Ground Floor: on vaginismus, vulvodynia, and other ways we brace
Sep 17, 2026 · 38 min · 15 segments
Vaginismus, Explained: What Actually Shifted for Elena. Why the body sometimes waits until it's safe enough to finally speak A fictional case study, built from repeated patterns Naomi's seen in her…
Naomi GaleHost
So it really reminds me of the body and how it speaks when a woman comes to me because basically she's with this partner and the body has stopped letting her partner in.
And sometimes it's like it's just painful enough where it's possible, but the pain can be really searing at the beginning.
Sometimes it eases off during sex, but it often is something that exists throughout a brace and varies in its brace so what I hear often is it didn't used to be like this the pain didn't used to be here I didn't I used to be able to have sex just fine um it all started after I met my current partner and and things are fine things are good like it's fine and and now we just can't enjoy intimacy like I used to I don't get it this should really stop us Like this should really stop us in our thought process, in our tracks, in what we see in our society is happening.
It used to be fine or often women will say, well, there was a bit of pain, but it wasn't as bad as it is now.
And now with this person, this new person in my life, with this life that looks like it looks, it is not.
So first and foremost, let's return back to the fact that you've said something that nobody else can speak to, which was when it was... not painful when it is and you're the one that's speaking to this whole thing right now by explaining that you're struggling with intimacy with your current partner but your current partner is really loving and really holding and You don't understand why it's happening, but you do understand why it's happening.
You do, because you've already explained the point of reference where it changed and that you're feeling safety.
So it really reminds me of the body and how it speaks when a woman comes to me because basically she's with this partner and the body has stopped letting her partner in.
And sometimes it's like it's just painful enough where it's possible, but the pain can be really searing at the beginning.
Sometimes it eases off during sex, but it often is something that exists throughout a brace and varies in its brace so what I hear often is it didn't used to be like this the pain didn't used to be here I didn't I used to be able to have sex just fine um it all started after I met my current partner and and things are fine things are good like it's fine and and now we just can't enjoy intimacy like I used to I don't get it this should really stop us Like this should really stop us in our thought process, in our tracks, in what we see in our society is happening.
It used to be fine or often women will say, well, there was a bit of pain, but it wasn't as bad as it is now.
And now with this person, this new person in my life, with this life that looks like it looks, it is not.
So first and foremost, let's return back to the fact that you've said something that nobody else can speak to, which was when it was... not painful when it is and you're the one that's speaking to this whole thing right now by explaining that you're struggling with intimacy with your current partner but your current partner is really loving and really holding and You don't understand why it's happening, but you do understand why it's happening.
You do, because you've already explained the point of reference where it changed and that you're feeling safety.
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