Not everyone can claim to be a sensual empowerment coach. The title alone makes a person stop and think. But for Katrina Ifill, this role came about as the result of a personal journey she embarked on a few years ago.
“I first read about the jade egg and the practices and [then] I saw it on the Internet,” Katrina said. “I’m always about self-improvement and trying to progress. I contacted the person and purchased the jade egg and the book and started from there.
“The jade egg is well known for vaginal toning. That was a catch for me but it’s actually called the love stone and it helps with healing yourself. It also connects with the kidneys where sexual energy is stored.”
While Katrina admitted that she was initially attracted to the jade egg for its toning purposes, it was the egg’s healing properties in regard to fibroids and hysterectomies that really got her interested.
“You actually insert the jade egg into the vaginal canal and do exercises. Through childbirth, illnesses and just not taking care of yourself, the vaginal muscles can lose their elasticity. By working the muscles – contracting them using the jade egg – we increase their elasticity.”
Some women might say that they can increase tightness from doing Kegel exercises but Katrina begs to differ.
“Doing Kegels without the jade egg is like doing arm curls without the weight.”
The idea of toning one’s vaginal muscles and using the jade egg, or yoni, has caught on with women in Barbados.
“Early adopters jumped on to my business, Glowing Goddess Jade Egg Playshop, and the response has been good.”
However, Katrina acknowledges that some have reservations – at first.
“When they hear that they are going to insert the jade egg at the playshop, they have some reservations but they still come,” she said. “If I have 20 women at the workshop, only two or three will excuse themselves to go to the bathroom and insert the jade egg but the others will do it right there. I always encourage the women to wear something loose.”
At the playshop the women – mostly beginners – are taught how to use the jade egg and how to master the exercises in order to maximize the benefits for their bodies. Katrina also offers private consultations for those clients who don’t want to do the group thing.
“Some women come and just squeeze because they want the tightness, but there is also a holistic approach to the practice.”
What Katrina does find encouraging about the practice of jade egging is that more women are doing it and also learning more about their bodies and their sexuality.
“I think we’re currently going through a shift.
“In the workshop, I encourage the women to love your yoni, love your vagina, because that’s the gateway through which all life comes,” Katrina said. “I encourage them to buy a hand mirror, sit down for five minutes and have a look at her [the vagina] and see what a beautiful organ it is.
“We have put our bodies through a lot of abuse as women for whatever reason, such as relationships.
“I encourage the women to fall in love with themselves again, love themselves, love their yoni. The vagina speaks to you, so it’s important that, as women, we listen to her.
“There is a practice where you put your left hand on your heart and your right hand on the vagina and you meditate and reconnect your heart with your vagina.”
For Katrina, jade egging is a lot more personal.
“It helped me to remove myself from a four-year abusive relationship,” she said. “When I was two years into the relationship I heard about the jade egg and that’s when I purchased it. I read the book first and afterwards I found a new love for myself, a more intense love.
“That was when I realized ‘Katrina, you can really do better’.
“The practices help to remove blockages in our system which can bring about ailment or depression.
“As women, we tend to hold a lot of negative energy in our womb and that’s why the jade egg practice helps to clear the stagnant energy and remove the blockages so that it can flow freely.”
Jade eggs come in different sizes – small, medium and large – and carry a bit of weight. Katrina uses the drilled eggs that are stringed together for ease of use.
Emphasizing the health benefits of jade egging, she added: “Women in my family have always had hysterectomies. When I was younger I always said that was not going to happen to me and jade egging helps.
“I’ve had women who used to have heavy bleeding during their periods and, after using the egg, their bleeding is less intense, with no cramping.
“I went from an 11-day period to a three-day one now.”
Women are encouraged to really love their bodies, their womb, their vagina and be concerned about their overall health.
“Yoni is the Chinese word for ‘sacred space’ and energy flows through there. Many of us don’t love that area. We’ve abused it through partners who don’t love us, through unwanted pregnancies. . . .
“When we don’t allow our energy to flow through our body as it should, you will obviously get blockages and all the stagnant energy will accumulate there,” she said.
