\u201cA person who left today had their first session and was like, \u2018I\u2019m so much lighter in my body,\u2019\u201d McDaniel says. <\/p>\n
McDaniel\u2019s work is rooted in holistic pelvic health and touch therapy, which she discovered after giving birth to her second child at age 46. Before her daughter was born, McDaniel says she met her in a dream. The child introduced herself as \u201cLuna.\u201d The name stuck. After her birth, McDaniel theorized that her daughter had \u201creorganized her pelvic bowl.\u201d When she sought out answers from her midwife and OB-GYN, they were dismissive; the experience prompted her to explore alternative care.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sent me down a few rabbit holes,\u201d McDaniel says. \u201cPreviously, I had studied naturopathy with the intention of going to a naturopathic school \u2014 herbalism, Reiki and light touch therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Leigh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776893474_357_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Leigh McDaniel says that after one session her clients often feel an immediate shift in their bodies. <\/p>\n
(Dania Maxwell \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n
While body wisdom and alternative healing are framed as part of the Goop-conscious modern wellness movement, McDaniel explains that these practices are not new. She cites Ubuntu<\/a>, a South African philosophy that informs her healing approach. \u201cIndigenous practices knew how to hold people in trauma,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re only just beginning to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n After an explanation of the nervous system, consent and the pelvic floor, her sessions begin with McDaniel burning sage or mugwort while the client is on the table. She asks for consent before touching the client and offers a prayer or blessing. McDaniel explains she\u2019s feeling for energy before moving on to the abdomen, where she applies various levels of pressure. She compares it to a guided meditation as she incorporates breathwork while asking clients to breathe into her fingers. She emphasizes that the client controls the pace and asks for consent at each step.<\/p>\n \u201cI think consent and boundaries are so critical to taking care of your body,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n The intimate nature of McDaniel\u2019s practice has garnered attention \u2014 and occasional skepticism. Comedian Ali Macofsky, for example, says with a smile, \u201cI go in person to this womb witch,\u201d on \u201cThe Endless Honeymoon\u201d podcast.<\/a> The hosts are baffled and intrigued. Macofsky adds, \u201cIt feels very old school the way women have to go through things.\u201d<\/p>\n Macofsky discovered Leigh through actor and comedian Syd Steinberg<\/a> who highly recommended her work. \u201cI went to help with some CPTSD [complex post-traumatic stress disorder] and TMJ [temporomandibular joint] pain and she helped,\u201d says Steinberg. \u201cShe really is a miracle worker.\u201d<\/p>\n Macofsky was intrigued by the whimsical title of \u201cWomb Witch.\u201d \u201cI was like, I\u2019ll make an appointment and see what happens.\u201d After a phone call, McDaniel explained that she helped clients with physical intimacy and sexual trauma through bodywork. The comedian was hooked.<\/p>\n Macofsky notes that in a culture where female pleasure is not prioritized, it\u2019s hard to know where to seek advice. After a session with Leigh where she discussed advocating for oneself sexually, Macofsky began to see the results take hold in surprising ways. \u201cIt\u2019s helping me in other areas where normally I\u2019d be uncomfortable to advocate for myself or speak up about what I want.\u201d<\/p>\n Clients seek out the womb witch for a variety of reasons. Some report physical discomfort during sexual encounters, while others come after experiencing sexual assault, abuse or consent violation. At other times, clients may experience stiffness or pain that McDaniel believes may be a reaction to trauma.<\/p>\n Her session also focuses on sexual health. McDaniel gives her clients a tutorial on pleasure anatomy and consent, most recently teaching sexual health lessons to a gathering in Silver Lake. \u201cI like to show a lot about the pleasure anatomy, the mobility of the uterus, and where the cervix is at different times of the month,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n McDaniel argues that pleasure is an important part of daily life. \u201cFemale pleasure is finally being noticed,\u201d she says. \u201cPleasure is a birthright. There\u2019s pleasure and there\u2019s grief. To be full-spectrum humans, we need to be feeling pleasure.\u201d McDaniel cites that recent studies claim the clitoris has 10,000 nerve endings<\/a>.<\/p>\n Leigh McDaniel holds a bowl of coconut and castor oil that she often uses with clients.<\/p>\n (Dania Maxwell \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n McDaniel says that everyday stress \u2014 including sexual harassment and misogyny \u2014 manifests in the body, often leading to chronic pain. \u201cIn patriarchy, the comments land in your body, and you find yourself bracing every time you pass them,\u201d she says. \u201cThey can seem so small and harmless, but even those little things add up. They\u2019re felt. It\u2019s part of feeling unsafe in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Though many people struggle to navigate the American healthcare system, more Americans are turning to a spiritual wellness approach. The National Institutes of Health<\/a> reports that holistic care methods such as meditation, acupuncture and yoga have grown significantly in recent years. Ancient Chinese medicine<\/a> techniques have gone viral on TikTok, capturing the attention of Gen Z. \u201cPeople are more willing to look outside the Western medicine model,\u201d McDaniel explains. \u201cI have people that come here to see me because of medical trauma too.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Tanaz R. Ferzandi, director of urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery at Keck Medicine of USC, believes that holistic medicine can be a potent adjunct to more traditional remedies. She has recommended acupuncture to her patients who have experienced sexual trauma. \u201cThe whole idea of acupuncture is you\u2019re lying there, and coming to peace with yourself and your body,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt\u2019s a forced therapy where you can be alone with yourself and shut out the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Simultaneously, Ferzandi believes a healthy amount of skepticism is good. \u201cWe have to stay scientific \u2014 what\u2019s the evidence behind it? As long as women understand that we don\u2019t know if there\u2019s data to support some of the things they\u2019re doing,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m very cautious about touting certain things that are somehow going to be a panacea.\u201d<\/p>\n McDaniel\u2019s explains its rare she encounters skeptics at her practice. \u201cI never try to convince anyone to come in for a session,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are scientific studies on the efficacy of different types of work that are adjacent to, or similar to what I do, but nothing exact.\u201d<\/p>\n She acknowledges elements of her work are difficult to quantify. \u201cThere is also a mysterious space between bodies, the client and myself, where something happens that I cannot really explain, but it feels magical,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t think any of this would convince anyone who is inherently skeptical though.\u201d<\/p>\n McDaniel views her daughter Luna\u2019s birth as the inciting incident into her true calling \u2014 becoming the \u201cWomb Witch.\u201d \u201cEverything that happened to my own body after her birth, it was a calling to do this,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve done so many things, and this is the first time I really feel settled in what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n ![\"Leigh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776893474_428_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n