Healing the Sacral Space: The Traditional Practice of V-Steaming

The practice of vaginal steaming (also called v-steaming or yoni steaming) is thousands of years old and found in almost every indigenous African, Asian, and Native American culture.  It is a method of cleaning and detoxifying the uterus and vagina.  A woman simply sits over a pot that is filled with herb-infused warm or hot water. The herb steam rises and penetrates the vaginal tissue with the intention to soothe and cleanse and heal.

Nephertiti Amen, a local holistic health practitioner, visited our birth circle recently to share her knowledge of this practice.  She brought stools that her husband constructed specifically for steaming, showed us how to set up a steam, demonstrated which herbs to use and how hot the water should be, and how to place a blanket or skirt over your lap to trap the heat.  V-steams, she explained, should be done for 10-30 minutes at a time and optimally 3 times per week.  She cautioned that yoni steams should not be done during pregnancy, nor for 6 weeks postpartum.

We reviewed the physical benefits of v-steaming: increasing fertility, balancing hormones, regulating periods, decreasing the discomfort of menstrual cycles, including the reduction of cramps, headaches and vaginal ache. Vaginal steaming is also used as a tool for reducing and treating endometriosis and fibroids.

Nephertiti Amen also emphasized that the benefits of steaming go beyond the physical effects, however. She described how the practice historically is grounded in ritual during fertility milestones, preparing for marriage or childbearing, recovering from birth, or moving into menopause. Spiritual growth has always been intimately intertwined with this practice. In a modern setting, she argued that V-Steams are potentially beneficial for our emotional and mental health, our awareness of spirit, and therefore a possible tool for reducing depression, anxiety and fatigue.

Herbal blends for yoni steaming could include such plants as witch hazel, red raspberry leaf, hibiscus, motherwort, red clover, goldenrod, hemp, corn silk, rose and burdock root.  However, particular herbs can be isolated for particular needs, so it is helpful to consult with someone to identify what are the best plants to use. Many of these can be foraged right around us or cultivated in our own gardens.

What would it mean to integrate this simple and nourishing practice into your own life? I challenge you to try it. I personally have seen again and again – when we pull upon the wisdom of the earth, our ancestors, of traditional healing practices, we no longer need the local drug store or our medical professionals or guaranteed health insurance to comfort our aches, pains, dryness, cramping, or anxiety. We ourselves create our own health with a flood of satisfaction and true joy.

You can contact Nephertiti Amen at linktr.ee/remnantoftruth