My Favourite Practice for Sexual Wholeness - The Jade Egg
The jade egg was my first introduction to the field of sexuality. I was in France, bedridden, listening to a podcast about a woman who had awakened her pleasure and “sexual radiance” through this mysterious sacred practice, called “jade egg”.
Being a curious person who is always willing to try new things, I ordered one a week later. My first experience with the egg consisted of me putting it inside, and immediately spending the next five minutes making sure I could get it out. I didn’t know that your first egg should probably be drilled so you can attach it to string for easy removal. There wasn’t (and still isn’t) much information out there about how to actually use the egg, and it wasn’t until I found my teacher, Layla Martin, that I began to discover the true benefits and joys of having a consistent Jade egg practice in my life.
History
The jade egg is said to have originated in ancient China during the time of the yellow Emperor. It was practised by a select few women in the royal palace to help them keep their sexual organs healthy and toned, support them in cultivating and harnessing their sexual energy for youth and vitality, and of course, to please the Emperor.
Given that this was considered a very potent and sacred practice, it was supposedly not shared with anyone outside of the royal family and was a tradition that was passed down orally through the generations. This may explain why there is very little written evidence about the history of the Jade egg. I am continuously seeking more information about the history of the egg and when I have anything solid to share with you I will, but even if there was no history of it, I still find it a wonderful practice for myself and the countless others who have explored it. (Note that most, if not all of the “negative” articles out there about this practice are written by people who have never tried it.)
Fast forward to the modern day, a Taoist master named Mantak Chia studied with Chinese masters for decades, learning about this ancient practice that had been passed down as an oral tradition. He went on to write several books on the practice as well as creating a school to continue the teachings. I learnt this tradition from my teacher, Layla Martin, who learnt it from Minke De Vos, who studied directly with Mantak Chia.
The practice has been modernised by the various teachers out there, and while it retains much of its original foundations, myself and my teachers before me have created our own unique practices that adapt to support women with various different issues and desires within their lives and relationships.
Benefits
According to the Taoist tradition, potential benefits of regular practice with the jade egg include:
Connecting to your sensuality and cultivating sexual energy
Maintaining health and vitality in your sexual organs
Experiencing deeper pleasure and enhanced sensitivity and dexterity in your vagina.
Increasing your orgasmic potential
Developing a relaxed, toned and supple vagina
Shifting energetic/emotional blocks that are causing stagnation, pain, or shut down.
When used correctly and with intention, this practice can be so beneficial to women who long to develop a deeper, more loving connection with themselves, their bodies and their pleasure. For women who want to feel more turn on and desire within their lives. Even for women who experience pain during sex, working with the egg in the correct way can help them soften and relax, building a relationship of trust and safety with their body that allows them to relax and create space for pleasure. I always recommend speaking with a health professional before beginning this practice to get the go ahead for your individual body. (Please also see the contraindications further down in this article.)
So how does it work?
The jade egg is more than just a tool, it is a practice. The benefits of the egg come from the way you use it, not just from having one and putting it inside your vagina. The foundations of the practice in the way that I teach it is primarily focused on helping women build deeper connection and awareness within their own body so they can connect with, understand, and move through blocks, stagnation, fears, or even past traumas that are holding them back from experiencing the pleasure and sexual freedom that they desire. These stagnant emotions and past traumas live on in our nervous system if we don’t allow them the space to move, often resulting in tension and pain or numbness in the vagina, or causing a women to feel insecure and anxious.
Through working with the jade egg women can connect with these parts of themselves and transform them with compassion, acceptance, and embodiment practices that allow the stress cycle to complete, restoring the body to its natural state of wholeness.
A more simple and physical explanation of how the egg helps women sexually comes from a basic understanding of mind-body connection and somatic awareness. By having a physical object inside your vagina your mind has something to focus on, therefore directing your mind and creating new neural pathways that activate energy and sensation and energy flow in the area of focus (in this case. your vagina.) The gentle movements increase blood flow to the area and encourage relaxation, And for those women who are wanting to tone or strengthen their pelvic floor; women who suffer from incontinence, who have a weak pelvic floor and want to prevent prolapse, new mums post childbirth wanting to heal and tone the muscles etc, gentle contractions and targeted exercises can be done to support a toned yet supple vagina.
This is where the precautions of the practice come in to play.
A good jade egg practitioner will learn about you and your unique experience and body so they can tailor the practices to most support your needs and desires.
For example, a woman who experiences tension and pain in her vagina and is wanting to have more pleasurable sex with her partner, I would suggest a practice that focuses on first building trust and safety in her body, gentle relaxation practices to release some of the tension, inner healing practices to balance her emotions and regulate her nervous system so her body actually feels AVAILABLE for relaxation, and when ready, introducing the egg as a way for her to experience “bringing in” rather than “being penetrated”. This can help heal the experiences of having sex before she was ready, or when it hurt, and help her feel autonomy over her own sexuality and pleasure.
If a woman came to me saying she had no sensation in her vagina and felt completely disconnected from her sexuality but didn’t have excess tension in her pelvic floor, I would encourage gentle contractions and movements with the egg to awaken energy and increase sensation, and help her connect with her body and sexuality. I would guide her through processes to gently work through the emotions/sensations that are beneath the numbness, support her in holding herself in challenging emotions so her system can feel safe enough to “feel” again, and share energy practices to help her feel more turned on and connected.
This is what I love about the egg. It can be crafted and adapted to support each person and their individual needs and desires, and is such a beautiful way of developing self connection, self-awareness, sensual aliveness, and greater pleasure.
Contraindications
As a basic guide, it is not recommended you use the egg if:
1 - you are pregnant.
2 - you have an active infection (UTI, STI, yeast infection)
3 - you are on your period, especially the heavy days of bleeding.
For those who are worried about the crystalline structure of the jade and don’t feel comfortable putting that in their vagina, you can use an egg made of borosilicate glass which is completely body safe and you still get the same benefits! In the Taoist tradition the jade has special properties that make it supportive for the female body and sexual energy which is why they used that stone, but not everyone resonates with the concept of crystal energies and glass is a wonderful alternative that is considered body safe in western medicine.
I have found so much joy in my sexuality from this practice, and I would love to support you in finding your own.
Free Jade Egg Course
If you haven’t already found it, I have created a free jade/yoni egg course for beginners with everything you need to begin your journey of working with the egg (except the egg itself, which you can purchase here. I suggest either a medium drilled nephrite jade or a glass one! Though you can do the practices using your finger or a dildo if you prefer.)
The course includes:
A PDF with the key information you need to know about the egg.
My top 5 tips for getting the most out of your practice
The practical stuff: How to properly string your egg, preparing for practice, cleansing and safety.
Introducing the egg - the most important step! A fully guided process.
3 practices that support relaxation, connection and energy flow.
I put so much effort into this offering and it really is so much for free, but I wanted to make sure people have access to some of the basics so they can experience the gifts of this practice from the comfort of their own home. If you want to go deeper and have a truly transformative experience, sign up for my next group coaching program where we explore all of this and so much more! You will have access to 1:1 support from me to work through whatever you wish to focus on.
Other than the contraindications I shared above, these practices are designed to support any woman who is wanting to connect with her body and sexuality, relax into pleasure and invite a gentle awakening of sexual energy.
