Vaginal Steaming for Pelvic Health, Fertility and Feminine Empowerment

Vaginal Steaming, or Yoni Steams, Bajos Vaginales, is a traditional healing therapy that can be traced back through many, in fact most, indigenous cultures throughout the world. Its purposes traditionally were to address menstrual irregularities, after birth or miscarraige, and to address “spiritual disharmony” of the feminine spirit. The practice is relatively simple, and involves sitting over a pot of warmed herbs, allowing the steam to warm the pelvic area, and external vaginal tissues. It is a direct and gentle way to deliver herbal medicine to the reproductive and pelvic area. When mixed into water and heated, the volatile oils from the plants are carried into the vapors, much like herbal facial & lung steam inhalation practices. Steaming helps to nourish vaginal tissue, warms the pelvic area which improves circulation and supports cleansing through the lymphatic system. This encourages cleansing of the womb and surrounding tissues, and helps balance pH levels and is hugely relaxing for the nervous system. Some of the benefits reported are to ease menstrual cramps and PMS symptoms, aid in balancing mood swings, bloating, and irregular cycles, assist in resolving cysts and fibroids, help correct yeast and bacterial infections, support fertility and optimize healing after birth or pregnancy loss.

In addition to the physical benefits, one of my most favorite aspects of this practice is that it encourages deep connection to our inner feminine wisdom. The gifts of the feminine principle are powerful, the source of intuition and connection to the earth and her cycles. So often our womb and vagina are not necessarily tended to with care and devotion, for we live in a masculine oriented society. We were not necessarily raised to appreciate and honor our vagina and womb, our cyclical nature seen to be a problem as opposed to what it truly is, which is a blessing. When we give attention and offer healing to these aspects of being a woman, we can not only often find stored trauma/tension, stuck energy, stored emotions, we also find wisdom and insight into our soul path and unique creative power. In working with women with fertility and hormone challenges, as well as chronic vaginal dysbiosis, I have yet to find a case that did not have its roots in some aspect of their relationship to being a woman, and feelings or traumatic experiences surrounding their sexuality. Just a note that this does not always mean overt trauma like we tend to think of it, it can be simply times where full consent was not given or felt, or we were not treated respectfully. Just a reminder that trauma does not have a definition, rather it is how we experience something, and what we feel about it.

Now there is mixed information out there, on the effectiveness of this as a therapy, so I will encourage you to try it for yourself before deciding either way. When we read about those people who disregard it as a beneficial practice, I find that they are missing some of what the purpose is, and while approaching practices from a scientific and evidenced based perspective has its value, I have found that it is just one piece of the picture as far as whether something is useful. So I can just say that for myself and so many women, it has been a life changing self care practice.

As we move into how to do this practice, we will first have a discussion around safety. Then you will find detailed instructions and a supply list.

Who Should Not Steam: