“I Do Kegel Exercises With A Yoni Egg — This Is What It’s Like”
A yoni egg is an egg-shaped stone that is used to strengthen a woman’s pelvic floor muscles — this woman started using one and this is what happened.

November 20, 2017

A yoni egg in an egg box

I first heard about yoni eggs a few years ago. After googling what a “yoni” was exactly, I was immediately intrigued by this holistic product that claimed to offer a wealth of different health benefits. So it was with great anticipation and nervous excitement that a few years later I started using my own.

Demystifying The Yoni Egg

Also called a jade egg, a yoni egg is a smooth (if it’s not smooth, don’t use it!) egg-shaped stone that is worn inside the vagina to increase the strength of a woman’s pelvic floor muscles. According to Yoni Eggs South Africa, the eggs have been used for thousands of years for a variety of different reasons, including: to tone the pelvic floor and prevent organ prolapse and incontinence, to tone muscles pre- and post-childbirth, to increase orgasmic pleasure for both partners, to increase vaginal lubrication, to relieve PMS and symptoms of menopause, to ground nervous energy and to awaken and cultivate divine feminine sexual energy.

According to Dr Elna Rudolph, medical doctor, sexologist and clinical head of MySexualHealth.co.za, there are two sides to yoni eggs: “The physical side where it acts as a weight in the vagina to train the muscles in the same way you would use weights in the gym to train other muscles. Then there is the more esoteric side to these eggs where they are claimed to have loads of other positive effects that can not necessarily be explained scientifically.”

Over the years, the importance of building and maintaining a strong pelvic floor has become more and more publicised and everyone knows a few of the simple Kegel exercises that you can do to increase these muscles’ strength. Rudolph explains that these exercises are more powerful when performed with a weighted object, like a yoni egg or Kegel balls: “Your Kegels just become more effective if you have a weight about the muscles.” Yoni Eggs South Africa founder, Juliet Terblanche, agrees: “Kegel exercises were always designed to be carried out with some sort of ‘resistance’ tool inside the vagina – and a yoni egg fulfils that purpose beautifully.” You only need to you use the eggs for a short time each use, and “a focused daily practice of 15 to 20 minutes is more than enough to experience the benefits of a yoni egg,” explains Terblanche.

READ MORE: 2 Gynae-Approved Ways To Tell If Your Vagina Is Too Weak Or Too Tight

Of course, as with most things, yoni eggs aren’t necessarily for everyone, “A person with a hyperactive pelvic floor (this means their pelvic floor muscles are too tight) will cause harm by putting any kind of weight into the vagina. It will make the condition worse and can lead to painful intercourse and chronic pelvic pain,” says Rudolph. Anyone who experiences painful intercourse, where the cause has not been determined, should not use a yoni egg.

After doing all my research, I decided that it was time that I try these eggs myself. Yoni Eggs South Africa sells a box of three eggs – they are three different sizes and you start with the biggest one. As your muscles gain strength, you move on to the next size down until you are using the smallest one. To be honest, when I first saw the eggs, the biggest one seemed really big and the smallest one seemed super-small – how will my muscles ever be strong enough to feel it inside of me? Anyway, undeterred, I soaked the biggest egg for 12 hours in two tablespoons of good quality sea salt, a few drops of tea tree oil and hot water – this is meant to sterilise the egg and cleanse it of any bad energy – and waited in nervous anticipation.

yoni-egg

Day 1

After the specified 12 hours, I was ready to go. I attached a piece of unflavoured dental floss (supplied when you buy your eggs) to the egg and made sure it was tied securely (I did not relish the idea of having to try “lay” the egg if the string came loose!). I lay down on my bed and tried to breathe calmly and evenly. The little booklet that comes with the eggs instructs you to empty your bladder before inserting the egg, which I did. After lying there for a few minutes, I felt relaxed enough to try to insert the egg.

You’re supposed to become open enough that your vagina “sips” in the egg, rather than forcing it in. While I didn’t exactly “sip” in the egg, I definitely didn’t have to force it. There was a slight bit of discomfort as it went in, but nothing terrible (and to be fair, I get a slight bit of discomfort with any sex toy as I insert it). Once it was in, I actually didn’t feel anything. It kind of disappeared, which made me worry about performing any of the exercises I had planned to do in my future uses.

For the first day, I just wanted to get used to having the egg inside of me, so I simply lay on the bed and focused on the egg, clenching my muscles around it and just getting used to the feeling. I then, as instructed by the booklet, squeezed my muscles around the egg, as though I was stopping my urine flow, for 10 counts before attempting to relax completely (because it was all so new, I’m not sure I relaxed as deeply as I should have). I repeated this for 10 reps. And that was day one – I didn’t want to push it on my first use. I removed the egg (the string stayed attached and the egg came out easily – I was now really lubricated), washed it in warm water and put it back in its satin-lined box.

READ MORE: Here’s EXACTLY How To Have A ‘Coregasm’

Day 2

I was actually really excited to use the egg the next day. I washed it in some warm water and tea tree oil and lay down on the bed. The egg went in more easily than the day before and I’m sure I could feel it more this time. I started with clenching my muscles around the egg for 10 counts for 10 reps and then moved to the exercises that are listed on Yoni Eggs South Africa’s website. The first one involves imagining that your pelvic area is a clock and you press and roll your body from 12 o’clock, to 3, to 6, to 9 and back to 12. For the second one, you clench your muscles around the egg as you raise and lower your pelvis off the floor, while keeping your shoulders and feet firmly on the ground. I feel like I wasn’t quite doing the exercises properly because I found it difficult to focus on both the egg and the exercises, but I wasn’t too worried because it was only day two – I had plenty of time to improve.

Day 3 and beyond

Day three followed the same pattern as the day before and things started to feel more natural and organic. The exercises went more smoothly and I swear I could feel the egg more (although, this could have been in my head). I added in a third exercise from the Yoni Eggs website that involves alternately flexing and pointing your feet. I feel like I had more of a handle on the exercises and was better able to focus on flexing my muscles and performing the exercises correctly.

I now use my yoni egg a few times a week, whenever I can find the time to be alone and relax fully. I can perform the exercise quite easily now and feel like I’m getting better at them. I’m still using the biggest egg, but I look forward to progressing through the different sizes.

This Is What I Learnt

The biggest takeaway from using the yoni egg has been that I feel so much more connected to myself. Taking the few minutes each day to just be with myself, focus on my breathing and make myself stronger has given me the space to fully appreciate my body and get in touch with its needs. Using the egg and performing the exercises is never really a sexual thing for me, but it does make me feel more sexual when I’m done. I feel more powerful and in control. While I’m hesitant to say that I’ve strengthened my internal muscles enough to have improved my sex life, I can happily say that something has changed in my sex life and I instigate sex more since starting to use the eggs.

It is definitely a combination of factors, but I think the most important one is that I’m spending time with myself, connecting with myself and focusing on what I want. Work and life in general can be so busy and hard on both the body and mind that it’s easy to overlook the fact that you aren’t necessarily in touch with yourself. This experience has definitely put me back in touch with my body. Overall, this has been a really positive adventure for me and I’m excited to keep going and building up my strength. I have definitely awoken my divine feminine sexual energy!

Yoni Eggs are available at Matildas.co.za

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