Free Great Sex, Naturally by Laurie Steelsmith

sponge to the G-spot, and its notable capacity to enhance arousal, we sometimes refer to it as the G-sponge .
    — Your cervix. The narrow entrance at the top of your vagina, your cervix helps create lubrication during sex and provides a passageway for sperm on their way to your uterus. Your os (the opening of your cervix) is very yin—tightly contracted, with a width of only a few millimeters—but also has the capacity to be extremely yang. As the gateway that most of us passed through on our journey into the world, it can expand to an astounding ten centimeters during childbirth.
    — Your uterus. Your cervix opens to your uterus, your inner sanctum—and if you procreate, your baby’s first home. Although held in place by ligaments and pelvic muscles, the uterus isn’t static, contrary to what many women think; it can frequently shift position inside your pelvic cavity. During sex it moves upward, away from the internal dance, yet it continues to take part in the performance.
    During your menstruating years, your monthly flow keeps you acutely aware of the power and presence of your uterus. Every month, tissue inside your uterus known as the endometrium , stimulated by your hormones, builds a soft, nourishing bed for the prospect of pregnancy. If you don’t become pregnant, you shed and release your endometrial lining as your monthly menstrual flow. If you become pregnant, your uterus expands dramatically; it can grow from a mere two ounces to about two pounds toward the end of pregnancy.
    — Your fallopian tubes. From the top portion of your uterus, your fallopian tubes extend gracefully upward toward your ovaries. Every month during your ovulating years a ripe egg, newly released from your ovaries, floats in the small, nebulous inner cavity of your pelvis directly above your fallopian tubes. Like a sea anemone collecting microscopic nutrients in the ocean current, fluttering tentacles at the ends of your fallopian tubes reach, embrace, and gently guide the egg down into the central tube toward your uterus. In Woman: An Intimate Geography , science writer Natalie Angier describes the fallopian tubes as “exquisite, soft and rosy and slim … tipped like a feather duster with a bell of fronds, called fimbriae.” If traveling sperm find their way to the egg, it could become fertilized; although millions of sperm may surround it, only one might become interlocked with the future.
    — Your ovaries. Small but powerful glands, your ovaries do even more than produce thousands of eggs with the potential to create new life; they also release estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, and testosterone. All of these hormones can affect your sexuality, your nervous system, and your brain, with far-reaching consequences in your life. Women who have their ovaries removed and don’t take replacement hormones typically report feeling changed in every aspect of their being. In the next chapter, you’ll discover the great impact that hormones released by your ovaries can have on the quality of your life.
A Word about Words: The Power of Naming Your Sexual Parts
For purposes of this book we’ve used the common, usually Latin-derived terms for sexual organs, such as vulva , vagina, clitoris , and penis . These terms are perfectly acceptable, but for some they may inadequately reflect the sense that pelvic anatomy is a sacred area of the body. If you grew up in an atmosphere where words describing genitals were considered “dirty” or shameful, such terms may carry less-than-inspiring connotations.
Other cultural traditions sometimes offer refreshing perspectives on naming parts of sexual anatomy. In the Hindu tradition, for instance, a woman’s genitals (her vulva as well as her vagina) are referred to as her yoni , which in Sanskrit means “abode” or “source.”
The yoni is considered a symbol of the goddess Shakti, who represents female creative power, and is sometimes referred to as the sacred space, divine passage, or temple. In