Bridges and Baskets: The Pelvis
- 15 hours ago
- 6 min read
A SERIES EXPLORING THE ANATOMY OF CONNECTION + SUPPORT
Welcome to Bridges and Baskets, a series exploring the anatomy of connection and support. My hope is to illuminate the cooperative nature of our bodies - tracing the organic shapes and patterns of the human form through a morphological lens, and nurturing a more narrative understanding of ourselves as living expressions of Nature herself.
Our journey through Bridges and Baskets continues… from our last stop at the talus bone of the ankle, up the leg and past the knee, arriving now at perhaps one of the more intriguing destinations: the pelvis.
From a structural standpoint, the pelvis is a three-dimensional, bowl-shaped bony structure. It serves as a central point of stability and connection, linking the upper and lower body.
The broad meeting place between the spine and the legs, it's called our “centre of gravity,” because it is where the weight of the upper body is distributed and transferred into the lower body.
As our legs organize in relationship to our pelvis in ways that are available and workable for our particular body, the downward pull of gravity and the upward support of the ground can meet and exchange through this area.
In this way, our pelvis becomes a place of ongoing negotiation: both a bridge between forces and a physical basket. Alignment and position are not fixed ideals here, but expressions of relational intelligence - continuously adapting to support both steadiness and movement.
It is also an area imbued with deep meaning, spiritual significance, and personal narrative.
I hold these stories with care.
At the same time, I understand the body as an interconnected, dynamic organism; whose physiology is in constant relationship and exchange. From this perspective, the pelvis becomes a site of resonance, a place where experience echoes, rather than a container.
What feels exceptionally clear is that the pelvic region encompasses much of what is animal about us: our instinctual, life-sustaining rhythms dwell here. It’s where many bodies facilitate birth, sex, defecation, and other essential processes of survival and continuity. In modern Western societies - those shaped by colonial and hierarchical forces that often seek to sanitize, dominate, and tame expressions of wildness - it’s perhaps unsurprising that this region has become stigmatized, hidden, and shamed.
In naming this particular cultural reality, I want to acknowledge that reading about, identifying with, or even thinking anatomically about the pelvis can feel challenging. If that’s true for you, you’re welcome to meet this material in whatever way feels most supportive - through curiosity, neutrality, distance, or gentle exploration. Whatever you feel, or don’t feel, here is fine - every body has their own history and needs. If specific questions or concerns arise, I encourage seeking guidance from a qualified professional.
With that broader context in place we can now meet our pelvic bones, visit the bridge that lives here and form the scaffolding from which the basket of our pelvic floor is anchored.
Place your hands on your hips, thumbs facing the back of your body - they are pointing to your sacrum, fingers encircling the sides - these are the “wings” or ilia, and index fingers pointing forward and slightly downward, toward your pubic symphysis. This is the shape of your pelvis: a three-dimensional, vessel-like structure. In fact, the word pelvis is Latin for “bowl.”
Though it may seem like a single solid piece of bone, the pelvis has two distinct sides: a right and left hemi-pelvis. They join in the back at the sacrum, forming the sacroiliac joint. The sacrum, a fascinating character in its own right, acts as the “keystone” of the pelvis (a structure-type we explored in my last blog post) and in the front, the two halves meet at the pubic symphysis.
Each hemi-pelvis is actually three bones which fuse completely by age 25. The ischium forms the lower portion, the majority of which is the ischial tuberosity or sit bone. The ilia (meaning "wing") are the fan-shaped portions that form the sides of your pelvic bowl. And the pubic rami join at the front to create the pubic symphysis, or bridge, just above the genitals.
The word symphysis comes from Greek: sym- (“together”) and physis (“growth”), literally meaning “growing together.” The symphysis is formed by the right and left pubic rami (plural: rami, from Latin branch), connected via the pubic disc. This is not a fused joint! Whilst mobility is limited: about 1 degree of rotation and 2–3 millimeters of movement, the primary function of the pubic symphysis is strength and cushioning during walking and running. In pregnant bodies, the hormone relaxin increases the pliability of the pubic symphysis, allowing an additional 2–3 mm of expansion.
To review the bony scaffold that forms our pelvic basket:
Pubic rami – bridge / anterior boundary
Ischial tuberosities – basket base / sitting bones
Sacrum & coccyx – posterior wall / keystone
Before we go any further: There is a lot of chatter about the pelvic floor these days - and I’m delighted that we are giving this area some love and attention. That said, generalised information from wellness influencers can beeee... a little problematic. While some folks may benefit from strengthening their pelvic floors (think Kegels), it’s not appropriate for all bodies. The idea that “tighter = better” is frankly misleading and rooted in toxic diet culture: muscles that are chronically tight actually have less resilience and are more prone to injury. A muscular system that is integrated and responsive is a body that can support us in our daily adventures, no matter the form that it takes.
And to be completely transparent: I am not a pelvic floor specialist - just an anatomy nerd with deep curiosity and reverence for our beautiful bodies.
The pubic symphysis is not the Golden Gate... there's no drama here. She simply comes together - right meeting left in cooperative strength. Within this unassuming union, we glimpse something essential: support that allows movement, connection that permits adaptation. Just as we discovered with mediator extraordinaire, the humble talus bone; our pelvis holds us in an ongoing negotiation between gravity and ground.
What it would feel like to yield into support - to hold and be held the way the pelvis does?
In a seated or standing position, centre yourself over your feet (if standing) or sit bones (if seated) and become aware of your breath. Noticing any movement that is present in your body with each inhale and exhale.
With each breath cycle, slowly narrowing your focus from your global body to eventually landing specifically at the beautiful basin that we call "pelvis".
Allow your breath to gently meet your pelvis and invite an easy, playful rocking movement. Imagine your breath as a soft current of water moving through you... fluid and unhurried, finding your own innate rhythm.
Invite the soft current of water to fill the beautiful basin that is your pelvis about half way.
Explore how it might feel to create gentle vortexes in this water by rotating your pelvis in one direction and then the other. Perhaps you can sense the fluidity throughout your body, creating a cascading ripple of movement up your spine and down your limbs.
Remaining curious to sensation and open to spontaneous movement. Keeping a keen ear to the whispered negotiation happening somatically... fluidity held by structure, movement made possible by support. Listening to your pelvis, allowing her to direct the motion.
Upon your return to stillness, I invite you to remain with this connection. You've opened a pathway to your pelvis with the flow of your breath. Recalling Ms. O'Keefes words... "When I started painting the pelvis bones I was most interested in the holes in the bones—what I saw through them.” I wonder what you can see through your bones now that you didn't before?
So let’s pause here on the bridge, a threshold between the structural architecture of our pelvis and the softer terrain of muscle and breath, and in a couple days we will journey onwards to the other side, where we will explore the fleshy expanse of our beautiful pelvic basket.
“All flourishing is mutual.” -- Robin Wall Kimmerer
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