And I don’t mean it in a mystical way. We are sensation and meaning making creatures and, even though the brain is key for this, there is all of this information that is connected and interconnected to different parts of the body.

One area we often pay very little attention to is genitals. And yet, it’s such a key part of our lives – both from personal to societal perspective. The state of genitals can also indicate our stress levels, our emotions, our sexual life. Thus, with clients we often start genital mapping sessions with a genital ‘introduction’. I invite them to share what is that they know about their genitals? How do they call them? Do the genitals have pronouns – it/she/he/something else? What kind of relationship they have? What parts of the genitals they know?

These questions at first may sound weird, but it certainly gets people thinking and noticing. I hear fascinating stories, memories and experiences, ranging from very difficult to very wonderful. The shares feel important and sometimes even ‘enough’ to open up something new in clients’ lives.

And then there are parts of our genitals that perhaps we never had the chance to properly identify and ‘listen’ to. Recently I had a session with a client who was not sure where their cervix was and yet the pain from penetrative sex led them to believe cervix might be one of the reasons for the pain. We found it and after some touch on it, the familiar irritation arrived. Now the client has information to both take to a medical professional if they wish so and also to continue figuring out if perhaps this is armour – perhaps there is something that the cervix is saying to them, after all. (Ps. This example is shared with client’s permission.)

I find this work endlessly fascinating both personally and professionally. I encourage you to look at anatomy pictures of different genitals, learn about the different parts, have resources such as a sex educator or a therapist or friends/loved ones to support you and to slowly (yes, make it even slower than you think) explore and self-map your own genitals.

Promise you, your genitals have stuff to share.