It's like such a. Yeah. I just see the sunset once and I'm like, yep. I remember why I live here.

It's amazing. It is really cool out there. Okay. So what  kind of lifestyle changes can people make to really start to develop like a better pelvic floor?  The posture that we already talked about. Think of.  Find those lifestyle cues that you can say like, okay, when I walk past a mirror, when you see your reflection in the windows of the grocery store, like fix your posture, stand up straight, tuck your pelvis under so that it's shoulders, ribs and hips.

We want them stacked on top of each other like a Jenga tower. Keeping those joints stacked is going to put the pelvis in the most optimal position. Also check for stress, check for tension. If you're. Squeezing your jaw. I'm always like this. I know people who have TMJ and people who have like neck and shoulder pain You probably have a tight pelvic floor.

Really? Because we're holding it here All that tension here is also responded to by our pelvic floor. God, I do it all the time. So much that I even do it at night where I wake up in the morning and I'm like, Oh, I'm like, chill out. Yeah. Relax that upper body. So I'll have to send you the picture, but there's an amazing photo that shows kind of the anatomy of the pelvic floor or the entire like reproductive system compared to the anatomy of the throat. 

And they are almost identical. Oh really? Like it is so crazy. And so that tension that we're holding here. Up in the upper body and the chest and the shoulders is actually being mirrored by your pelvic floor.  So if we can fix those shoulders, pull those shoulders down, relax your jaw, relax your forehead. 

It's being mirrored by the pelvic floor and we're relaxing those muscles as well. That's crazy. So how do you kind of like pick up those cues to do that, you know? Because I'm like, oh yeah, I'm going to start thinking about it, but it's probably going to leave like my brain pattern soon. Yeah. Yeah, so with my clients we work on a lot of like actual mobility and things like how do we actually release this because it's part Of our movement pattern to keep everything scrunched up and hunched forward So we do a lot of corrective exercise to release in the neck and shoulders to release in the chest And then as you build those muscles build that muscle memory you're able to do it a little bit more in real life But I'll even say like Put a neon pink sticky note in a few different places as a reminder.

Every time you see that neon pink sticky note, you're going to, you're going to check your posture, check your tension levels and then just stress management. So all of the things that we are told to do, but it's really, really important. Okay. I just got to tell you though, I'm kind of over people being like, you got to manage your stress.

You got to manage your stress. And I'm like, well, what if you're just like having a really hard time in life? Like how can you actually integrate stress management into your life? I think that it gets. Self care is a little woo woo and everybody's talking about it right now, but I think that it doesn't have to be as extreme as people make it sound.

Yeah, and like, what if I don't want to go to a two hour sound bath and then do ayahuasca in the jungle? Who, who has time for that? I mean, wouldn't we love to? Like, that sounds like an incredible afternoon to me, but We don't have time to do that. I've got three kids and I don't really want to wake up at four o'clock in the morning so that I have time to do that before they get their wake up because  I'm tired.

I'm tired. I'm a mom. And you're tired because you're Mrs. Washington. I'm tired because I'm a mom. I work all the things. Yeah. Cause you're amazing.  Thanks. But I think it can just be a quick, like,  Take a deep breath in through your nose,  out through your mouth. And that like amazingly instantly will just release your jaw.

So if you're doing that three, four times a day, you won't even notice. It's not going to take any extra time. You're already in your car on your way to work. You're already picking up the kids from, from school, fix your posture, take a deep breath. But then there's also other things that are like our caffeine intake. 

It usually actually adds to stress. We've been talking about this a lot on the podcast, stress, hormones, and you know what? All of the experts like you sitting over there, they're like caffeine, watch your caffeine and then watch your alcohol. Yep. And it's just taking care of your adrenals. So all of the things that these amazing hormone experts are teaching us are super important for pelvic floor health as well.

Because if we can manage our stress. Yes, we can manage the tension on our pelvic floor and life will just be better. But it's hard because we're busy, tired moms. And so finding other ways that are energizing, I love exercise, but everybody doesn't have time for long exercise. So I know I tell people all the time, I'm like, find something you love because you're going to get someone like, let's say me and you, for example, sitting here and you're like, Yeah.

Yeah. Oh, I love to, well, I'll say I, I've really enjoyed running and other people are like, that is like God's punishment to man, you know, and what's something you really love. Um, last year I actually started trail running and I really enjoyed trail running, but also just exercise in general. I love lifting weights.

I love doing high fitness. My exercise is my break. Yeah. But there's some people that are going to be like going to the gym. Cause I know people, I love going to the gym and people are like, that's like the grossest experience in my life. I absolutely hate it. And I'm like, well, that sucks, but you've got to find whatever it is you love.

Maybe it's embroidery. Yeah. Maybe it's like.  digital art, like, but having some sort of creative outlet or something. Puzzles are the shit. Puzzles are good. I like puzzles. Actually, I don't like puzzles right now because I have an almost two year old and that is hell. Yes. Don't do a puzzle with a two year old, guys, but.

You don't get to do a lot of things right now. Give me, give me five years and we might enjoy puzzles at my house again. But find something and then make that your, like, your stress relief.  Listen to podcasts or do something to just kind of take you out of your head, out of your busyness, out of your body even. 

Do for a minute. Do you think that we've like, we kind of forget, we just get in this busy, busy, busy, and all of a sudden we're like, we just don't feel great, and then we're just, it's like a cycle, right? Busy, busy, busy. Don't feel great. And I think we've forgotten a lot that there's like supposed to be a lot of joy and I don't think joy has to be your baseline that you're going for all the time because life is life, but there's like a lot of really cool things and a lot of cool experiences you can have.

Yeah. And nothing feels as good as like finding something that just lights you up and like makes you smile. Like, Let that be sunshine, read a book in the sunshine, read a book in your closet. If that's what makes you happy, but finding something that makes you feel.  Okay. You know what I've gotten into in the last year?

And then I've got all my friends into it is the mommy porn  this morning. There was a whole group chat going down about a specific book. And I was like, this is wild. This is wild, right? The books have taken over and I'm a fan.  Like it is the craziest, like who knew these books were out there. Yeah. Have you read the Ravenhood series?

Me and my friend Amy were talking about it this morning. I haven't. I need to. I need to put that one on my list. But the problem is, is it's probably the best series and I've heard it from multiple people. It's one of the best series you'll ever read. And then you feel like you lost like your book boyfriend.

Oh, that's the worst. When you finish it, you're like, wait, a part of me is gone.  You're going to feel like your whole world like ended because you'll, you're going to get so into these.  It's just over. Yeah. The other day I was at an event and this lady came up to me and was like, Hey, I was listening to your podcast and you and your friend, Amy, we're talking about the Raven hood.

And so I started listening to it and they were like, hot damn. Like, you know, they're like, that one is good. And my husband's like, what series is this? And I'm like the Raven hood. And so then he. Cause we share an Audible account. So then he goes into my Audible and he like listens to the whole series. And he's like texting me like cliff notes, like when this and this happens, like, did you like what he was like trying to figure it out?

And I'm like, let me have this. Okay. Let me have this series. You're like, just. Just stay out of this one for me. Yeah. Okay. This is my time. This is my, like you said, it's mommy porn. Like it's just, it's just supposed to be, this is stupid. Okay. This is stupid. I don't need your judgment. I don't need your opinions.

This is just mine. Yeah. And I think we need to find those things that are like just ours that we do for ourselves.  Yeah. And no shame, whatever it is. Mm-Hmm. . Like, it doesn't have to look the same as Sam or me or your mom, or your, you don't have to read SmartBooks guys. It's okay. But permission to, if you would like to, because it's, it's great.

And finding anything that's going to light you up and release your stress is going to really change the way you feel about yourself in general. So it's pretty cool.  Kids, where do you go trail running at?  I love, between Hurricane and Apple Valley, there's quite a few amazing trails, but Southern Utah is like the mecca for trails.

But there's, it's, I can't think of it, you put me on the spot here, I can't think of the name of the trail right now, but it is a bike trail. It's for like mountain biking, but it's beautiful. So that's one of my go to places because it's really close to my house, but I have found that trail running versus road running, my body likes it better.

Okay. It doesn't put as much stress on my joints. It's like the dirt. It's the dirt versus the pavement.  I was watching a TikTok this morning about this guy who was saying he likes to trail run and I was like, Oh, that, that might be like next level, Sam, you know? But,  he was saying he likes it because, , it's distracting. 

And you end up in really cool places. You see the coolest things.  I ran, it's called the Women's Epic Race. And it was at Brinehead. It was beautiful. I've heard of this one. Yeah, it was at Brinehead in the spring. They do quite a few up north. But they do at ski resorts, so you run the mountain. But then you get to ride the ski lift down.

Oh, okay, I was just going to ask. Because going down is always so hard. I would rather climb a mountain any day. Same. So it's super fun. And then I did the Mamalay Mountains, which is in Kanab. That one kicked my butt. The sand, whole new level. Running in the sand is Dude, hiking in the sand, period. I'm like, please put a bullet in my head.

It is so hard. I don't think I've ever been that sore in my life. In like the weirdest places. Oh, I bet your toes and stuff from like trying to like grip. Yeah, my toes and like the base of my calves and things. But it's so fun and you get to see it, I think the most beautiful places. I mean. The streets of St.

George are pretty cool. We do have a really cool trail system. Yeah. Cause I live in Bloomington. So I started out in Bloomington and that is a pretty cool trail. Yeah. But get out in the mountains a little bit and it's just, it's amazing. Okay. So now I need all the details. What shoes are we wearing?

Like, what do you take? Give me some tips. Yeah. So you do need trail shoes. You definitely need trail shoes. They have a little bit better grip and they're not. Where do you get said trail shoes? Like what kind of. Okay.  I have the Under Armour trail shoes. I like Under Armour because I have really wide feet.

Is it literally just like trail shoes? Yeah. Okay. So almost every brand, I would say if you have a favorite pair of running shoes, find the trail version. Okay. Of that. So they have a thicker sole, which means if you step on a rock, you're not going to feel it on the bottom of your foot. Well, you need that.

Well, especially hiking around here. I even have a certain pair of shoes I hike in because you slide so much because of the sand. The sand, the dirt. Or just the red rocks. Yeah. If you run into a cactus. Yeah.  Problems of living in the desert, but you can't feel it through these shoes. They're going to be a little bit thicker.

They're going to have a little bit more of a waterproof versus a mesh. So a little bit of a hiking shoe slash tennis shoe. Yep. Okay.  But most of your running shoe brands. I need the details. How am I going to accomplish this? And then when I first started, I didn't take water because I wasn't going incredibly far, but I run with my running vest.

Yeah. You're running best. That's all you need. I don't care. I'm like, I get that. I don't need water for the short distance, but it's freaking, we live in the desert.  Yeah.  And there are some people that go for like the energy choose and all of those things. I never ran far enough to need that. I think my longest was like nine miles.

So I'm no professional. But it's fun. It is awesome.  The other thing this guy was saying on his Tik Tok too, that he loves about trail running is he's like, it's more like trail walking, you know, like it's not like, yeah, all these people just go in these hard miles. He's like, a lot of it is walked and nobody cares.

He's like, and they'll give you a beer at the aid stations. It's just a different vibe. That's amazing. I never got a beer at my aid stations, but I did get like, they always have like treats at the aid stations. And it's kind of a fun community. Like I got a bunch of girls from here in St. George to come run one of them with me.

And you get to do it with your friends and you kind of checking in on each other. Like, Hey, did you run this week? How was your run this week? So how far was the one that you did? The Brian had one, I think was six or seven miles. Oh, not bad. Yeah. I'm sure there's a lot of vertical. Yeah. Up. Yeah. Up the ski lift.

Yeah. But then the Mommalee was I think eight, nine.  That's cool. Somewhere in there. That's awesome. What are you training for?  So I'm staying out of that area right now. I was like, I just want to have fun with it. And I don't want to, you know, have a running coach and I don't want to take it that serious where I start like beating myself up if I'm not going or doing this.

Yeah. So right now I'm just using the couch to 5k app. And yeah, so my running time, my longest run as of right now is just like solid. The interval is like eight minutes and then I did a five minute walk in eight minutes. And that's been my longest interval. So I'm hitting about two and a half miles.

That's perfect. Yeah. But I will be up to my 5k like next week. So yeah, when I did and I just feel like in the trails for me the 5k comes so much faster And you do you walk a lot you get to places where the terrain is rough. You can't have speed. Mm hmm They're more rough rocky areas. So you walk a little you run a little you walk a little you stop and take some pictures You it's it's just fun.

This is cool. Okay, I like this cuz I like hiking Yeah. Combine the two. Combine your two passions. Get a little bit of it, but maybe start. This one time my cousin was like, hey, do you want to go for a hike? It was like Easter ish time quite a few years ago. And I was like, yeah. He's like, have you ever been to Chuckawalla?

And I was like, no, we had just moved here. So we go up to Chuckawalla, which is in Snow Canyon. It's a state park for you guys, just for context for people. And we start hiking and he's like, so I just thought we were going to run this. And I'm like, we thought what? Like you said, hike. Yeah. And he just took off.

I didn't see him the rest of the time. And I was like, what the fuck?  Peace out, buddy. I hope you have a fun time. I think about that all the time. I'm like, he was freaking nuts. And now I'm like, Oh, I could do that.  See, you could go back, see how it feels. Give it a run or not. I would not run Chackawalla this time of year. 

It's a hard time to start trail running or running or any outdoor sport right now. Yeah. It's getting hot. It's hot as hell. But so let's say this morning I went at six. I think I'll just keep moving up a little earlier. Um, I was at six, the sun wasn't up. And when I finished the sun was just cresting and I was like, am I superior? 

Doesn't it make you feel like a million bucks when you catch the sunrise? You're like everybody else is asleep. And I am a goddess right now. Like the sun is just shining. Yeah. I'm like, look at the sun. Look what I've done.  The sun came up for you this morning. That was all for you. The rest of the world doesn't matter.

And I'm like, we did it, Dolly. And she's like, what the hell? She's like, okay, mom's gone crazy. It's fine. I love running with my dog. She's been fun. I have one dog I can not run with. Um, she's an older Chihuahua. Just, she's so hard to walk. She is like sketch, like she would murder me.  Yeah, but this dog, um, this is just a nicer dog.

I bought Charlie, our older dog in a parking lot from some lady. And we now have, we have a Corgi. So she's like, she's really into it. That's awesome. Yeah. And she really picks it up too. It's been nice too, because, I like to run with my music on and she'll alert me when someone's coming up from behind, like I just kind of have picked up on her cues, you know?

Cute. Yeah. Those are the best. And she picks up like, you know, but it's so funny. Like if a bike goes past us, she thinks that like, we need to increase our speed. And I'm like, you're quite the pacer here. She's like, let's go. Yeah. I'm like, I can't keep up with that bike.  That is so cute. Pets are, pets are the best.

We have like the most random little zoo at my house right now. I have a toy poodle and then I have a red heeler and a mouse cat and two rabbits. And I'm like, this is what living in the country looks like. We just have a zoo of weird animals. So I have two dogs, two chickens, and then I currently have three fish. 

I love it. I love it so much. Yeah. I started out with more fish, but we're losing some as we go.  It happens. It's okay.  I get really sad though. I'm like, Oh, it's a floater. Oh, dang it. Just scoop that one up. It's okay. Yeah. They're fun. So, okay. So public floor, I love that we're talking about this and I, when do you feel like is the right time for anyone to just maybe come and see you or get checked out?

Even like, what if I'm not having pain, you know?  Sometimes when I, very rarely when I sneeze, I'll pee myself, but like, what do you think it's like? Yeah. I would say in preparation for starting something new. So even like a quick checkup before you started running,  checkup, not a doctor, but you get what I'm saying?

Like come in and we can like assess your posture and make sure you're good to go to start running. Make it maybe give you a couple extra warmups before your runs that are going to help you if you have some tightness in certain areas and send you on your way. So same with maybe somebody who's considering getting pregnant or taking up lifting or kind of, if you're starting something new.

Going into a new area that you haven't before, or after, so after pregnancy for sure, but also like if you have an injury that you're trying to come back from, or if you've been sick for a really long time, just kind of coming in and I pride myself on being able to say either I can help you, this is what I suggest, or I think you're good, go ahead, like go do it on your own, use these extra stretches, you don't need me.

Okay, so I know you have workshops and courses, kind of tell me about those. Yeah, so I  don't have any workshops scheduled right now, but those are actually my favorite because I get 30 women together and somebody has a question that somebody never even thought of, right? And it's just kind of an educational, fun  get together.

So hopefully have one of those coming up. This fall. And then my course, my course is a e course and it starts out very educational and then it has kind of all the tools to help you put together a program if you're struggling. What does the program look like? Is it like stretching exercises? What's kind of like what goes into your programs?







Yeah. So it would be a little bit of stretching and a little bit of exercises. A rehab program would only actually take about 15 minutes a day. That's what I was wondering. I was like, what is this? Like I need to set aside, like, yeah. So in my e course, we go through the entire body and how it relates to the pelvic floor.

So you can look at your squat, you can look at your upper body posture, and then it kind of helps you figure out, say, my hips are really struggling with these exercises. I can't keep my shoulders down and back. Those are the exercises I need to work on the most. So I'm going to do those three to five days a week for 15 minutes and you'll really start to see some improvement there.

So my e course kind of walks you through what the different exercises are and then how to take the ones that are hard for you.  And practice them so that they get better. Okay. Can you give me an example of just like one exercise that you would do? I'm like so fascinated by this. Yeah. So for example, like you were saying, like you're really kind of struggling with the, they won't stay down.

They won't stay down. The chest, the shoulders, keeping the torso up. I have an appointment this afternoon  to do some body work to get them. Cause yeah. So some things that you could do, like for example, if you just extend one arm out. Okay. We're doing it. We're doing it. And then we're going to drop your ear to the opposite side.

Okay.  How does that feel? Amazing. Good. And you're going to hold it for like 30 to 60 seconds. Okay. And then you're going to do the other side.  So this one's kind of a stretch. This one's like easy. Yeah. Easy peasy. Not bad. You can tell that you probably use that side more. You probably shrug this side more.

What I've been doing. Yeah. And then I've been really trying to get out of the habit. I curl at night and I sleep under my left shoulder. And it's just gotten to the point where it's like, we can't do that anymore. It's painful. Yeah. But now my body just at night, we'll keep going back to that spot. And I'm like, I guess like 39 years of sleeping that way.

It's done. Yeah. But that body work will help like those little stretches and maybe holding a little bit longer on the side. That's hard. But then something like lat pulldowns, so the exercise lat pulldowns, whether it's with a band or whether it's at the gym on a cable machine, those are going to be amazing for you.

Because if we can strengthen your lats, that's going to help pull everything down and back. Okay. And really improve the posture. So it's looking at Which improves your pelvic floor. Yeah. This is wild. So somebody may not actually need pelvic floor exercises, they might need chest and shoulder stretches and lat pulldowns.

Instead or maybe it's all in their hips and the front their hip flexors are really really really tight So they would do some stretches and they would do some like bar exercises. Have you ever done a bar class? Mm hmm Yeah, bar type exercises for the hip flexors are incredible  and so they would learn a couple stretches a couple bar type moves and then they can go on their run or Go to their lifting class or go to whatever they want to do that day You Oh, that just quick, this is like next level, isn't it?

Next level filling your best. Feeling so good, but it's actually really quick. Like you don't have to have a ton of time. Yeah. That's what I was wondering. I was like, what does a program look like? Am I like dedicated to this? And like, this is the next 10 years of my life. No, I mean, hopefully you continue to do stuff and you know your stretches and you know that when you start to feel XYZ act up or, you know, Oh, I'm leaking again.

My back is acting up again. I'm going to do these exercises, but so that's the e course. And then I also offer one on one so we can either do one on one virtually, or we can do one on one in person in Hurricane, Utah. And basically we work together to figure out what exercises you need. And then I send you a message with your exercises and your videos and you're doing those daily.

Yeah. And then we come back and meet together, work on a little more, get new exercises, work on those for a little bit. That's incredible. Well, thank you for everything you're doing, especially as Mrs. Washington County. I love that you're doing that fundraiser. That sounds incredible. What is your Instagram?

It's at ash dot Sorenson. Yeah. And we'll have her linked in the show notes too. So you guys can check out her courses and what's your website. My website is, I think it's just Ash Sorenson at Squarespace.  That's LinkedIn. The Instagram. Yeah. We'll find your links. Don't worry. I can find you. Thanks. Sam knows what she's doing.

Yeah. I'm like, it's so easy to find people's information. Right. Yeah. It's kind of creepy, but really cool at the same time. Yeah. Well, you're in our, her social club. So you come to our in person like social club. , and remember the other day I was like, well, we were going over the bios and I'm like, if you don't have your location in your bio, this is like whack a doodle.

That's awesome. I didn't. Sam fixed me.  I, I'm sure it said like Southern Utah and it said that I was Mrs. Washington County, but it didn't say like my actual location. Yeah. And it's not your address. Cause someone was like, well, I don't want to put my address in there. And I was like, no, just St. George, Utah.

You know, like the main area that you live in. Like if you lived in Salt Lake City, like, but maybe you lived in South Jordan. It's just a suburb. I'm like, we just need to know where you're at. Like, where are you? Cause if somebody is meeting in person stuff and they're looking me up and they're from Southern California.

Yeah, they can do my e course, but I look at people when they're fault like people who follow me like I click on their profile And I look at them and sometimes I'm like, oh, this is so cool And I cannot figure out where they're at like to save my life You're like, are you my next door neighbor or do you live clear across the country?

Do you live in the UK or Russia? We don't know Okay, well, there's your tip tip of the day from Sam. Make sure your Instagram says where  you are. Yes So she's located in Hurricane, Utah But if you guys will have her linked up you can check our courses cuz you can work with anyone anywhere Yeah, the courses are amazing for that and then also virtually and then just a little side note with the courses I don't ever let anybody just And buy the course and then go off on their own.

I'm kind of annoying and I will bug you and I will check in and I'll ask if you have questions and all those things. Oh, that's so nice because sometimes I buy stuff and I really want to do it, but it's like, it's so hard. You like press purchase, the link comes to your email and you never open it. I am absolutely guilty of that.

But if I'm going to take your money, I'm going to try to provide you with my services the best I can. So that's awesome. And then we'll be on the lookout too for your adult prom. Yeah. The adult prom is September 13th and it is in Southern Utah. It's a fundraiser for maternal wellness scholarships. So you, do you buy a ticket?

Yep. You'll buy a ticket. Um, the tickets will be a hundred dollars per couple. Um, and then we're going to have drinks, mocktails, cocktails.  A photographer. This looks so fun. Do you have a DJ? Yeah. Well, actually we don't have a DJ yet. It's on the plan. So if you know a Southern Utah DJ. I do. I had a DJ at my birthday party.

Yes. I did. Send me the info. Yep. DJ, photographer, all the fun things. We're taking you back to high school. You gotta wear a fancy ball gown.  Actually, I guess you really don't have to, but you should because an excuse to dress up. It's amazing. You should see my dress collection. My husband's in the military for 20 years, he just retired.

So  I have quite the collection. I love it. I'm, I'm building my connection, my collection as a patent girl now, but right. It's fun. Do you end up having to buy like super? No. Cause you went to the dress girl here locally, but sometimes don't those dresses get like outrageous. Oh, they get so outrageous. Yeah.

But Susie's Closet is also offering 20 percent off for anybody who's coming to the prom. So if you don't need a closet full of dresses for anything else, you can come rent one, come to the prom. It's for a great cause. We're hoping to have a bunch of local businesses who are interested.  Giving items for silent auction and raising money.

This is cool. Yeah. Women's health. I love  like the give back that you've created there too, where it's like, you'll get a scholarship to go do something for your health. Yeah. And we'll be paying the providers directly. And so kind of making sure that there's no, yeah. That's incredible. Yeah. Okay, I bow down. 

You're amazing. Let's do it. Okay, Samantha's coming to prom. Everybody else come to prom. I'll totally come to prom. It's great. My husband's a good time too. He'll come. Yes, I love it. That's what we need. I'm like, actually, you're not invited if you're gonna sit on the couch and not dance.  We're a good time.

We might need a couple of drinks to like warm us up. It'll be there. It'll be there. It's going to be good. Then after that, we're good. Yeah. It's going to be great. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being on the show today and thanks for your time and thanks for just all you're doing for the community.

Yeah. Thanks for having me and creating this awesome podcast because podcast is self care. So if you're here, you've checked that off your list. You're doing something great. Awesome. Thanks, Ash.