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S2 EP44 From Pain to Pleasure: Yoni Steaming for Pelvic Health & Menopause with Theresa Swan
•Juliette Karaman•Season 2•Episode 44
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Welcome
Hello, lovelies. It’s Juliette here, and today I’m joined by Theresa Swan, certified peristeam hydrotherapist, former trauma therapist, and the woman behind Luminous Creatrix.
In this conversation, we dive into the world of yoni steaming, pelvic health, painful periods, menopause, vaginal dryness, pleasure, and reconnecting with the body.
Theresa shares how her own curiosity led her from trauma therapy into the practice of vaginal steaming, or peristeam hydrotherapy, and how her personal experience inspired her to train as an advanced practitioner.
We explore the history and traditions surrounding yoni steaming, the importance of working with your individual body rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach, and the connection Theresa has observed between steaming, relaxation, and the nervous system.
We also speak about painful periods, pelvic discomfort, vaginal dryness and atrophy during menopause, scar tissue, intimacy, pregnancy and postpartum care, and the shame that can prevent women from talking openly about what is happening in their bodies.
This episode is an invitation to become curious about your body.
To listen when something feels uncomfortable.
And to remember that conversations about pelvic health, pleasure, menopause, and the female body deserve to be brought into the light.
📝 Episode Summary
In this episode, Theresa Swan and I explore yoni steaming, pelvic health, menopause, painful periods, vaginal dryness, pleasure, and embodied healing.
Theresa shares how she discovered yoni steaming after attending a womb-focused massage and how her own experience eventually led her to train in peristeam hydrotherapy after previously working as a trauma therapist.
We talk about what yoni steaming actually involves, why Theresa believes the herbs and steaming practices should be tailored to the individual, and why she encourages women with more complex pelvic health concerns to seek appropriately trained practitioners rather than simply following advice found online.
Theresa also shares her practitioner perspective and experiences working with women navigating concerns including cramps, vaginal dryness and atrophy, scar tissue, painful sex, BV, menopause, postpartum recovery, and other pelvic health issues.
We explore the relationship between the body and nervous system, and how creating space for relaxation, circulation, touch, and pleasure may change the way we experience and relate to our bodies.
We also talk about menopause and post-menopausal pleasure, pregnancy and postpartum steaming practices, and the importance of knowing when steaming may not be appropriate.
This is a conversation about women’s health, body awareness, pleasure, and opening up conversations about the parts of ourselves we have been taught to hide or simply endure.
🔎 Key Takeaways
Yoni Steaming Is Also Known As Peristeam Hydrotherapy Theresa explains what vaginal or yoni steaming involves, how she was introduced to the practice, and why she eventually became an advanced practitioner.
Pelvic Health Should Not Be A Shameful Conversation From painful periods and vaginal dryness to BV, scar tissue, and painful sex, many women experience intimate concerns they rarely feel comfortable discussing.
There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Steaming Practice Theresa explains why she considers factors such as menstrual cycles, symptoms, tissue health, and individual circumstances when recommending steaming practices and herbal blends.
Menopause Does Not Mean The End Of Pleasure We discuss menopause, post-menopausal vaginal dryness and atrophy, sexual pleasure, and ways women can continue building a relationship with their bodies as they age.
Pain Deserves Our Attention Rather than automatically accepting painful periods, painful sex, or ongoing pelvic discomfort as something women simply have to tolerate, Theresa encourages women to listen to what their bodies are communicating and seek appropriate support.
The Nervous System Is Part Of The Conversation Drawing on her previous work as a trauma therapist, Theresa shares the shifts she has observed in women’s states of relaxation following steaming and how this sparked her curiosity about the relationship between pelvic practices and the nervous system.
Pregnancy And Postpartum Require Different Considerations Theresa explains that steaming is not recommended throughout most of pregnancy within her practice, while discussing its traditional and practitioner-led use around late-stage birth preparation and postpartum recovery.
Pleasure And Pelvic Health Can Exist In The Same Conversation Taking care of the pelvic area does not have to come only from a place of fixing something that is “wrong.” It can also be an opportunity to reconnect with sensation, softness, pleasure, and the body.
⧋ About Theresa Swan
Theresa Swan is a certified peristeam hydrotherapist, former trauma therapist, and the creator behind Luminous Creatrix. Her work focuses on yoni steaming and personalised peristeam practices, supporting women in exploring their pelvic health and relationship with their bodies.
Theresa works with clients through individual consultations and creates personalised steaming plans based on their circumstances. She also offers herbal blends and works with clients internationally.
The experiences and health claims discussed in this episode reflect the guest’s views and practitioner experience and are shared for educational purposes. Yoni/vaginal steaming is not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment.
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SPEAKER_00
Welcome to the scrumptious woman. I have with me Teresa Swan, a very scrumptio and like most incredible job that you hold, or how you help other women. Now, her Instagram name is absolutely divine. It's Luminous Creatrix. Welcome. I'm so pleased you're here. Thanks, Juliet. I'm really glad to be here. I love it. We kind of just dove in a tiny bit before I hit record. I love that cup, by the way, how beautiful. Right? It's for me. It's like those little things are what bring me joy, what brings me pleasure, what is crumptiousness. Absolutely. I love that we already touched upon touch and we see that you texted me saying, hey, I love how you're bringing this in just in people's awareness. Now we're gonna put the awareness of this whole audience onto what you do. Tell me, how did you get to Yoni's teaming?
SPEAKER_01
It's funny because I had a whole other career as a trauma therapist. And then I went to uh a massage and it was supposed to center around the womb. I was just curious. I had no reason to be there other than curiosity. And before the massage, she asked me, would I like to try a yoni steak?
SPEAKER_00
Yes.
SPEAKER_01
And I was again a curious person. I was like, yes, I would, but what is that? I had the experience, you know, sitting there over this little sauna and the herbs just smell beautiful. But I kind of went home after and was like, what just happened? Why did I have myoni steamed? What's happening? I went online and I contacted an actual practitioner, and she sent me some herbs, and I proceeded to steam myoni on my living room floor. Um kind of in child's pose.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01
And I got rid of my cramps and cysts, and I was so blown away by the results that I experienced that I was like, wait a second, I have to learn what this is. Where did this come from? I took both certifications, and so I'm actually one of the only advanced practitioners in the world called a certified peristeam hydrotherapist.
SPEAKER_00
I love it. Wow. You went in for a massage. First of all, I didn't know about your trauma background. So you and I can can talk that. And was it mostly women or men or both that you you dealt with?
SPEAKER_01
Mostly women, yes. You know, you're you're you're sort of wading through a whole bunch of really challenging stuff all the time. And it's neat with this, I can kind of help women in a way that's actually really relaxing and pleasurable. And so it's like it feels like a similar vein. And then ironically, like with the trauma therapy stuff, a lot of it's somatic. What I see with women, because I have a home clinic as well as working worldwide, is after their steam session, it's like you can palpably see the nervous system shift.
SPEAKER_00
Completely.
SPEAKER_01
And that blew me away more than any of the trauma therapy practices, ironically. It seemed to do a state change.
SPEAKER_00
Isn't that interesting? Because I was just talking, I mean, I I do internal work as well. Um I'm a tantriker and I used to be um a dominatrix, which I still use for trauma. I help people get to those ecstatic states and then we move through the trauma instead of it staying stuck in the body. But now it's just talking about sacred spot and how important it is and how also we can do it for men, right? And that's more the it's obviously the anus then. And how you just see people leave in a completely different state. Yes. I add things like um spinal attunement to it. So I I just love that we both have quite a history in trauma, and then it's like, you know what? Yes, and what can we add to it that can make it more pleasurable? Can can have those sensations feel maybe less abrupt, and so that the body actually can start to get used to to lots of sensations again, because that is, you know, we can't bring in pleasure if the body is priced.
SPEAKER_01
That's right. My theory is that the vagus nerve is actually enervating our pelvis, and then through steaming, it brings that online. We don't know. I was trained in a very physical health way, like working with cramps, working with atrophy and dryness, working with fibroids. Got it. So it's very much around physical health, but this this other layer of seeing the state change in women, you know, has blown my mind over and over again.
SPEAKER_00
My God, I love it. I mean, I think we're just such geeks, right? Because then you just start seeing it's like, oh, if I yeah, if I touch here, and then like for you now, it's like you bring the steam and it's a different herbs that you use. Explain to people what a yoni steam is properly so that we can take it's from A to Z.
SPEAKER_01
Yes, I know, and it's confusing out there because there's so much misinformation, I would say, is if you have anything going on more than mild cramps, which most people do, most people have several things going on with their pelvic health, and it's totally normal to have, you know, five or six things at once. So, like prolapse, BV, you know, cis, like you name it, right? And I think we don't talk about this enough because there's so much shame around it. But I have a client, she's like very ashamed of BV, but I'm like, you know what? One out of three women experienced that at some point. And she's tried antibiotics, antibiotics, antibiotics over and over again. And generally with steaming, we see, you know, less than two weeks, it's gone, even after years. It's amazing, isn't it? Yes. What I would first say to people is, you know, don't just go on the internet and and and see random people, get a practitioner, get find someone who's certified. And so there's two levels: there's peristeem facilitator and peristeam hydrotherapist. If you have something more complex going on, like a BV or fibroids or something, get a peristeam hydrotherapist because then they can give you a plan specific for your body. Got it. And then the herbal blends do matter. There's a lot of misinformation around that too, where people will sell one blend for everyone, but you actually want to have a blend that's tailored for your body. So there's a few different ways that we look at that. One of them being, for example, if you have a cycle that's 27 days or less, you want to have the gentle blend so that we can work to strengthen that uterine artery and actually lengthen the cycle. Or if you have atrophy and dryness and excess heat, you want to use a cooling blend, which is nourishing to the tissues. But that being said, the steam itself is medicine.
SPEAKER_00
What I'm hearing, there's a lot of Chinese medicine in this as well. Yes. Where does it even come from, the any steam?
SPEAKER_01
Well, that's that's the cool thing. So, yeah, we're trained with sort of an Eastern lens, like it's very similar to Chinese medicine, where we look at different imbalances in the body and then we work to correct those imbalances. That's kind of how practitioners work. But what's so cool about this, and I love I just love this, is it's been found in 70 countries on every continent on earth, in Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in South America. It's so it's something that women have been doing for hundreds, if not thousands of years, right? Because it's just like making a cup of tea. It's so simple to do. And it's just a thread that we've kind of lost in Western cultures.
SPEAKER_00
Like so many things, right? And if you even think about like the sauna or a sweat lodger, we've we've understood this. But especially we women have lost this now, yeah. Of course, now I'm thinking of like the whole witchcraft and when we're burned at the stake, you know. I mean, there's obviously a lot of that because we were medicine women, and this is a medicine to make sure that you would not be in so much pain.
SPEAKER_01
Absolutely, yeah. So that's a piece, right? Is that is sort of what happened is is quite dark, you know, in the history of Europe, where, you know, a lot of our medicine women were not allowed to practice um at all. And then uh our current form of gynecology has has quite dark beginnings as well, with, you know, men trying to figure things out by cutting women open. And I have a belief that we can work integratively, get medicine from your doctor and Yoni Steam. Like, let's work together, right? My goal is to have medical doctors actually completely aware of us and referring to us because there's a lot of things they can't help with. For example, most women think that period cramps are completely part of being a woman, and there is no medical treatment for that. But it's not something we actually have to suffer with, which is wild.
SPEAKER_00
It's just incredible. You really started this because you had bad, bad cramps and sis.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah. And so it makes sense because people are like, wait, you're gonna steam your what? What's we what? And then you start to think about it and you think, okay, maybe I've steamed my face when I was sick and I had all my sinuses clear, you know? And you're like, wait a second, okay, I've steamed my face like that, okay, it's just a stretch. And then so basically, for example, with the example of cramps, it's the uterus is creating mini contractions, right? And those mini contractions are actually your body trying to support you and expel old blood, expel clots, expel your endometrium. And so when we add circulation with steam, it allows your body to expel everything and get what we call a full uterine cleanse. You don't need to have cramps anymore. Your body just doesn't contract because it doesn't need to. And then, like with atrophy and dryness, it's so cool. It's like there's studies in Korea, because in Korean universities, they study this. And atrophy and dryness, they found they're able to reverse it in seven days. Wow. I know, and so many women are walking around uncomfortable with atrophy and dryness, and I'm going, oh my god, we just need to tell all of the women just steam your uni. Wow.
SPEAKER_00
I have had this done or or not done, but I I've been on uni steams. Um and they've always been really nice little boxes and like with a little pillow on it. Okay, yeah. But I'm sure there are loads of hundreds of different ways of doing this. Talk talk our listeners through it a little bit. Like if they want to start doing yes at home, I mean obviously yes, get in touch with you, but if they want to make this a daily practice, what what do they need to buy? What what what are the the the simple things to start with? Is it better sitting up? Is it better, you know, like you said, in child's pose? I mean, there there are people obviously of all ages as well. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01
Yes, you can do it on your knees in child's pose. You don't need a sauna, you don't need any of it. But that being said, um it's not the most comfortable to be in child's pose for 10 minutes. Most people are indicated to steam for 10 minutes. Sometimes it's 30 minutes, depending on your body, right? The people who steam for 30 minutes use a hot plate. The people who steam for 10 minutes, you don't need a hot plate because the steam will naturally dissipate. So that being said, all you really need to get started is a pot and the correct herbal blend. It's it's incredible how affordable and simple it really is. But that being said, it's not the most comfortable to be in child's pose for that long, you know? That's way too long. I mean, my knees, no what? Yeah, so by the end of 10 minutes, your inner thighs are like complaining and it's not the best. And as we spoke about that relaxation that you get from it, I like to have the body fully relaxed if possible. So there's a couple ways you can get around buying a sauna. And one would be having two chairs that face each other that are the same height. And so you put a bum cheek on each chair, and then you would lift your pot up on some books or something. So it's about five inches from your body. So basically, what you do is you boil six cups of water, you add your herbs, you turn the heat off, keep your lid on, and then those herbs seep for 10 minutes.
SPEAKER_00
And then after that 10 minutes, you're ready to go. Love it. And then what you said is you put it about five inches away, because you know, you don't want to burn your private bits either. Right. That's it.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah. So about f the the top of the pot about five inches away. But yeah, that's again, there's some misinformation out there about a couple of things about yonisteamine or peristeem hydrotherapy, is the more scientific term, is that you'll burn yourself. But it's it's much just like, you know, drinking a cup of tea. Like you don't drink the tea right when you pour the boiling water in it, right? There you go. You let your herbs seep for 10 minutes, and then the water will will cool down to the good temperature. You don't want to burn your lips. Oh yeah, and another myth out there is that um it's not safe for um your pH or infections. Actually, what we're seeing about that is the exact opposite.
SPEAKER_00
I love that. Say more because I have a lot of women that have yeast infections constantly. That's right. Yeast infections, UTIs, BV.
SPEAKER_01
What we've seen over and over and over again is women, like a BV, especially, it can be very stubborn, where women can have it for eight years, 10 years, and then they're taking so many antibiotics. Um, and then there's something else called boric acid, which is sort of touted as like a more natural approach. But actually, if you accidentally swallow the boric acid suppository instead of putting it inside your vagina, you can die. It's it's actually like rat poison. So it's it's like, ooh, do we really want to put? So no shame, you do what you have to do when you're out there dealing with this. But what if we had this really simple, natural, pleasurable practice to deal with your BV in less than two weeks, you know?
SPEAKER_00
That's the beauty of it. Okay, so I'm now definitely going to get into this. I was going to ask you, so I am postmenopause, and I'm sure you've worked with people with menopause and postmenopause. And I just yesterday wrote a carousel about female ejaculation and how actually that's all possible in perimenopause. Yes, post-menopause as well. And people are like, like, oh my god, today my my my text messages have been full of people saying, How do you teach this? How do you do this? And I'm like, okay, I'm onto my touch reset. That is what I teach. But tell me your take on that is and how many patients you've had and how you've helped them there.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, so so for us, it's like we're working with, in that case, the tissue house. A lot of things that happen, like I can't remember the stat if it's one out of three postmenopausal women have atrophy. But what that is, is your tissues become thinner, drier. Some women have it where it's even uncomfortable to sort of sit in certain positions, even. Never mind sexual touch or pleasure, right? Um, and you know, they're given estrogen creams, which help a little bit, but you know, it's like they're kind of chasing their tail with this consistent problem. And so yeah, I've had quite a lot of postmenopausal clients with this issue, dryness is another one. And what steaming does is just think about it like you're adding heat, right, to the area. It brings this beautiful circulation and blood flow to the tissues. And what we often see is a complete reversal of atrophy and dryness. It's funny, I've been steaming my uni for seven years, and it was just um about a month ago. I actually looked in the mirror after the steam, which I've never done, which is weird. But I was like, you know what? I'm gonna have a look. And you can see how plump everything looks, and the tissue just looks like juicy and healthy. It's like these tissue issues are so common, but it's like this very simple thing we can do to take care of our tissue health.
SPEAKER_00
Isn't it beautiful? And also, I mean, oh my god, I'm I'm like, I'm going down a rabbit hole because there's so many people that want to get their labia or or you know, like corrective surgery. And I'm like, oh my God, if you just have esteem, or after female uh mutilation, I was wondering how much would it help and aid there as well.
SPEAKER_01
Okay, yeah. So scar tissue, again, we see over and over again because you know, whether it's from birth tearing or surgeries or trauma like that. I just think of this one woman. She had 30 years of painful sex after uh tearing from a birth. 30 years. Oh no. Because the scar tissue, it you know, it gets it pulls and it's painful for some people. Some people it's numb. So she's had 30 years of the scar tissue. And so we went in there, we gave her a steam plan for scar tissue. And within three months, it was completely gone, and she's having pleasurable sex for the first time in 30 years. And I just, it makes me emotional. Like I'm just like, if we knew, we don't have to suffer.
SPEAKER_00
I do internal work, as I said, and I actually help women with scar tissue outside as well. And then we start bringing in the pleasure and then the de-armoring and everything else. But I'm definitely getting esteem to add that to my little tool of tricks and also really getting them in touch with you. I can imagine that a lot of somatic coaches or somatic sexologists may, you know, call on you saying, hey, I have this client. Can I ask for a blend or whatever? I don't know. How do you work with other practitioners? Do you do that?
SPEAKER_01
Yes. So it depends. It's interesting because I'm an advanced practitioner, a lot of the time I work with the clients of the peristene facilitators who aren't trained to work with specific issues like these. Got it. Yeah. It depends um how it goes. If someone can tell me some specifics, I can tell you which herbal blend to use. But if it is something more complex or it's like, you know, a chronic scar tissue or, you know, fibroids, it basically people come to me. I meet with them over Zoom. They fill out this like 18-page intake form, and then we do an hour-long Zoom call. They have their steam plan. I also do some lifestyle guidance and some herbal recommendations and away they go, right? And depends. I guess is the answer is working with other practitioners. It would depend on the complexity of the person. But scar tissue, generally, you want to steam daily for three months for 10 minutes, and you don't steam when you're bleeding or potentially I was gonna say, but how do you do pregnant women don't steam?
SPEAKER_00
Well, okay. So for me, we're we're going down a whole rabbit hole now.
SPEAKER_01
There's a really exciting piece with this is that in Europe, in the Czech Republic, there's dozens of hospitals now where they're steaming for birth. And I do steam certified to help people steam for birth. Got it. But we don't steam until week 38 or sometimes 39, depending on the on the woman. But what we are seeing is just a huge reduction in tearing during birth. Stats are like 86% of women tear during birth. We're seeing less than 5% tearing when we're steaming for labor preparation and birth. And then also it greatly reduces stalled labor, which therefore spirals into a whole bunch of interventions that a lot of people don't want. And then postpartum steaming, healing postpartum, is the most common use of steaming worldwide.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, which is beautiful, right? So you don't need all the other things, etc. And just the steaming will help heal. Beautiful. Oh my god, I love it. If someone, I mean, obviously, we're gonna put all your your things, all your links in the show notes. If someone is listening to this and is like, okay, what are the three things that I need to know to get in touch with you, or if this is for me?
SPEAKER_01
Well, people can always book a 15-minute free video call with me. So I do that because people are like, what the heck is this? I don't know if this is okay for me, or I have all these weird things going on at once, which aren't weird, by the way. Help me, right? Can you help me? So I do do that. And then I would also recommend to people like trust your body. Like if there's something going on that's painful or not comfortable, or you're just like, why do I keep bleeding for 10 days? Like that, you know, things like this. Listen to your body, trust your body. You know, our periods aren't supposed to be painful, sex is never supposed to be painful. But yeah, 50% of my clients have painful sex, which, you know, we can work with as well. I would say, yeah, trust your body, find a certified peristeam hydrotherapist, and then make sure you're using the right herbs for your body because that is very important.
SPEAKER_00
This has been an incredible rabbit hole. I love it. Thank you so much, Teresa. That's been wonderful. For all of you, please share this with someone that, you know, it might be a little bit cringe and like, hey, I listened to this podcast, but there is so much healing in there. And honestly, I've got twin daughters, and one of them has such painful periods. I'm going to make her listen to this and figure out if you were to buy this in the UK. Thank you so much for for coming on. Thanks, Julia. And yes, I do ship my herbs worldwide as well.
