Isa Herrera, MSPT, CSCS · 21 Years · 22,000 Women · New York

Everything I know about the pelvic floor, my own body taught me first.

And I'm going to tell you exactly how.

Hello, intrepid searcher and fellow pelvic tribe member.

You didn't land here by accident. You wanted to know who I am and how I ended up spending my life on the pelvic floor. Sit with me. I'll tell you.

I'm Isa Herrera, MSPT, CSCS, a pelvic floor physical therapist. Over 21 years I've worked with more than 22,000 women in my New York healing center Renew Physical Therapy, through my online programs at PelvicPainRelief.com, and with my women-centric supplements at Rootganic.com. I did not come to this through a textbook. I came to it through my own pelvic floor, and my experiences in treating women of all ages and walks of life.

I am a...

Licensed, Masters of Physical Therapy (MSPT)
Lover of all things outdoors
Best-selling author
Certified Strength Training Coach, CSCS (NSCA)
Supplement Formulator
Pelvic Floor Self-Help Champion

Isa Herrera outdoors in natural light, wearing a silver necklace, smiling directly at the camera with green foliage behind her.

Menopause came for me early. Forty-one.

Isa Herrera, MSPT, CSCS, resting her chin on her hand, looking directly at the reader.

I was a physical therapist by then. I'd been a fitness trainer before that. If there was one woman in New York who should have seen this coming, it was me, and I didn't see it coming. I have a third-degree bladder prolapse. The dragging. The heaviness. Pressure that goes down and doesn't come back up on its own.

So when I say those words to a woman now, understand something. I'm not reading them off a chart. I'm reading them off my own body.

I did what you've probably done. I went looking for an answer.

A gynecologist first. Then a urologist. Then another gynecologist. The Doctor Road Show, I call it, and I was no tourist on it. I was a licensed clinician who knew the name of every single thing happening to me, and I still couldn't get an answer that came with instructions.

Every one of those doctors was good at the thing he was trained for. I want that said plainly, because I'm not going to stand here and tell you your doctor failed you. What happens is smaller and worse than that. You get handed a very short menu. Watch it. Or operate. And nobody says the third thing, which is what you do between now and then.

So I went and built the third thing.

Nobody was ever going to hand it to me whole, because nobody had been given the whole woman to look after. So I collected it. One discipline at a time, from anyone who'd teach me, and then I put the pieces in the order they actually work in on a living body.

I built it for one woman first. She was me.

Then other women started coming, and they didn't stop. 21 years and 22,000 of them later, I'm still building it.

“The doctor lives inside you already. All I've ever been is the coach who knows the way.”

~ Isa Herrera, MSPT, CSCS

Professionally, I Am...

I'm a licensed physical therapist, MSPT and CSCS, and integrative pelvic floor therapy is my field. Over 21 years I've worked with more than 22,000 women in my healing center and through my programs, and everything I know about diagnosing and treating pelvic pain, I learned with my hands, one woman and then the next.

Isa Herrera treating a patient with biofeedback equipment in her New York healing center.

The healing center was Renew Physical Therapy in New York. I opened it in 2005 and ran it for years. Me and my team of 6 therapists pioneered the whole woman approach to pelvic health, in the mid 2000's, when the topic of pelvic health was never even mentioned and women suffered in silence and shame.

Here's what I was doing inside it.

I brought Maya abdominal massage into a New York physical therapy practice. Andean energy techniques. Sound healing. Low level laser therapy. I put them beside evidence-based physical therapy and used them together, on real women, in a real clinic. For a long time I was told that was fringe. I've watched the conversation move a long way since then, and I'll say this plainly, because I earned it: I was in those trenches years before anyone thought to give it a name.

I taught it, too. Hunter College, New York, adjunct professor for years, in front of third-year doctoral physical therapy students.

It always frustrated me how little of this was taught anywhere. My friends who are MDs, doulas, midwives, nurses and fitness professionals said the same thing. No formal training. Not one of them.

That gap isn't a person. It's a curriculum. And that's why I decided to build my online school, www.PelvicPainRelief.com.

The Paper Trail

I didn't show up last year with a supplement line and a good story. Here's the paper.

In 2001 I put up FitnessHelp.com. The Wayback Machine's first capture of it is dated February 25, 2001, and there are 114 captures after that one. Somebody other than me has been keeping the receipts since before most of this field existed.

Then came Renew Physical Therapy in Manhattan, which is federally trademarked. Then pelvicpainrelief.com, where the clinical work became programs a woman could do at home. And now Rootganic, the supplement line I formulated myself for women over 40.

Along the way I registered 19 federal trademarks, and two more are pending. Products, programs, methods, clinical services. I built all of it, and my name's on all of it.

Isa Herrera being interviewed at Renew Physical Therapy, the Manhattan clinic she founded.

International Best-Selling Author

The five books by Isa Herrera fanned out on a light surface, showing the covers of Female Pelvic Alchemy, Ending Female Pain and three more titles.

Five books. Female Pelvic Alchemy. Ending Female Pain. Ending Pain in Pregnancy. Ending Male Pelvic Pain. The Pregnant Couple's Guide to Working Out Together.

I wrote them because I got tired of saying the same sentences over and over in a room in New York, while a woman in another state, in another country, needed those same sentences and had nobody to say them to her.

I've lectured across this country on pelvic health and on women's health. Half of my work is teaching women. The other half is teaching the professionals who see them, because that's where the gap actually sits.

See all five books

My work has been covered by PBS, The Guardian, U.S. News & World Report, TODAY, ABC, Oprah.com and Women's Health. The whole record is on my media page.

Isa Herrera being interviewed on a television set about pelvic floor health.

Isa Herrera demonstrating a pelvic health technique on camera in a studio segment.

Isa Herrera speaking to a television host during a broadcast segment.

Isa Herrera on set during a filmed interview about women's pelvic health.

Personally, I Am...

Before I was a physical therapist I was a fitness trainer, running partner pregnancy training. That's where the CSCS after my name comes from, and it's the reason my work has always been about building strength rather than managing decline. I met women's bodies first as something to make stronger. I've never stopped seeing them that way.

Isa Herrera standing high in the Andes mountains in Peru, arms thrown wide, small against the mountainside.

What surprised me when I crossed over into physical therapy was how little was reaching anybody. Not the professionals, who wanted it. Not the women, who wanted it more.

And I'll be straight with you, because there's no dignity in pretending otherwise. I didn't get that training in physical therapy school either. Nobody handed me this. I went and got it.

Then there's my family, which is the part of my life I guard hardest. My husband David. My daughter Ella. We're people who like being in the same room, and in a world built to pull you out of it, that takes actual effort. So we carve out hours with no screens in them. Some nights it holds. Some nights we surrender to the television and call it togetherness.

Right Now, I Am...

Outdoors, still. Every chance I get. After a whole life in New York I've come to want the quiet things. The sound of the breeze. The sound of a hummingbird's wings.

Isa Herrera outdoors, standing beside a large tree.

Isa Herrera crouched next to Morton, a friend's emu, outdoors.

I recently helped a friend's emu. His name is Morton. A coyote howled somewhere behind him, he panicked, and he wound himself into a fence. He was down and couldn't get himself up, and it didn't look good for Morton. So I got low next to him and asked him where it hurt, and he took his beak and pointed at his hip. Finally, somebody's listening to me. Morton's walking again. He also has a new girlfriend.

And my family and I did 11 straight Polar Bear Plunges at Coney Island, after each we spent four hours in the Russian steams thawing out.

That's me. Now you know.

Professional Praise

One in four women in the United States is living with a pelvic floor issue. That's the scale these doctors were speaking to, and I've kept every word.

When I went to medical school, there was no pelvic floor training at all. We had nothing, even when I did my residency. In most countries outside this country there are specialists, people trained in pelvic floor disorders and how to make the pelvic floor work better for the woman. Unfortunately in this country it has to be self-taught. This is the first time I've seen a course online that is so thorough, that goes from anatomy to diagnosis to treatment to rehabilitation to outcomes. Isa has brought European ideas to American women and I think it will definitely help them get their pelvic floors back together.

Dr. Jacques Moritz

Associate Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Cornell University & Columbia Presbyterian Hospital

Read the transcript

When I went to medical school, there was no pelvic floor training at all. We had nothing even when I did my residency. It was very small amount of Rehabilitation of the pelvic floor. We covered surgery that we always covered but we never learned how to help a woman overcome pelvic floor dysfunctions about public floor disorders. Never never taught. So Anybody that is touching a woman? In the vagina or as a healthcare professional in anything Doula or anything that has to do with Women's Health has to know about the pelvic floor and how important it is. How some of the natural things we go through? Such as living and having babies can disrupt the pelvic floor and how sometimes anatomical problems can mess up. I think that anybody taking care of someone who's having children should really take this course and learning about the pelvic floor. Number one. They will benefit number two their patients would greatly benefit and in most countries outside of this country here, there are Specialists and people that have training in pelvic floor disorders and how to make the pelvic floor stronger and how to make it work better for the woman. Unfortunately in this country it has to be self-taught. This is the first time I've seen any kind, of course online that is so thorough that goes from Anatomy to diagnosis to treatment to Rehabilitation to outcomes that I've ever seen and I would encourage anybody. Be a doctor or underneath that would benefit from this. Course and it's online so you don't have to go and be in a doctor's office. You don't have to Shadow somebody. This is all online. You can do it in the comfort of your home and it's just as good as me about yourself.

I am blown away by the depth and the complexity of the material in Isa's pelvicPainRelief.com school. Any of the subject matter she goes into from anatomy to functionality to palpation to exercise, she does with a truly expert lens. I say expert, I rarely use the word expert. We're all experts in something these days. Isa truly is a pelvic floor expert. I encourage you to use the expertise which she is offering because she's taking not only profound academic knowledge but also decades of experience at many different levels and giving it to you.

Dr. Stephanie Marango

MD, RYT, Holistic Health Physician, Founder of i.m.body

Read the transcript

Hi, I'm Dr. Stephanie Marengo a Holistic Health Physician and educator and I wanted to tell you a little bit about isa's pelvic floor class because I think it is a phenomenal tool for anyone and everyone who works with the pelvic floor whether you're a Pilates instructor a physical therapist a midwife you're working with a pelvic floor in the way that requires nuance and depth and that's exactly what uses class delivers. I was blown away with the depth in the complexity of the material. Any of the subject matters, she went into from Anatomy to functionality to palpation to exercise. She did with a truly expert lens and I say expert I rarely use the word expert who are all experts in something these days but Isa truly is a pelvic floor expert and I encourage you to use the expertise which she is offering because she's taking not only profound academic knowledge, but also Decades of experience that many different levels and giving it to you. However, you are best able to learn from it and incorporate it into your personal and professional life. Um, you know, in terms of being a learner she offers videos she offers PowerPoint slides she offers PDFs that you can print out for yourself and take with you. So there are many different ways that you're able to learn from the class and also because it's online she offers you convenience. I know I'm a very busy Beast so for me being able to drop in 10 minutes at a time, maybe an hour, but when I have it and when I need it is super important. So I love that convenience accessibility in terms of the professional adoption. Then you have the techniques and you can keep going back. You can go back to the videos. You can go back to the PowerPoint slides and learn the material is you need to I know for me when I was starting out learning anatomy and medical school repetition was key. You know when I was thinking about the Warrior Two pose because I'm also a yoga teacher and the hip flexor muscles and that pose I had to do the pose get up out of the pose. Go to my anatomy book a hundred different times before I was able to remember the names of all of the muscles. That's what this class gives you this ability to take your practice and add academically to it. But also it offers you the ability to take the academic knowledge of the muscular tour and the innervation and all of the diagnoses and add practical exercises to it. In fact, I came away doing one of the many different reverse people exercises that Isa offered on my own personally, which has been a boon to my morning ritual practice. in conclusion if you work with the pelvic floor in any capacity and you know that you need to keep learning in order to be the best practitioner that you can be. Then I believe this could be the course for you.

Isa's new website is one of the latest and greatest tools for health practitioners, definitely in my own line of work, working with psycho-sexual health of women, and also whether you are a doula, midwife, nurse practitioner, physical therapist, MD, OB-GYN, nurse, jade egg or functional medicine practitioner, whatever your orientation to women's pelvic floor health might be. If you care deeply about real transformation for the women in your world, you definitely want to jump on board and study with Isa Herrera.

Dr. Saida Desilets

Ph.D., Author, The Emergence of the Sensual Woman and Founder, The Desilets Method, Holistic Health Physician

Read the transcript

Hi, I'm Dr. Syeda desley author of The emergence of the sensual woman and founder of the desele method and I'm thrilled to be able to speak to you just briefly on my colleague Isa herrera's new online course women's pelvic floor Essentials for health professionals. I'm excited about this course for several reasons. One reason is that ESAT is now created an incredible universal language so that all practitioners from different Avenues of pelvic Health can now have a universal language to communicate with each other so we can start actually collaborating and working together and assisting women around the world having better lives in being pain free. So whether you're a medical doctor an osteopath public health specialist a physio yoga instructor of fitness trainer a jade egg practitioner, whatever your orientation to pelvic health for women is if you're dedicated to true natural non-invasive results, you're going to want to do this course, it's it's fabulous. And one of the reasons it's so fabulous is the way that it's presented to you. It's easy very concise great videos great instruction, even the use of live models, which I love so she takes the anatomy you learn two-dimensionally and then you see it in 3D and so it's very instructional and I believe it's one of the latest and greatest tools for health practitioners definitely in my own line of work working with the psychosexual health of women and pelvic floor Health in the use of Jade egg. Definitely. I'm paying attention to east's wisdom around pelvic pain. So if you care deeply about real transformation for the women in your world, then you'll definitely want to jump on board and study with Isa Herrera.

Frequently Asked Questions (Based on Real Questions)

How did Isa Herrera, MSPT, CSCS, become a pelvic floor physical therapist?

My own pelvic floor sent me looking, and nothing I found was enough.

Menopause arrived early for me, at 41, and it brought a third-degree bladder prolapse with it. I went from specialist to specialist and came away with two options and no plan. So I trained in the work myself, and 21 years on, I'm still doing it.

What are the credentials and qualifications of Isa Herrera, MSPT, CSCS?

I'm a licensed physical therapist with an MSPT and a CSCS.

MSPT is a Master of Science in Physical Therapy. CSCS is Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. That's where the strength half of my work comes from. I was also an adjunct professor at Hunter College, teaching pelvic floor technique to third-year doctoral students.

Does Isa Herrera, MSPT, CSCS, see patients one to one?

No. I work through my programs and my writing now, not a clinic.

I ran Renew Physical Therapy in New York from 2005 and saw women there for years. That practice is behind me. The same work reaches women through my programs, my books and my free guides, which is how one person reaches 22,000 instead of a handful a day.

Where has Isa Herrera, MSPT, CSCS, been featured?

PBS, The Guardian, U.S. News & World Report, TODAY, ABC, Oprah.com and Women's Health.

I've been talking about pelvic health on television and in the national press for years, back when most outlets wouldn't put the words on air. The full record, with the pieces and the dates, is on my media page.

What books has Isa Herrera, MSPT, CSCS, written?

Five. Female Pelvic Alchemy, Ending Female Pain, and three more.

The other three are Ending Pain in Pregnancy, Ending Male Pelvic Pain, and The Pregnant Couple's Guide to Working Out Together. Four of the five are on pelvic health. I wrote them so the work wouldn't stop at one treatment room. They're all on my books page.

Who does Isa Herrera, MSPT, CSCS, work with?

Women 35 to 95, and the professionals who take care of them.

Most of the women who find me are moving through menopause or past it, carrying leaking, pressure, pain, or changes nobody warned them about. I also train doulas, midwives, nurses, physical therapists and fitness professionals, because what reaches them reaches every woman in their care.

You've read enough about me. Here are three ways in, and I'm not going to push you toward any of them.

Work with me My books My free guides

They'll all still be here tomorrow.