Yoni Steaming: A Traditional Practice for Every Stage of Your Womb Continuum
Today on the podcast we're exploring a lesser-known self-care practice in the world of women's health and wellness with a special guest, Kit Maloney.
With over two decades of experience in the field, Kit Maloney is a true authority in women's health. She's a scholar, entrepreneur, victim advocate, and pleasure activist. Kit holds a Master's degree in Gender and Social Policy from the prestigious London School of Economics and has been featured in prominent publications like Glamour, Self, and Bustle. Marie Claire even recognized her as an "Amazing Woman" for her groundbreaking work celebrating women's sexuality.
But Kit's journey doesn't stop there. She discovered the profound healing power of vaginal steaming firsthand and decided to share this wisdom with the world. That's why she has traveled the world studying a wide variety of healing modalitiesand chose to become certified as an advanced practitioner in vaginal steaming. All of this has led her to founding Kitara, a platform dedicated to offering beautifully designed and expertly crafted products and services for safe, easy, and effective yoni steaming at home. She now resides in Maine with her husband and their 1-year-old son.
Here are some key takeaways from this episode:
Discovering the multi-cultural practice of yoni steaming as part of the my own ancestry, and how fertility work runs in my bloodline
Simple yet effective ways to restore your womb health
Utilizing yoni steaming for various benefits including improved fertility, relief from period pain, regulating menstrual cycles (long or short), eliminating uterine fibroids, managing endometriosis symptoms, and naturally treating infections such as yeast and bacterial vaginosis (BV)
How to adjust and plan your steaming practice timing while you’re trying to conceive (TTC)
Understanding the different types of herbs and dosages necessary for specific steaming goals
Why uterine fibroids occur predominantly in african-american women
Why you shouldn’t steam during your period but you can during your postpartum bleeding
and Insights into Kit’s personal journey with natural conception in her 40s.
And here's the exciting part for our listeners: Visit Kitara's website at www.kitaralove.com, where you can explore a world of women’s wellness. Plus, Kitara is generously offering our listeners an exclusive discount. Use the code "ResilientLove" for $22 off any Kitara yoni steam seat, including savings bundles! Be sure to also connect with Kit on Instagram at @bykitara.
So, whether you're new to yoni steaming or a seasoned enthusiast, this episode is packed with insights and offers you won't want to miss.
Related Resources:
Download my FREE Preconception Checklist!
Work with me in my signature online course and coaching, Resilient Motherhood: A self-paced guide to preparing for conception and beyond
Get Kitara’s FREE Yoni Steaming Guide 101
Visit kitaralove.com Use the code "ResilientLove" for $22 off any Kitara yoni steam seat, including savings bundles!
Blog: What is Estrogen Dominance and why it may be keeping you from getting pregnant
Podcast episode: “Do you need to detox before getting pregnant?”
Episode script:
Anisa: [00:00:00] Welcome
Kit. Thank you so much for being here today.
Kit:: I am so delighted to be here. Thank you for having me, Anisa.
Anisa: Of course. So I wanted to start off this conversation today by sharing a story about my ancestral heritage in connection with the practice that we will be speaking about today. So I had recently spoke with one of my mom's cousins from Iran.
When I shared with her that I specialize in working with women to restore their fertility, she shared with me that I actually have an ancestor from a couple generations ago, I believe, who was widely known throughout Iran, who, you know, used to help women with fertility. And, you know, we were speaking exclusively in Farsi.
And so I can understand probably about 95% of what she was telling me. There wasn't like a specific word that she, that she used that I was able to recognize, but by what she was [00:01:00] describing, she was describing that this one ancestor, this fertility specialist, traditional fertility specialist she used to use steaming, you know, pelvic steaming, vaginal steaming to help her clients you know, be able to conceive. And you know, the way this, this woman was describing the story to me, she said, you know, she would get herbs. You know, she would try to describe the herb. I couldn't understand what type of herb it was and I was like looking it up on Google for the translation and I couldn't figure out what it was, but it was, you know, obviously not something that there was an English word for.
And like now I wanna go back to Iran and figure out what this herb was. But she said that she would boil it and, you know, use the steam to, you know, put on on women's yonis. And I just thought that was so cool because I had found yoni steaming myself through like, Other pathways just through like wanting to support hormones and fertility.
And I knew that it has been a cultural practice in, in many different cultures, but I didn't know that it was [00:02:00] part of my own culture. So that was a really cool story to hear and to also learn that like this is a practice that has, that has kind of, that I've reconnected with and has continued down my ancestral line without me really knowing it.
Right. And so yeah, let's kind of get into you know, what is yoni steaming, what are some of the other names it's known by? And for women who maybe haven't heard that word before, what
Kit:: is a yoni? Amazing. That is such a beautiful, beautiful story.
And wow. I just, I love the way that Yoni's teaming can connect us to our ancestors and to this remembrance and what an opportunity it gave you to connect with this relative and a different way, and like a way that otherwise you might not have had.
That conversation that like the fertility, it's in you, it's in your bloodline to be helping women with these amazing considerations around optimizing their fertility and their hormones and then to know that these traditional [00:03:00] practices have really, it's just amazing to me that they have not only survived, but that we're watching the ways that they're continuing to thread theirselves into our modern lives as well.
It's just so beautiful. Please keep me posted if you get back there and learn that plant, I'm dying to know. And, and yeah. So Yoni steaming primarily is sitting or squatting safely, overheated water. And then we do often use herbs to optimize further the benefit of steaming. So use different herbs to address different ailments and you steam for different amount of times to address different ailments and you probably are going to steam on different days depending on your intention and the benefits that you're seeking.
So we can get into all of that and this conversation as well. But yoni steaming is gonna be the same thing as you might hear womb steaming. You might hear pelvic steaming. You might hear vaginal steaming.[00:04:00] Yoni itself is a Sanskrit word that means sacred gateway. It also is a word that really encompasses the entirety of.
What I've come to sort of call the womb space. And so it's both internal and external, so it's all of the external genitalia. And so when we say yoni, we're very much including the vulva and the clitoris and the vaginal canal, but also the cervix and the uterus and the fallopian tubes even, and, and everything there as well as the energetic of the space itself, which is just such a more dynamic.
Languaging than we often get in other languages, particularly English, which the word vagina is its origins come from the Latin word for "sheath" which is just quite a different setup in understanding. So yeah, there's that.
Anisa: The words that we use can really even at a like subconscious level, influence how we feel about certain things.
Kit::
[00:05:00] Yes, I completely resonate. Yes.
Anisa: Yeah. So I love that like, you know, using that word yoni envisioning a gateway, especially if we're speaking about fertility, right? It's like so often women become disconnected with their womb space, you know, because we've been told like, You know, don't have sex, you're gonna get pregnant right away.
Like you know, so you kind of close off that space and try to disconnect from it. And so now entering into this place where like, okay, like I. I'm trying to welcome a new human into this space. Like we, we want to open that gate and and so you know, I think yoni steaming can be such a a great practice to, to begin having, you know, throughout both, both if you're not trying to get pregnant, but also you know, along the, the like, Conception journey to be able to reconnect with that space.
But maybe let's kind of get into some of that you know, what it looks like to, to reconnect with, with the wound [00:06:00] space and why that might be important.
Kit:: Yeah. Well, so. Fundamentally, the reason we believe yoni steaming is so effective for so many different womb space ailments. So variety of benefits may include the release of fibroids, the release of infections, yeast and bv cooling down the body in in perimenopause, menopause, balancing the cycle.
Long cycles, shortening them, shorter cycles, lengthening them minimizing or completely eliminating period pain and cramping and fertility. Really the thread here is that the steaming is helping the release of stagnation. And that root cause of stagnation is what is building and building and then taking its own path to either lead to the fibroids, lead to the endo, lead to the longer cycles, or creating the shorter et cetera.
And all [00:07:00] of that can factor into fertility issues and concerns. So in yoni seeming really helping to. Release any stagnation in the womb space, we help come into your optimal cycle. And as you certainly know, the best way to support your fertility is to have a thriving cycle. And to really be tapped into how to support all four different phases of the cycle.
And to have a pain-free period is a really great signifier that your cycle is functioning. So that the bleed is coming on and finishing in a way that is free from any stagnation. So I like to say that the uterus has many, many magical tools, one of which is cramping. And she uses that tool really with the intent of helping us relieve stagnation.
If we can use yoni steaming to help her relieve the stagnation without cramping, then she doesn't need to cramp. If [00:08:00] there's no nothing stagnated there, she won't cramp. So it's a really good sign when we see that reduction in any sort of period pain in the cycle that that stagnation is, is working its way out of the body.
I think that. The other really important thing to name here is just what you've already touched upon, which is the opportunity steaming brings us to really connect gently and slowly and softly to the womb space with an open heart, with ourselves in the comfort of our home, with the connection of the elements of the earth and the steam and the water and really be with ourselves in a way.
That is a pretty unique opportunity to be able to feel and enjoy the, the soft heat to make sure that that heat is really feeling pleasurable and invitational. And also to be. Allowing yourself to see what comes up. And the fertility [00:09:00] journey brings up so much for us or certainly can, certainly did for me in terms of our relationship to our body, our relationship to the womb space and what that's meant to us over the years.
And a lot of that, a lot of that mind, heart, womb connection is really pivotal to a fertility journey ending with the intentions that. We're often seeking, or if we're on a fertility journey, we are, which is that conception and that healthy pregnancy. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Anisa: Oh, I love all of that. And you know, one of the things that kind of came up as you were as you were talking about some of the different signs of stagnation, you know you know, in terms of like using steaming to release that stagnation one of the things that I also wanted to just bring up is that one of the reasons why.
Some women may experience fertility challenges as they age, is that there is a reduced.[00:10:00] Amount of blood flow, a reduced amount of circulation to the womb space as you age. And and just kind of adding on to the benefits of yoni steaming is that as you bring heat to an area, it facilitates that increased circulation to, to an area.
And so, With circulation, it's like watering a garden, right? Like when you're watering the garden, it, it provides that channel for being able to, you know, to oxygenate your tissues, to be able to deliver nutrients to those tissues. And and when it comes to you know, Implantation if we're trying to make sure that we are implanting that fertilized egg, we wanna make sure that those tissues are lush and moist and nourished and being able to have the, the circulation that they need to be able to both conceive, but also to maintain a pregnancy.
And so that was, you know, that improved circulation. We can, we can see [00:11:00] that as like another another look at relieving stagnation. I think it's kind of a continuum
Kit:: Exactly, exactly. Well, because that more robust circulation is absolutely going to lead to the ease at which the stagnation is let go of as well, so, right.
Anisa: It's like, it's, I imagine, you know, like a waterfall and a dam. Like if there's a dam at the top of the waterfall and it's like, okay, if you just remove that dam, then yes. Like all of that water can flow.
Kit:: Beautiful. Yeah.
Anisa: Okay. And so we kind of, we talked about some of the, the ways that we can use steaming to, to connect to our room space a little bit more, some of the benefits.
What would you say are certain considerations that that women can or might need to consider depending on where they're at on their womb continuum when it comes to yoni steaming?
Kit:: Can you help me understand a little bit more what you mean with womb continuum? Yeah.
Anisa: So like If they're at a stage in their life where they're just trying to balance their hormones, [00:12:00] or if they're at a place, or maybe, maybe they're just struggling with cramping or trying to improve their menstrual cycle or whatever, or if they're actively trying to conceive or if they're pregnant, right.
Are there any things that, in terms of timing, in relation to the cycle, in terms of types of herbs to be using or not using?
Kit:: Yes. Thank you. So. If you are primarily steaming or interested in steaming right now for connection to your womb space or for helping optimize your cycle, reduce any sort of cramping around your bleeding time, those type of considerations it is, it's just a really wonderful thing in service of your present moment to consider incorporating a yonis team practice, but also.
Really laying an incredible foundation for your fertility. Because the other benefit of steaming, that's almost secondary to some degree, but it really helps you pay that much more attention [00:13:00] to your cycle. There are. Certain days, if you're steaming with this intention of really just getting it so that you have a bleed that starts and finishes with fresh red blood that you're adding that further circulation, that you're starting to really further connect to womb space, you're gonna steam probably three days before your cycle and three days, or sorry, before your bleed in three days.
After your bleed those three days before your bleed are likely gonna be advised, and I would really recommend that you find a trained and trusted practitioner, particularly at the beginning, to have this conversation with so that you can really have esteem schedule mapped out for you and all of the various considerations around your menstrual health and your hormonal health can be taken into account.
But let's say you have a 28 day cycle and you're looking to have a kind of, what we consider, like a basic steam plan that's likely to have you steam on days 23, 24, and 25, wait three days, [00:14:00] start bleeding and then steam the three days immediately after you've finished your bleed. And that really supports again, the circulation around the bleeding times as well as the natural uterine cleanse. So this is another really important consideration. We have. All of our organs in our body have a naturally built-in cleansing mechanism, very much of course the uterus. And we do practices with the other organs really intuitively and regularly. We take deep breaths to help support the lungs, or we do breath work.
We exfoliate the skin. We do all sorts of liver detoxes. And then interestingly, we don't have very many options to proactively help the uterus with her natural cleanse and yoni seeming is one of those options. So this would be a great time to get into the rhythm of using the practice for the support of that natural cleanse.
Anisa: Hold on. So let me stop you for a second. So regarding this natural cleansing [00:15:00] What in particular are we interested in cleansing? Is it like an energetic cleanse? Is it, are we releasing toxins? Like I, 'cause I've, I've thought about this just kind of intuitively thinking like, okay, it, like having a menstrual bleed is a great way of releasing so much.
Right? But let's kind of get into what, what in particularly are we cleansing?
Kit:: I mean, I, I fully feel like we are cleansing on multiple levels, so we are absolutely cleansing the physical uterine lining of that month's buildup. Right? And so that's the physical release. We are also invited into emotional and spiritual release at this time.
Our hormones have shifted. We are. What we talk about as being sort of much more open, much more aware of our sensitivities and our emotions. And this is a really great time to be present with that and to be an inquiry around which of those are ready now for us to [00:16:00] release in alignment with the bleed as well.
When it comes to the physicality of it, which is often what we are focused on when we're talking about the real support of Of, of that natural uterine cleanse of the interior lining of the uterus. We live in a world with a ton of toxins, including the environmental toxins as well as the emotional toxins that we're navigating every day with extra stressors and artificial light and chemicals and everything else.
And so, It's, it's very much, I mean, I like the similarity to any organ, but let's just say we talk about the skin. You know, dry brushing is a practice that I also really love. I think it's a wonderful compliment to steaming because it supports that circulation. It's also swathing off the bits of the.
Skin organ as a way of freshening or releasing, [00:17:00] helping the skin to let go, to have its cleanse. But it, it's almost impossible not to also feel like you're swathing off the stressors and the toxins of your day. And if there's something that really needs to be, be released, it is also that great opportunity to just really focus on watching that leave your system.
So through just the brush, like taking it away. And I. That is all present as well in, in uni steaming. So that's what I mean with like we're built with this natural ability to cleanse. And we also, throughout history have used various modalities to support those cleanses. And in western world.
And if you sort of Google some of the naysayers you might run up against people saying, don't do that, don't do that. The uterus has a natural built-in cleanse. Like somehow us in the yoni steaming world are criticizing that and we are certainly not. We are [00:18:00] in total reverence and awe of the abilities of the uterus and come at it through yoni steaming with that, I.
With that love and appreciation and wanting to offer as much support as possible to it.
Anisa: So it's the, I think it's the same kind of way of thinking about supporting liver detoxification, right? Like mm-hmm. You know, I think a lot of times, like there's this argument that people say, oh, "your liver's detoxifying all the time. You don't need to support your liver." And it's like, well, your liver also has like certain nutritional requirements in order to be effective in its detoxification and you have to have like that release of stagnation in your gut to be able to, to relieve those, relieve your body of those toxins and stuff.
And so I think it's just like another one of those detox organs, right? Where where we do need to do things to support the natural flow, the natural physiological functioning of these different systems.
Kit:: [00:19:00] Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Right. So, Back to this question you have about the womb continuum, which I love so much, is that then if you're stepping into some more intention around conception coming up in.
Maybe like, I mean, it would be beautiful, although I just have to raise my hand and say like, we say this in the steaming world, like, allow yourself six to nine months to prepare. I have yet to meet, or me myself, be somebody who has like that level of foresight. It's often for me that when I want a baby, I want the actual baby like to exist, which is right, like it's like a minimum of nine months at the fastest.
Possible timeframe. Certainly not a nine month prep. So I say that with some self-awareness and some societal awareness. But if you can at least allow yourself an absolute minimum of three to six months to really prepare the body and the heart and the spirit for this [00:20:00] massively beautiful but intense intention that you are bringing forth when it comes to conception this gives you an opportunity to steam.
In a, in a more regularly fashion. So at this time when the intention is being set to prepare the womb, but not to actively conceive yet, you are likely to be advised again, a trained and trusted practitioner is gonna scan you for different sensitivities on this, but you're likely to be advised to steam.
Almost daily or every other day in between finishing your bleed and starting your bleed. And to do that for up to three months would be great. So that's sort of one to three months. What happens when you open your window of actively wanting to conceive is that you also narrow the days of your cycle in which it is safe to steam.
So again, we go back to that foundational aspect of why steaming is working. It's helping [00:21:00] alleviate the stagnation, which means it's helping cleanse the uterus. Once you have insemination or intercourse, you therefore don't want to steam. And so that takes out about half of your potential days to steam which is great if you've reached that place of.
A really balanced cycle and feeling connected to the ovulation and connected to the intention. But if it's coming from a rush place, again, raising my hand can share a personal journey there. I've gone through that as well, even after counseling hundreds of women through it. So just owning how challenging it can be when you really, really want something.
It goes back to that, that truth. That can be a hard one to stomach sometimes, but Rushing really tends to take longer, right? So we, we bring that sort of rush energy and usually what that does is actually create delay to our intention because we just at some point are gonna have to get back to that foundational work that the rushing is not gonna [00:22:00] allow.
So that said, and if you're really clear with yourself that you don't have the opportunity and the, the alignment to steam for those three months, almost daily, outside of the bleeding days then you can, you are safe to steam on a fertility journey from the end of your bleed up until ovulation.
Anisa: Even when you're in your fertile period? 'cause when you are producing cervical mucus and you're in your fertile period, let's say someone is having intercourse, but they haven't ovulated yet. Would there be any downside to steaming during that time?
Kit:: I would act cautiously there. Again, I would always invite online that person's intuition first. But again, if we go back to the mechanics of it, we are asking the steam to help release and cleanse the uterus. And there's a, there's a pretty robust window of time the sperm can live inside the body for particularly with a robust cervical mucus, [00:23:00] five days. And so really once you are trying in that cycle to conceive, I would stop steaming. And that would be including sort of setting up the possibility that you're inviting sperm into the body a couple days before you would ovulate. Mm-hmm.
Anisa: Okay, great. I think that's really helpful. And then let's kind of talk a little bit about the herbs.
I know that you have different kind of herbal bundles that you offer on your, you know, in your shop and. What are some of the different uses that people might be going for with different herbal blends and yeah. How can they, how can they utilize that to facilitate their
Kit:: steam? So, through Katara we offer six custom blends.
They're all organic, they're all hand blended, and the primary herbal blends that. We recommend for fertility issues tends to be either our release cleansing herbs [00:24:00] or our Rejuvenate strengthening. And what's interesting is that those are actually kind of juxtaposed blends. And so I get asked often, what's the fertility blend?
What's the fertility blend? And the reason we don't have a quote unquote fertility blend is because, We are grounded in advising you to use the herbs that are most gonna support your cycle. So
Anisa: you have some, depends on what your, what your challenges
Kit:: are, what you Exactly right. Exactly right. So if you have somebody who has a stronger cycle, 28 days plus they are, look, they're looking to steam in preparation for conception.
They might have a little bit of period pain. But it's really that 28 day plus. They're looking to, to cleanse and they're in a position where they can use some stronger herbs to do that. And so that would be the steering them towards the release cleansing herbs. If you have somebody, probably not necessarily, [00:25:00] but probably in their thirties, maybe even late thirties, early forties, the cycle's starting to become a little bit less consistent and drop occasionally or even regularly underneath 27 days.
Then we're looking at very, a very different herb. Profile to support their fertility. So we're looking at herbs that are really going to help with the strengthening and the toning of the uterus and the lengthening of the all around cycle toward that 28 days. And so that's why same intention fertility, but two completely different herb blends, that person would be steered toward the Rejuvenate strengthening herbs.
We do have a blend called Womb Wisdom which is our universal blend. And that's a nice alternative for people who feel like there's just too much going on for them to be in consideration of those two other options that I mentioned. They just wanna get going. They want something [00:26:00] that's sort of that balanced sweet spot, and that's why I designed Boom Wisdom as well.
So that's another option for considerations.
Anisa: Great. And for people, you mentioned that you can use yoni steaming for considerations like bv, bacterial vaginosis, are there specific , I'm guessing maybe like anti-microbial herbs, you know, that, that you would use.
Kit:: Yeah, so that's one of our other blends.
We have the renew disinfecting herbs and absolutely as you say that those are the the disinfecting, the anti-microbial, the the clearing and the. Really trying to add the oomph of release so that you get all of that infection out. Whilst also offering that support of everything that's going on at that time, that steaming schedule is also going to be different.
So it's worth noting that it's likely that we would invite you to steam for 10 consecutive days. Always taking a pause to bleed. But that way it gives your op, your body the opportunity to fully release. So even if you [00:27:00] feel like you're seeing like that release of the infection after three or four days, or you have the, the symptoms really diminished or alleviated, just keeps steaming up to those 10 days and it kind of just like locks in the full release of the infection.
The other thing to be in consideration of when steaming for infection is to not steam for longer than 15 minutes maximum. And I tend to invite folks into what we call a mild steam setup, which means that you heat the herbs and then you turn the heat source off. And so the warmest it's gonna be is at the very beginning, and then it just gets more and more and more gentle.
It's still effective, it's still helping the clearing, but it is monitoring the risk of adding too much heat into the body at a time when the body's already heating up to kill off the infection. So that's that balance we're looking for when steaming for infection. Hmm.
Anisa: Thank you so much for that. And you also mentioned being able to use it to release Uterine [00:28:00] Fibroids.
Can you speak a little bit more to that?
Kit:: Yeah, so this again is a more robust steaming protocol and there are lots of women who hold many intentions around yoni steaming at the same time, right? So we can absolutely, a, a very classic balance is fertility and fibroids at the same time. And.
It's a beautiful thing to be able to do one practice that's supporting both. So the release of fibroids, particularly if they're on the larger side, is going to be a really important thing to work on before conception. Particularly because the fibroids can have such a detrimental impact to the implementation process.
Mm-hmm. The uterus itself is not wildly large. And when you have some of these. Even small, but definitely larger fibroids. They're really hindering the ability for implementation to happen. And so steaming [00:29:00] for fibroids does again include a much more robust steaming protocol daily, potentially every other day if you have a very short cycle at the beginning, just to make sure that that.
Daily steaming isn't overly taxing to the body, but over a course of several months as well, we would have you steam. We would also definitely invite you into some other lifestyle considerations, primarily nutrition reducing, if not eliminating foods that are building up estrogen in the body. Lifestyle movement shifts or.
Upgrades just so that you're really getting some sweat, some of that circulation, some of that movement into your daily routine. And a real consideration on toxins, household products and beauty products that you might be using. So there is a a very profound and very disturbing. Incidents of fibroids being way more [00:30:00] likely in African American populations and that is believed to be because of some of the particular makeups and hair products that are marketed to the African American community.
Hold these estrogen building toxins in them.
Anisa: Interesting. I did not know that that was the reason why I, that it's like an external, it's an external reason. It's not like a genetic...
Kit:: I do not believe it's genetic. I do also think that there is a connection between fibroids and trauma. This I do not have western research on for sure. But as from an eastern medicine perspective, we're holding different energies, different ancestral blockages, healing patterns in us. And the fibroids are really emotionally connected to all sorts of trauma. And particularly just this, this consideration, which, you know, some of us.[00:31:00]
It's not gonna be capital T trauma and some of this is, but this imbalance between giving and receiving. So whether or not that's expected from you or that's a self expectation and we can just see that more and more in disenfranchised populations, right? So I think that that plus the external.
Toxicities are connected. That's my 2 cents on that. That's my sort of awareness and yeah.
Anisa: Thank you for bringing that up. You know, I think that's something that not a lot of people are, are thinking about. And in relation to kind of the, the whole idea of detoxing estrogen and, and supporting.
You know, all of the detox processes in the body. I have a great blog post on estrogen dominance that I'll link in the show notes for, for this episode. And then I also have a couple of other episodes you know, one of 'em is do I need to do a detox? So I'll put a, I'll put a couple of links to those related episodes in the show notes of this episode so that we, I just said episode a lot, but
Kit:: .
Well, actually, if you don't mind popping in too, I do have a blog post that is as robust as I [00:32:00] can figure out, and I'm always updating it, but it's just about steaming for fibroids and it includes these other lifestyle considerations as well as steaming protocols. Great. If you're listening and you're like, oh wait, what did she say?
Don't worry about like, jotting it down. Just go to this blog post and it's all there.
Anisa: Awesome. I'll, I'll be sure to include that. Thank you. Are there any other things that you wanna share, perhaps a little bit about how you use steaming in your own in your own practice in your own fertility journeys or things like that?
Kit:: Thank you. I would love that opportunity. I mean, we actually have not talked about steaming for. Postpartum yet. Which is a, that's where I use it. Wonderful. Right. And so of course after giving birth, there's this really great opportunity to further complete the cleanse of the uterus. And so this is one of the most ubiquitous reasons Steam has been used throughout the world for as long as it has, which is thousands of years is to really help with that [00:33:00] postpartum healing and recovery.
And so again, work with a trained and trusted practitioner. Usually you're going to be safe to steam after two or three days after delivery. That's because the uterine arteries are probably closed by them. You would want to check that with your midwife or a practitioner. But also your awareness that you're steaming less than, oh, sorry, that you're bleeding less and less each day means that the uterine arteries are likely closed.
Hmm. What, this is the one exception to being able to steam while you are actively bleeding fresh red blood. And I'll tell you why. So the reason we don't steam while we're bleeding fresh red blood during a menstrual cycle is because the uterine arteries are open during those bleeds, that menstruation to help support that natural cleanse of the endometrial lining.
Then they close and then you stop bleeding. When it comes to giving birth, the [00:34:00] uterine artery is open to support the birth, and then they close once the baby is here. About one to two days, if not even sooner after the delivery. But the uterus is still full of blood and Nokia and all sorts of other things.
So it's this one time where you might be seeing, or you're likely seeing fresh red blood leave the body. But it's less and less each day, and that's because the uterine arteries are closed. And so the real reason we don't steam during menstruation and. Your cycle bleeds is because uterine arteries are open.
But that just is a little bit more complex to say to people then just don't steam why you're bleeding until you have to explain postpartum steaming, which I've just done. So hopefully that makes sense. And and so my personal journey I just wanna share is that I came to steaming when I was way, I mean almost two decades into.[00:35:00]
In the world of women's health and wellness in a variety of different paths. I was. Very engaged in victim's advocacy and supporting sexual assault survivors. I then shifted a bit, although the root was always the same, into really celebrating women's pleasure and orgasms as a way of healing and empowering us and keeping us attuned to our, our greatest source of of selves, which I believe is the womb space.
And I was doing that pleasure work actually, that I was at a event where I heard women talking about steaming. And I was actually super skeptical and just had this like, very memorable. I. Reaction to it of like deep, deep eye roll skepticism. And then, and I drove back home and was like, whoa. Like I have to look at this.
Like I am 20 years in, I've traveled [00:36:00] the world. I've sat in cuts, I've done all sorts of plant medicines and movement practices and breathwork. Like what is it about this practice that I'm, that I'm so like, Skeptical of. And I just realized for me that this is when like patriarchy runs freaking deep and that like, it just felt weird.
I felt nervous about that weirdness. I felt I felt probably a little bit scared to. And then I really checked in and found for me in that moment, I was not a clear, no, I was actually a clear yes. And the skepticism turned to curiosity, but for me, I was a yes to do it with a practitioner. And so I booked and with a practitioner the next week and I had just had this unbelievable steam and truly life changing, considering that it changed the path of the course of my work.
But I just, after all these years, This space and focusing on the womb. I had never done a practice that [00:37:00] helped connect me in this way and connected me through such gentleness and just that soft opening that STEAM allows for. And that was a really profound moment of. Of release a deepening release of some trauma energetic for me as well, a deepened connection to the energy of the divine feminine.
And I just, I mean, I can remember that scene so, so vividly and that set me off to do a, a few scenes at home. I didn't yet have a seat. And then the next month I, for like the first time had zero lower back pain or menstrual cramps. And I was somebody who rarely had. Like debilitating menstrual cramps or lower back pain.
But I always had some, it was like how I knew that my bleed was starting. And then that just stopped and that very much piqued my interest. And so I started talking to [00:38:00] more and more people about steaming and I realized that so many more people were steaming than I knew. There was kind of this like secret thing happening.
So we started talking more kind of like you with your Iranian relative. Like the more we talk about it, the more we realize that this is happening. And, and that's when I just was like, I cannot. Possibly receive enough information. I just started taking as many possible courses as I could, and I ended up getting certified through Kelly Garza, steamy Chick, who's amazing and definitely an incredible resource online as well as her Instagram and all sorts of things.
So if you can look up Steamy Chick. Mm-hmm. And. I then followed a fertility protocol. Well, I mentioned this. I was in that rush mode at first when my husband and I decided that we wanted to have a baby, and I did it. I mean, I even talked to Kelly and I was so nervous at the time. I was 37, 38 maybe, and I was [00:39:00] so in my head about what that meant.
Our culture is so. Unbelievably intense about speaking about age and just the constant questions. I got well intentioned I suppose, but really a lot for me to hold. Around. Are you nervous that you're older? Are you, you know, are you just gonna start with I V F? I mean, people just feel entitled to ask you all sorts of things.
Anisa: And, and you know, considering, like talking about the words that we use for things like the fact that they call it a geriatric pregnancy is like so demeaning and it's like," great. Like thanks for giving women hope to like be able to maintain a healthy pregnancy when they think they're just aging and like needing to, you know, ride a wheelchair into the hospital anytime"
Kit:: of, and that's after 35, you know!? Like, I'm, so, I, I did, I rushed it.
I like, and then that delayed, dah, dah, dah. And then finally I did this thing. I [00:40:00] kind of had to like split myself and I had to like, Sit one part as the client and I had to sit one part as me, the practitioner, and I had to like write myself a protocol and then I had to follow it, right? And so I did that and I did that three months of steaming.
And then we were so blessed and I did get pregnant and, and I should caveat, you know, I don't have the hard data here on what was causal and correlated, but this is my experience. And I then lost that pregnancy and that was something that I am still coming to terms with the depth of that heartache.
And, and for me it was a traumatic experience. My, my experience at the hospital was very, very challenging. The way I was spoken to there was, and continues to be very concerning to me. [00:41:00] And I name all of this because the more I talk about it to others, the more I see how common of an experience it is. Not just the miscarriage, but the mistreatment of us as people who are losing our pregnancies.
And so I just want you to know that I, I feel you. And I still just, it's like that took me. That knocked me out in a way that I was really underprepared for and surprised by. And I was, I remember monitoring, I was, you know, safe to steam. Much like the benefits of postpartum steaming, there are incredible benefits to steam after miscarriage or after termination as well.
To really just help that It's postpartum. Yeah, it's postpartum. Exactly. Exactly. And it's just that full release. And so I knew I was cleared. I wasn't even bleeding anymore, and and it was really hard for me to, to [00:42:00] get back into steaming because it was, whew. Thank you.
Many of like this emotion is the gratitude I feel though, for having the practice because when I was right, when I was like right with myself and like right with my heart, didn't mean it was easy, but it meant that I could feel that wound space invitation to like, it's okay kid. Like this is gonna be hard because you're intentionally letting go.
And that's hard when you've lost something that you didn't want to. But it was so reassuring too, because. When we're allowed to feel and release and feel and release in like the safety of your own [00:43:00] surroundings. It's really powerful. And so I, I then steamed for, for many, many days after that first one that I had, had a lot of resistance toward and then took some time.
Some months and then allowed myself that three month journey again of really steaming for that preparation of conception. And then we were incredibly blessed again with with that additional pregnancy that then went to term. And so we have a 14 month old I guess 15 months next week, which is wonderful.
And just because we mentioned age too, I just wanna name that at this point I had turned 40. And I remember actually having so much anxiety and stress around like the buildup to my 40th while holding this paralleled intention around conception. And then actually once I turned 40, feeling this like huge relief because it was like, okay, [00:44:00] I'm definitely having my babies in my forties.
It's not like a like, Maybe I can cram it in before or something. I don't know why I thought that that was necessary. Probably 'cause all the bonker stuff we tell when they late thirties to be scared of when they turn 40. But it was just like, okay, this is the way this is gonna happen. And I had my son two days before my 48 first birthday.
And I did a postpartum steaming protocol. Of, of nearly 40 days of steaming. My cycle came back about seven months after postpartum. And my cycle has had never been better. And I really believe that it is because I had such an amazing cleanse after birth. And I just had zero pain, like 28 days cycles.
It was just awesome. I still did when we wanted to start again to try again, I still did some months of steaming for conception. I then got. Pregnant now, and I'm 11 weeks pregnant now at [00:45:00] 41, and I intend to deliver about two months before my 42nd birthday.
Anisa: So, Thank you so much for sharing your story and I know it can be a very vulnerable place to be in when, when you have had those ups and downs in your story, but I think a lot of the women listening can relate to that and I.
I have personally worked with women who have experienced pregnancy loss and really struggled to find that sense of trust in their body again. You know, and they're in this place where they were so excited with their pregnancy and and then when they lost it, they just felt like, You know, like they were just waiting for, how do they say it, the other shoe to drop.
You know, like just kind of living on edge and just in this sense of fear and distrust. And so I. I just wanna express that like if you are listening to this and you're in this place of [00:46:00] wanting to trust your body again, wanting to have that confidence as you move into trying to conceive again that.
Incorporating this practice can be such a great way to confront those feelings and to reestablish that foundation of trust again, because it's, you know, just like you said you know, it is a, like, you had that resistance initially to, to doing your steaming practice again because it kind of, Forces you to be present with your womb space.
And if you are in a place where you maybe aren't very happy with your womb space, right? You kind of feel like you've been betrayed. And it can feel really hard to like you know, it's like you're, you had a, a grudge with a friend and now you're in this room together by yourself, and now you have to find a way to trust this friend again.
And so I think if you can. Gain that courage to [00:47:00] speak to that friend once again, and to listen to what they have to say and to be in that, that room, that little womb room you know, in your steam practice. And to listen and, and, and release, right, to express and to to relieve, to release that grief that you're holding in that space.
To make room whenever your space is ready, whenever your body is ready to be able to you know, to prepare that room again for another child. And I think. That this can be such a powerful practice, you know, whether we're talking about you know, like the phys, like beyond the physical benefits, right?
It's, it's that energetic, it's that trust. It's the you know, that cell cell level you know, Gateway, right? Coming back to that gateway, like, are you receptive to being able to hold this again? And so yeah, for anybody listening, if you're in that place this can definitely be a great place to start.
And you mentioned Kit you know, [00:48:00] finding a trusted practitioner. How do people find a practitioner near them who can help them get started with this practice?
Kit:: Yeah, well, so Steamy Chick, who I mentioned, my primary teacher, she actually has a map of folks who are registered under her certifications. So you can go there.
There are wonderful resources online, and now with the regularity and familiarity of Zoom, you can get some really great counsel virtually as well. And we do offer an in-house practitioner consultation through Katara. So if that feels resonant and aligned you can check that out at Katara Love I've brought in zaza, who is just amazing, and she's a registered nurse midwife, doula, master herbalist, and she does all of our in-house consultations.
And it was really amazing to be able to get your Yonis team. Schedule with somebody who can read your blood work too, if you want, and all of those considerations in one [00:49:00] place. And when I say train and trusted, I really want, I say that intentionally to really orient to the, the opening of this being, connecting with yourself and like, is this the right person for you, your womb?
And it's kind of like, if that is true for you, then. Do the certifications matter? Maybe not because there are some incredible folk practitioners who aren't necessarily certified, but they have then taught the wisdom of steaming through their ancestral line in an unbroken fashion. And they hold incredible, incredible medicine and wisdom to share.
And so that's why I am less attached to certified and more attached to that. These, this is a trained and trusted person for you to be working with.
Anisa: I love that. I feel the same way about various, you know, nutrition certifications. It's like, yes, I'm a certified nutritionist, I have my master's degree, but that doesn't mean that just because of [00:50:00] those qualifications means that I'm trustable.
Kit:: Right, right, right, right. Exactly. You're the most aligned fit, you know? I mean, sometimes it's just not there. So, and that's okay. Right. Particularly with something as, as important as that connection to the body. So. So, yeah, and I just just thank you so much for the way you spoke to the loss and the support that steaming can bring after a loss.
And it is just so much beyond that, that physical benefit. I think that there's a softening and even when you're describing that, that room with actually another physical person in it, that you've been in some sort of. Acrimony with I think in my experience, when I can get to a place of softening with them, I can, I can find.
What can bring us back together? And I just think that there's something here with the way that this team physically [00:51:00] softens us and works so gently to open us, that allows us to really drop out of that mental anguish which often can have that fear. I'll name it for me, I had a lot of like self blame come up for me, like, did I do something wrong?
Even some worthiness stuff come up for me. Was I like not worthy to be a mother? That's what I knew logically wasn't there, but what my journey with miscarriage. Revealed to me was still on my plate to be working with. And then the steaming practice just, it just opened that connection to such softer messages about like, of course you are loved, of course you are worthy.
These things do happen. You know, the things that we can hear. Our family and our friends say to us, but to hear them internally and to hear them from this source just carries a really profound resonance. And to believe them. [00:52:00] Right, because you believe them. It's you telling you and embody that. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Anisa: Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. You know, for teaching the women who maybe they have just been for the first time introduced to this practice, maybe they're, you know, they've heard about it or you know, and they've been wanting to try it, but they didn't quite know what the first steps were.
For people who are wanting to start getting involved with this a little bit more kit has a. Free guide to Yoni steaming at home on her website. I will link to that in the show notes as well. And if you would like to get started with using your own Yoni steam seat, I have one of hers myself. You can use the code Resilient Love.
I'll, I'll include that in the show notes as well for $22 off of any katara yoni steam seat, and that includes the savings bundles. Wonderful. All right. Well any, any final words or you feel complete?
Kit:: I think so. I think [00:53:00] just if there's anything here that you want to feel like you wish there had been some more focus on.
Some, we, we covered a lot and so that guide, the reason I wrote it was so that it would have as much. Possible information. And so it is really robust and I, I think everything that I've said is mentioned there. So that's an easy place, a one stop place to go as is the blog on Katara, which you'll find that fibroid blog on, as well as information that we've covered today too.
And there is also I love our seats. Of course, they're handmade in Maine. They're made with beautiful birch and solid red cedar tops and all that good stuff. And sometimes if for the listener who's thinking like, oh, I really wanna do this, but I'm not quite sure I wanna make the investment there is a video on our blog called How to Steam At Home Without a Yoni Steam Seat.
And that is just a way to get you to decide really if you're having some. That pinging, but not necessarily the clarity of the [00:54:00] investment that in-between place. Check out that video 'cause that can get you steaming and then you can decide from there if and what products you want to invest in going forward.
Anisa: Great. Thank you so much for sharing that. I definitely did a, a whole DIY thing myself at first and I was like, okay, this is something I need to continue doing like on a regular basis. Let me get a seat.
Kit:: That was exactly me as well. I mean here I was just like obsessive it talking to everybody about it
and still steaming in child's pose and all sorts of like some tape like I was traveling and I steamed with like a table on its side and then it was like, oh my gosh, this is time I'm going.
Anisa: Oh, I love it. Well, thank you so much for your time, kit. This was wonderful.
Kit:: Thank you, Anisa. Thank you everyone. Appreciate you.
