On Friday I had an invitation to meet the lovely Stephanie Taylor (pictured below) who is MD of Kegel8, at the Richmond Literary Festival.
So I go along to see a performance by Funny Women, a group of female comedians whose aim is to give women a voice. And that is something that Stephanie is also championing. Her company Kegel8, is a specialist in pelvic floor exercisers – these are medical devices that help woman strengthen internal muscles responsible for urine continence and womb prolapse. And as an addiitonal bonus they are also helpful in strengthening the vaginal muscles for a more intense sexual experience. So in her way Stephanie is also helping woman get their voice – their orgasmic voice!
By way of this Kegal8 sponsored the evening. The Funny Women, Viv Groskop, Sarah Courtauld, Rowan Pelling, a City CEO trainer Julia Streets had us in stitches with their ironic take on the female condition. And also handy for budding comedy writers their tips for getting up on stage and performing – jokes not any other acts by the way!
The evening began with a panel discussion, led by Funny Women founder Lynne Parker, which started in the usual way – asking where the comediennes get their inspiration for comic writing? How do you fit writing into your schedule? – and ended with Comedy Writing Award winner Sarah Courtauld revealing her experiences of living with a religious cult. Newspaper journalist Rowan Pelling then divulged the tale of the time she stood on a cab driver in the middle of the street at one in the morning, apparently in aid of creating material for her writing…
Funny Women – picture by www.fightingfifty.co.uk
The audience also had a surprise gift from Stephanie in their gift bags, limited edition gold Kegel balls, which are used to test the strength and health of your pelvic floor muscles.
After the show – well the next day – I set out to explore the world of pelvic floor exercisers and discovered it is a BIG AND HOT ISSUE for ladies, particularly those who have had partial incontinence as a result of the trauma of childbirth. Then there are those who suffer stress incontinence when they cough or laugh – and that is no joke!
These things can only get worse with ageing so there’s no time like the present to get your pelvic floor in shape.
Stephanie tells me that she was inspired to get into the business of selling pelvic floor exerciser through her work with Relate, the relationship organisation, where she was often told by women that they wanted sex with their partners but were not able to enjoy it because of weak vaginal muscles.
Well ladies, Elixir has good news. There is a new device about to go on sale – the Kegel8 Pelvic Floor Exerciser – an electronic device than can measure your pelvic floor fitness and encourages you to do daily exercises until you are in peak condition there. So watch this space for our review. yes…Yes…YES!!
