As women, we’ve mostly forgotten what our yoni truly is., and yoni steaming is one of the most ancient, most physically direct routes to remembering.
In this episode, I’m joined by Emma Ako — founder of Mamma Luna — who has been steaming since she was 26, makes gorgeous handcrafted yoni steaming thrones, and runs steaming circles in Bristol and London. She walks us through everything: the benefits, the science, the herbs, the circles, and why it’s a throne, not a seat.
How Emma Found Her Way To Steaming
Emma’s path began where two passions met: natural health and women’s empowerment. At 23 or 24, she found a book called Sacred Woman by Queen Afua — a book, she explains, that helps you to cleanse your womb physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, through nine gateways. Inside Gateway Zero, she discovered yoni steaming.
She called a friend, got a pack of herbs, put them in a hot pot with water, and squatted over it.
“I was just in heaven. Absolute bliss, like ultimate bliss. And I’ve been hooked ever since.”
That was at 26. By 32, she was making thrones and running circles.
A Throne, Not A Seat
Ten minutes into that first squatting steam, Emma knew she needed something to sit on. She searched online and found only plastic, toilet-shaped items from Amazon and eBay. She didn’t want plastic anywhere near her yoni, and she didn’t want something clinical. She wanted something that would honour what she’d come to understand her womb to be: a beautiful vessel for creation.
I thought I want something that looks similar to a throne. And in my workshops, I tell the ladies — these are your thrones. Because we are queens, our bodies are temples, and our yoni is like the very core, the heartbeat of the temple.
The first prototype was a milk crate rescued from the street, two pieces of polystyrene foam saved from being thrown out, and some African fabric she had at home. Bleached, cut, covered — and it worked. Weight evenly distributed, low to the floor, comfortable for a full thirty minutes. She had her shape and size.
From there, a month of research into sustainable materials, African fabric shops, sewing techniques, the least harmful adhesives. She was working full time. Nothing stopped her.
“You know when you get an idea and you just know it’s so right and true for you? I felt like I had the encouragement and the power of the divine feminine behind me making these seats.”
She posted a photo on her personal Facebook page. By the next morning, over a hundred comments and likes. Two kinds of women responded: those who already knew about steaming and simply needed a throne, and those who’d never heard of it and wanted to know more. Mamma Luna was born.
What The Thones Are Made From Now
Emma has fully levelled up from milk crates. The thrones are now made from pine boxes organically grown in the UK, with organic cotton, African fabric from Petticoat Lane in London, and UK-sourced foam cushions. The regular size weighs about 1.5 kilograms. The larger seats, around two kilograms. Lightweight, compact, wipe-down clean — and the base goes straight in the washing machine.
The Benefits of Yoni Steaming
The benefits, Emma says, are far and wide — some dependent on the individual, all worth knowing.
Menstruation: Yoni steaming can reduce a heavy flow, regulate irregular periods, address bleeding between periods caused by fibroids or PCOS, and relieve period pain — including for women with endometriosis who experience extreme cramping.
Hormonal balance: During menopause, steaming can support the body in balancing hormones through the transition.
Wider wellbeing: Insomnia, relaxation, anxiety. “It’s absolutely amazing for boosting fertility and also postpartum as well.”
Reconnection: It’s great for helping you just to get in touch with your body, to actually understand your body and build a relationship with it. We’ve been so conditioned to not even understand our yoni on a basic, basic level, and we’ve been taught to ignore the pain we experience when it comes to anything womb-wise. Yoni steaming is a great way to get back in touch with your yoni, even if it’s just on a physical level — understanding what each cramp or twitch means.
The Science Behind Steaming
The natural oils from the herbs act as medicine. The steam rises to the lining of the endometrium. From there, the heat penetrates the base of the spine — where the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system interfaces with the endocrine system. The endocrine system becomes activated, takes in those oils, and sends a message up through the central nervous system.
Your hypothalamus is responsible for receiving information internally and externally. It then sends a message to your pituitary gland. And your pituitary gland creates and programs itself to release certain hormones at particular times according to what your body actually needs.
If the body isn’t producing enough luteinising hormone to trigger a regular period — it receives the message. If more oestrogen is needed to support fertility — that too. The steam is, in essence, a conversation with the body’s own regulating intelligence.
The Importance of Oxygen In The Pelvic Area
Emma is emphatic: the number one factor in yoni health is oxygen.
The womb is a muscle. We have so many muscles down there, but it doesn’t get oxygen or exercise enough. If it’s not receiving oxygen, it doesn’t have anything there to convert into energy for when we actually need it — which is when we’re experiencing our cycle.
We need a good amount of qi there. We need circulation. Steaming absolutely helps with that.
Herbs To Use For Steaming
Never steam with just one herb. Always use a blend — to protect the natural flora of your yoni and ensure nothing goes out of balance. Here is where Emma recommends starting:
Lavender — a relaxant. It signals the brain to slow the heartbeat, increase oxygen intake, and release tension around the yoni, particularly the endometrium.
Chamomile — calming. It helps deactivate the hip muscles, where cortisol tends to pool and sit stagnant.
Rosemary — the same rosemary used in cooking, and an excellent cleanser. It clears old blood and dead cells that have built up in the womb. “A lot of people get a very dark red, brownish colour towards the end of their period. That’s basically your womb saying: we need more oxygen, we need a good cleanse out.”
Yarrow — regulates the amount of blood released.
Red rose petals — not just because they smell amazing. “They’re really good for helping to tone up your womb — keeping the muscle quite strong and active.”
Raspberry leaf — a specifically uterine herb. “Your vaginal muscles need to physically move in order to dispel any blood and unfertilised egg when you’re on your period. Raspberry leaf helps to keep your vaginal muscles really strong.”
Sage — antibacterial, excellent as a preventative, and it makes the blend smell beautiful.
Mugwort — Emma’s recommended base. Great for regulating flow. Use it as the foundation and ensure an equal measure of each herb.
How To Prepare The Herbs
If boiling the herbs, start with cold water and add the herbs before the water reaches boiling point. The natural oils from the herbs are what act as medicine — if the herbs are added to already-boiling water, those oils release and escape before you can steam with them.
Alternatively: boil the water first, take it off the heat, add the herbs, leave for five to ten minutes, stir, and allow the oils to release into the steam.
When To Steam — And When Not To
The optimum times: two to three days before your period begins, and two to three days after it ends. A beautiful preparation and renewal, either side of your bleed.
Do not steam if: you are currently on your period, you are trying to conceive, you have any bacterial issues such as BV or thrush, or if there are any cuts or tears.
What Happens In A Yoni Steaming Circle
For anyone imagining something unusual — Emma is clear.
Everyone is fully clothed. You don’t see a single thing at all.
Participants wear a long skirt or dress and wrap a blanket around the waist to keep the heat in — an extra layer of privacy and warmth. Each woman has her own individual throne. Each cushion has a hygiene cover that goes straight into the washing machine afterwards. Nothing is shared.
The circles run for three hours. The steaming itself lasts around thirty to forty minutes, followed by meditation, yoga, and relaxing music. Then a lie-down — five to ten minutes — before everyone comes together to share the experience.
Everyone falls asleep.
Reclaiming The Language Of Our Bodies
One of the most powerful threads in Emma’s work is the language she uses — and insists on — in her circles.
The fallopian tube, she explains, was named after a sixteenth-century gynaecologist called Georgius Fallopius, who apparently “discovered” our egg tube. Emma calls it what it is: the egg tube. Simply what the egg travels down.
The word vagina apparently means sheath, sword, or scabbard. These men decided to name our canal the vagina — as though the sole purpose of our canal is to be a holder of their penises. It’s for each individual woman to decide what her canal is for.
So Emma calls it the canal.
In her circles, she teaches the origin of the word yoni and how different cultures name different parts of the body. Taking control of the narrative of our own bodies, she says, is a great way to reclaim our power.
After this conversation, fallopian will never be uttered from my lips again!
Ready To Go Deeper?
If this is opening something in you — curiosity about your womb, your cycle, your body — this is the work we explore together. Whether it’s reconnecting with your cycle, working with menstrual challenges, or a deeper journey of womb healing.
Explore 1:1 womb healing work →
Or begin with the free resources at thesacredwomb.com/womb-healing-resources/
ABOUT EMMA
Emma Ako is a Bristol-based creative practitioner (though born and raised in London), avid natural health enthusiast and keen steamer! She began her journey into Yoni health in 2014 after coming across Queen Afua’s book ‘Sacred Woman’ and is loving every moment of the journey as she found that this put her in charge of her own health and created a better relationship with her body.
She uses her creativity to solve problems and provide solutions which is how Mama Luna was born; she couldn’t afford a steam seat so made one and has gone on to use Mama Luna as a platform for women to have open and honest conversations about our Yoni health, womanhood and her favourite….EMPOWERMENT!
In short, Mama Luna is all about moving from silence, stigma and shame to rediscovering, reclaiming and redefining OUR WOMANHOOD!
