Brown Girl's Guide to An Ill Na Na: Why Every Brown Girl Should Yoni (V-Steam) Steam

"No more Waitin To Exhale, we takin deep breaths
Ladies take this over; I will be Fox, so peep this
Love thyself with no one above thee
Cause ain't nobody gon' love me like me" -Foxy Brown, Ill Na Na.

My conversations with my mother and sistah-friends are honest, heartfelt, and humorous regarding our yoni (womb/vaginal) wellness and sexual health. (Yes, I have these conversations with my mother). I remember being in my pre-teen and teenage years, my mother would always keep it 100 about the sacredness of my vaginal. She said that my vagina was sacred, and I needed to protect and care for my vagina because of the importance of my health and womanhood. Furthermore, my mother insisted that every individual doesn't deserve my vagina, possibly due to a lack of respect, diseases, and lascivious and one-dimensional behavior some men displayed. My mom would also reiterate how negative spirits could pollute and traumatize the yoni.

I clutched my pearls because my mother kept them too honest as a teenager. At 32, going on 33, I thank my mother for stepping out of her comfort zone and passing on that wisdom from her mother and grandmother onto me. I also am thankful for The Almighty for giving me permission to receive that important and lifelong message of self-protection and self-perseverance. *Major Shout Out to Josie*

I always knew about Yoni Steaming through conversations with my sistah-friends, attending workshops and teleclasses on womb/yoni care. I even participated in womb wellness, a restoration group coaching program that helped me become aware of my yoni's power and how to release negativity and anger that surrounded my yoni. But, unfortunately, we underestimate the importance of our yoni until something significant occurs, such as infertility, fibroids, PCOS, and other vaginal/reproductive health issues.

Many women each year are diagnosed with cervical cancer, fibroids, PCOS, and other gynecological issues. On top of that, women of color receive inequality treatment from Physicians. Physicians perform early hysterectomies, push clinical trial treatment drugs, and other unethical treatments on women of color. Women of color bodies have been used as science experiments for eons. Hence, we must start advocating for equality and quality of holistic health, especially womb care. We have to take the time to care for ourselves holistically and have honest conversations about our inner core. Now is the time to start healing ourselves and wombs.

Our womb is intricate, delicate, and powerful. Not only do we birth human beings, but we birth civilizations, ideas, love, and creativity. Our wombs are our 24/7 navigation and intuitive guide. When something is off-balance, we feel it in our womb. Unfortunately, our wombs are often unprotected, disrespected, and policed by systemic racism and oppression through reproductive policies and laws and disrespected by patriarchy. People make unspoken decisions about their wombs without our consent. We often have our wombs monitored by friends and family members. Our wombs are usually polluted through processed and fast foods, medications, misdiagnoses, hyper-sexualized behavior.

We also pollute our own wombs by suffering in silence by allowing others to decide our womb wellness. We are suffering in silence by not taking care of ourselves and loving ourselves right where we are in life. We break our own bodies down due to not correctly resting, nurturing, or nourishing ourselves and wombs. We have to take a stance and not allow ourselves and our Sistahs to no longer suffer in silence and participate in self-destruction behaviors to our inner FLYness and sacredness.

Drea's Journey to Yoni Steam
I have decided to regularly participate in DIY yoni steaming at home because I needed inner healing. I suffer from hypothyroidism (low thyroid function) and Menorrhagia (prolonged and heavy menses). Over the holiday season, I found myself on the sick and shut-in list. I suffered from heavy bleeding and cramping due to hormone imbalances and low thyroid functioning. My menstrual cramps were unbearable to the point, I couldn't sit up and participate in daily living activities. I was hyper-emotional and intolerable to be around due to the inner suffering. I was going through pads and panties like water. Yikes and Yuck! I had to buy overnight pads to keep up with the heavy flow. This was a significant disruption in my life that I could no longer tolerate.

I decided to make a drastic change and start researching yoni steaming and discuss my journey with some of my fellow Sistah-friends who also yoni steam regularly. I came across so many positive and honest articles about yoni steaming and the benefits of why you should steam from other brown girls who discovered a drastic change in their holistic lifestyle. I read how some have shorter and painless menses, the betterment of their fertility, and the decrease of vaginal dryness. In other words, the wet, wet came back in full effect. While reading the articles, I was like, yes, I am steaming by any means necessary. One of my sistah friends stated that she yoni steam a few weeks after giving birth. She said that she healed quicker and restored her uterus quicker.

So, I took the leap of faith, and yoni steamed...

I went to my local health store, Fertile Underground, in Providence to purchase my dried herbs. Herbs cost around $1.50 to $3.00 per oz in a bag. I spent under $25 and have plenty of herbs to last me for about two months. You should use dried herbs instead of essential oils because our vagina is susceptible to hot oils. Also, our yoni is very delicate, so please handle it with care.

My herbs of choice:

1. Lavender is a sweet-smelling herb that helps with cleansing and healthy uterine functioning.
2. Rosemary helps with circulating out old fluids and blood. It helps purify and stimulate the yoni.
3. Lemon Balm helps with reducing occasional itchiness, and it smells delightful.
4. Dandelion helps improve endocrine and reproductive health. It helps rid excess estrogen, sugars, and toxins of the body.
5. Marigold helps ease and treat cramping
6. Burdock root helps with balancing hormones
7. Peppermint helps with the restoration of the yoni and enhance energy
8. Chamomile helps with cramping as well. It smells yummy, and it is excellent for soothing and relaxing.

Drea's DIY Home Setup

• Research what plants/herbs you need for your steam. Do you need to steam due to your menses? Do you want to tighten up your yoni? Do you want to steam because you want to try something new? This is when you need to sit down and ask yourself what your yoni needs. We all have different needs for our yoni. You want to steam a few weeks before your menstrual cycle to ease your steaming symptoms to reduce menstruation.
• Prepare your yoni steam by pre-preparing the herbs by placing them in a mason jar. You need only a cup of your herbs.
• Fill your pot with filtered water and add your herbs to the filtered water
• Boil your herbs and water together for about 10-20 minutes. Let steep for about 5 minutes before adding to your bowl. Place your forearm need the herb-infused water to ensure the comfort of the water temperature. You don't want to burn your yoni outer tissue
• I don't have a yoni steam chair, so I cleaned my toilet bowl and placed my pot inside the toilet
• Ensure you have tea, water, reading materials ready so you are not disturbed during your steaming session. Also, change into a long skirt with thick socks and a long-sleeve T-shirt to withhold the steam. You want to cover and wrap yourself with a thick blanket from neck to feet to ensure the steam is not being let out.
• Remove your underwear before sitting on the chair or toilet. Open your legs to allow the steam to enter into your yoni.
• Steam for 20-30 minutes

Once yoni steam is complete, go lay down and wrap yourself under a blanket to restore your body. Steaming relaxes and rejuvenates your body. You might become lightheaded the first time due to the steam cleansing and detoxifying.

This is a yoni steam chair. Fancy, huh?

Drea's Review
I am officially a regular yoni steamer. Yoni steam is part of my self-love and self-care routine. My yoni steam weekly up until my menses begin. I usually make it a yoni steam spa day at home because I am healing my inner FLYness, thyroid and loving myself more and more. The herbs usage is very beneficial for decreasing cramps and helps cleanse my holistic FLYness. When I steam, I set loving and healing intentions for the steam and my work week. I usually meditate and journey during my steam session. It gets emotional at times because I am releasing many toxins from my body, mind, and spirit.

Every Brown Girl should yoni steam because it is part of loving yourself and caring for yourself. This is my 'Me" time in the comforts of your own home. So take care of your Na Na. Don't knock it.

Interested in yoni steaming? Have you heard of yoni steaming? Comment below so I can help guide you in picking out your herbs.

Self-Care for Brown Girls: selfcareforbrowngirls.com