Pompoir: Ancient Feminine Pelvic Floor Exercises For Women
Pompoir is an ancient feminine art with deep roots across multiple cultures, passed from woman to woman long before pelvic floor therapy had a name or kegels were a thing. At its core, pompoir is about conscious vaginal strength, muscle isolation and control, which is cultivated to enhance sensation, vitality, pleasure, and power.
Across history, our fore-mothers have understood something that many of us are just beginning to remember: the vagina is not passive or lifeless. It is intelligent, responsive, articulate and capable of remarkable strength, and a wide array of movements and sensation.
The vagina can actually move like any other part of your body, with clear articulation of the different walls, levels and angles. Pompoir is one of the ways women have historically connected with their bodies, as a form of self care, and to promote health, just like breathwork, dance, or yoga.
The Ancient Art of Pompoir
Variations of pompoir appear across Asia and beyond. In Thailand, we see a similar practice known as kabazza, traditionally taught to women working in royal courts and later in erotic dance traditions. In China, Taoist sexual alchemy texts describe vaginal contraction practices used to circulate sexual energy and preserve life force, often in conjunction with the use of a jade egg. In Japan, geisha traditions included refined pelvic control as part of embodied feminine training. In parts of the Middle East and North Africa, oral histories reference vaginal muscle practices passed between women to support sexual satisfaction, continence, and postpartum recovery.
Pompoir is also associated with ancient India, where it appears in tantric and yogic traditions as a sacred sexual art practiced by women trained in conscious muscle control and breath. In Sanskrit texts and oral lineages, vaginal muscle mastery was understood as a pathway to vitality, longevity, and sexual harmony, not something separate from spiritual or physical health.
Legend has it that women trained in these arts could wield unusual influence. Ancient rulers, scholars, and warriors wrote of encounters with women whose presence was unforgettable, because of feminine mastery. While some of these stories may have been exaggerated over time, they point to a consistent truth across cultures: a woman who is deeply connected to her body moves differently, speaks differently, and is a force to be reckoned with.
Pompoir for Pelvic Floor Health: These Aren’t Your Mother’s Kegels!
While pompoir is often whispered about in sexual terms, its health benefits are substantial and wide reaching. Conscious vaginal muscle training increases blood flow to the pelvic region, which supports tissue health, lubrication, and sensitivity. Improved circulation is associated with easier arousal, more reliable lubrication, and reduced vaginal numbness, particularly for women who feel disconnected from sensation after hormonal birth control, childbirth, chronic stress, or just years of ignoring their vaginas until they atrophy.
Strengthening and coordinating the pelvic floor can also support bladder control and reduce symptoms of incontinence. Unlike generalized Kegel exercises, pompoir emphasizes awareness, gradation, and relaxation alongside strength. This matters, because an overly tight pelvic floor can cause pain, reduced sensation, and difficulty with penetration.
Many women report that as vaginal awareness and literacy increases, orgasms become easier to achieve, more varied, and out of this world pleasurable. Pleasure becomes less about chasing a peak and more about lavishing in sensation, nervous system reset and awakening your greatest inner power source.
Awakening Your Vagina Changes How You Show Up in Life
There is a subtle but profound shift that happens when a woman wakes up sensation and strength in her vagina. She doesn’t just feel more during sex - She carries herself differently. Her posture changes with the confidence of knowing of this secret power she holds. Her relationship to her femininity deepens and becomes a tangible power source.
When women begin to feel their vaginas as sentient and alive rather than numb and atrophied, the body becomes a temple. Many women describe this as finally hearing their womb’s voice, particularly the cyclical rhythms and feminine essence that modern life often overrides.
This is where sexuality, intuition, and feminine nature converge and awaken. As vaginal awareness increases, so does sensitivity to the menstrual cycle, ovulation, and hormonal shifts. The body becomes legible again, and we begin to learn and understand the language of our womb.
Honoring Your Femininity & Cycles With Fertility Awareness
For many women, this awakening creates a natural desire to honor their female bodies on deeper levels. When you begin to experience your vagina as sensitive, intelligent, and responsive, hormonal methods of birth control that put your hormones and natural cycles in a choke hold and blunt sensation often start to feel misaligned.
This is often where women begin exploring fertility awareness-based methods of natural birth control, from a place of curiosity. Fertility awareness builds on the same foundation as pompoir: body literacy, appreciation and awareness of your cyclical nature, and trust in the body’s signals.
Fertility Awareness is not just about avoiding pregnancy, its a tool that empowers women in many areas of their lives. Empowered women empower women. It is about understanding ovulation, cervical fluid, and cycle patterns with clarity and confidence to understand your health and if needed as a highly effective tool for contraception. It’s about being able to understand and advocate for your sexual health and healing. For women already reconnecting with their pelvic center, it can feel like a natural next step in honoring the body as designed.
Pleasure is Your Birthright & A Health Metric
Pleasure has never been separate from health. Cultures that practiced pompoir understood this intuitively - vaginal sensation and libido were seen as a sign of vitality, just as appetite, sleep, and energy levels are today.
When pleasure and desire fades, it is often a signal that something is off, whether hormonally, neurologically, emotionally, or relationally. Reclaiming pleasure and your sexuality it thus empowering, restorative and health promoting.
And yes, partners notice. Women trained in pompoir often hear the same thing: they are unforgettable. It blows men’s minds, so you may want to use discretion with who you use these skills on - he may end up hooked. Plus, your presence becomes more magnetic.
Pompoir can be just as powerful as a solo practice with massive benefits with or without a partner. There is something deeply healing about embracing what your body can do. It changes how you relate to intimacy, whether shared or solitary.
Is Pompoir Right for Every Woman?
Pompoir is an amazing self care practice for most women, but there are some contraindications. If you already suspect that your pelvic floor may be overly tight, or if you experience pain with penetration, checking in with a pelvic floor physical therapist before beginning any strengthening practice is wise. Often women hold tension in their pelvic floor so leaning into softening, relaxing and releasing this tension would be the first priority.
If you have any doubts, it may be beneficial to check in with someone who specializes in pelvic floor therapy and get the green light.
Learning Pompoir: The Gohddess Method
Pompoir is not something I teach (yet). When women ask where to learn, I share the program I personally use and endorse, The Gohddess Method. If you choose to explore it and use my affiliate link, you can save $100 on the program.
The Gohddess Method teaches vaginal awareness and control through progressive, and super fun practices. Women learn skills such as coordinated contractions, rhythmic movement, twisting, suction, vaginal hand job techniques, and how to create intentional vaginal movement that feels playful, empowering, and embodied. The program is both educational and fun, grounded in science and facts as much as pleasure and history.
A Woman In Touch With Her Womb is Unstoppable
If you are curious to go deeper, into yourself, into the very essence of your being, The Natural Birth Control Blueprint is the perfect place to start. When you learn to read and understand the language of your womb, you become unstoppable. Whether you are looking for highly effective natural birth control, a way to understand and improve your sexual health, or a path towards conscious contraception, I am here to help.