Great Sex Is Extremely Important For Your Health

Libido Lounge Podcast Featuring Alexandra Duren

Dr. Diane: Welcome to the Libido Lounge, where we focus on all things love, lust, and libido. We believe that fabulous sex is just as important to health as exercise and good food. Hey everybody, Dr. Diane, your Libido Doc here. Welcome back to another episode of the Libido Lounge. I am so excited to have this next guest with me today—my good friend Alexandra Duren. Thank you so, so much for joining us today.

Alexandra Duren: Oh, the Libido Lounge! It’s so good to be here. Someday we’ll do these in person, and it’ll be really lovely.

Dr. Diane: Today we’re going to talk a little bit about pelvic health, vulvar health, and how these are deeply tied into sexuality. Before we jump into the juicy stuff, I want to make sure everyone really knows who you are in the world. So let’s start with telling us a little bit about why you love working with women and pelvic health—and what your work looks like.

Why Pelvic Health Is So Deeply Needed

Alexandra Duren: My name is Alexandra Duren. I’m a Women’s Specialty Registered Nurse and the founder of Origin Pelvic Care. Origin is hands-on, ceremonial pelvic care for women’s bodies—serving in the realms of sexuality, pleasure, reproductive care, and the birth continuum.

I love what I do because I believe so deeply in pelvic care. Women deserve to be well in our womanly bodies, to experience life from a deeply inhabited, well-tended place. The rise in reproductive disease, pelvic disease, sexual pain, and birth trauma—this is our body trying to speak, trying to ask for care it hasn’t been getting.

To me, it’s a reparative practice. Sexual health is whole health. I also believe in a sort of resurrection of the womb lineage—the way it used to be when women’s bodies were cared for reverently. Women are leaders, the carriers of life, and we need to be taken care of accordingly. When women are well, the world is well.

What Happens When the Pelvis Is Ignored

Dr. Diane: That’s beautiful. And since this is the Libido Lounge, and we’re here to talk about libido and sexual health, let’s dig into pelvic health. What happens when there’s dysfunction in these areas? How is that tied into things like crashing libido, loss of interest, loss of desire?

Alexandra Duren: In my work at Origin, we look at what I call the core waterways of the body—blood flow, lymph flow, nerve flow, and energy flow—especially how they move through the womb, ovaries, and pelvis.

Most women have never received pelvic care in their lives. In fact, many have only had difficult or traumatic experiences around their pelvic, menstrual, and reproductive health. And when that’s the case, we stop feeling safe in our bodies. Blood flow halts, tissues become tense, muscles contract. Many women live in a hypertonic state—deep pelvic muscles are too tight.

This impacts everything—pleasure, arousal, erectile tissue function, nerve sensitivity. I like to say, if you’re a little nerve walking through a tense, dehydrated, malnourished garden, you’re going to send a totally different signal than if you’re swimming through a lush, juicy, well-loved garden.

On top of that, restricted lymph flow means toxins hang around longer, leading to soreness, aches, and dryness. And energy? It gets stuck. We can’t just feel turned on when the core of our body is armored and tense.

Trauma and Emotion Stored in the Pelvis

Dr. Diane: I love that metaphor. And I think one thing you mentioned early on is so important—how ignored this part of the body is. It’s wild how many people will go get a massage or see a chiropractor, but we never think about tending to the deeper pelvic tissues where we hold so much.

Do you think emotional trauma plays a role in this tightness—big or small?

Alexandra Duren: Totally. It’s so emotional. In a pelvic care ceremony, when we slowly approach the vulva or vaginal opening with attuned, caring touch, emotions pour out. Grief, anger—when those are released, blood rushes in. The tissues soften. And it’s like the body finally lets go of the armor it’s held for years or decades.

These protective patterns have been so overlooked and under-tended. We don’t even realize the shutdown we experience from everyday emotions—anger, sadness, fear. Over time, that tension builds up and becomes chronic.

Why Hormones Aren’t the Whole Story

Dr. Diane: That really lands. And I think most people can relate—like, you’re not exactly in the mood for sex when you’re pissed off, right? But this adds up over time.

And while we often talk about hormones when it comes to libido, what you’re saying about pelvic tension and tissue health is such a missing piece in the conversation. It’s not talked about enough.

If it’s okay with you, I’d love for you to give us your top three tips for healing the pelvis and vulva.

Top 3 Tips for Healing the Pelvis

Alexandra Duren: Totally. So first, breath and internal orientation. That means consciously breathing into the hips and pelvic bones. Can I soften just a little more with every exhale?

We try to hold safety in our tissues when we’re actually meant to feel safety in our bones. That presence rewires things. The tissues can let go.

Second—ask yourself: do I feel tension or pain in my pelvis? If the answer is yes, that’s your body saying, “Come love me here.” That tension is a voice asking for care.

Third—examine the beliefs you’re holding in your pelvis. Do I believe this part of me is dirty, unsafe, or wrong? If yes, those beliefs will cause chronic tension. Ask: are these stories mine? Do I want to keep living through them? Or am I ready to create a new one where I feel safe, cared for, and sensuous here?

Wrapping Up

Dr. Diane: Thank you so much for tying in embodiment, safety, and presence. It’s such a rich conversation—and I want everyone to know this is just a teaser for a longer talk you and I did for our upcoming Sexual Dysfunction & Sexual Health Summit. You’ll find a link in the show notes to register for free.

Also, how can people stay connected with you?

Alexandra Duren: You can find me on Instagram at Origin Pelvic Care, and at originpelviccare.com. And I’ll just say—there is so much more available for our womanhood. We deserve to be cared for in our sexual and reproductive bodies. It’s powerful to witness what unfolds when women receive this kind of care.

Dr. Diane: Thank you so much for being here. I know this conversation has supported so many listeners.

You can find me on YouTube, on Instagram, and check out our Modern Libido Club for so much more!