Improved Sexual Function through Yoga Practice: Insights and Advantages
The digital realm swarms with wellness blogs preaching yoga as the key to a mind-blowing sex life, yet do scientific research and anecdotal accounts align? Let's dive in.
Yoga, an ancient practice, is unveiling its numerous health perks in contemporary times. Conditions such as stress, depression, anxiety, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and thyroid issues are among those it reportedly helps alleviate.
Recent studies scrutinize the complex underpinnings of such health benefits. These reveal that yoga lowers inflammation, tweaks genetic expression linked to stress, decreases cortisol, and boosts the protein that maintains brain health. Add to it an invigorating sensation, and if those mystery tales of coregasms during yoga are to be believed, it feels freakin' great!
Touching base with our bodies can offer feelings of replenishment, healing, and sheer physical pleasure. But can yoga's tantalizing postures boost our sexual escapades? Let's explore the research.
Sensual Stretching for the Ladies
A renowned study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine discovered that yoga could indeed enhance sexual function, particularly beneficial for ladies aged 45 and above. The research examined the impact of 12 weeks of yoga on 40 women, gauging their sexual function before and post-yoga sessions.
Upon completion of the program, these women reported significant improvements across all domains of the Female Sexual Function Index: "desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain." A whopping 75 percent of them reportedly experienced a transformation in their love lives.
Throughout the study, all participants practiced 22 poses or yogasanas reputed to boost core abdominal strength, enhance digestion, fortify the pelvic floor, and elevate mood. Trikonasana (triangle pose), bhujangasana (snake pose), and ardha matsyendra mudra (half spinal twist) were among them. For the full list of asanas, click here.
Seducing the Fellas
Yoga entices more than just women. Dr. Vikas Dhikav, a neurologist at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, India, spearheaded a study examining the effects of a 12-week yoga program on male sexual satisfaction.
By the end of the study, the participants reported significant enhancements in their sexual performance as per the standard Male Sexual Quotient. Improvements were spotted in all aspects of male sexual satisfaction: "desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculation control, [and] orgasm."
A comparative trial conducted by the same team unveiled that yoga serves as a feasible and non-pharmacological alternative to the antidepressant, fluoxetine (Prozac), for treating premature ejaculation. The study included 15 yoga poses, ranging from the easier Kapalbhati to the more challenging dhanurasana (bow pose).
Yoga's Sexual Magic
But how does yoga spark passion in our lives? A literature review by researchers at University of British Columbia's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology enlightens us on some sex-enhancing mechanisms.
Dr. Lori Brotto, a professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at UBC, was the first author of the review. Dr. Brotto and her colleagues explain that yoga regulates attention and breathing, lowers anxiety and stress, and influences the nervous system to induce relaxation.
"All of these effects are associated with improvements in sexual response," write the researchers, making it "reasonable to suspect that yoga might also be associated with improvements in sexual health."
There are also psychological factors involved. "Female practitioners of yoga tend to be less likely to objectify their bodies," explain Dr. Brotto and her colleagues, "and more aware of their physical selves."
This self-consciousness, they posit, may lead to increased sexual responsibility, assertiveness, and desires.
The Magic of the Moola Bandha
Stories of unleashing blocked energy in root chakras and moving "kundalini energy" up and down the spine seem questionable in light of scientific evidence. But other yogic concepts might strike a chord among the skeptics. Moola bandha is one such theory.
"Moola bandha is a perineal contraction that affects the sensory-motor and autonomic nervous system in the pelvic region, and consequently enforces parasympathetic activity in the body," explain Dr. Brotto and her colleagues in their review.
According to the reviewers, moola bandha particularly innervates the gonads and the perineal body/cervix. Some studies mentioned by the researchers suggest that moola bandha could offer relief from period pain, childbirth pain, and sexual difficulties in women, as well as treat premature ejaculation and regulate testosterone secretion in men.
Moola bandha is much like the modern medically recommended Kegel exercises, which are believed to hinder urinary incontinence and prolong intercourse. In fact, many sex therapy centers encourage this yoga practice to enhance women's awareness of their genital sensations and boost their sexual experience.
Another yoga pose, bhekasana (the "frog pose"), strengthens the pelvic floor muscles and may alleviate discomfort in symptoms of vestibulodynia and vaginismus, conditions affecting the vestibule of the vagina and causing involuntary contractions of vaginal muscles that obstruct penetrative sex, respectively.
The Credibility of the Evidence
While the potential sexual benefits of yoga might elicit enthusiasm, it's worth recalling the gap between the voluminous anecdotal evidence and the limited empirical research in this area. The Internet is saturated with anecdotal stories, but studies evaluating the impact of yoga on sexual function are scarce.
However, more recent studies focusing on women dealing with sexual dysfunction in addition to other conditions have shown stronger evidence. For instance, a randomized controlled trial in women with metabolic syndrome revealed "significant improvement" in arousal and lubrication for those who practiced yoga, while no such improvements were observed in the non-yoga group.
Improvements were also noticed in blood pressure, leading researchers to conclude that "yoga may be an effective treatment for sexual dysfunction in women with metabolic syndrome as well as for metabolic risk factors."
Another randomized study for women with multiple sclerosis found that those in the yoga group improved in physical ability and sexual function, whereas the control group exhibited worsened symptoms.
"Yoga techniques might improve physical activities and sexual satisfaction in women with MS," the study concluded.
Though more conclusive evidence is needed to verify yoga's effects on our love lives, it's safe to say that the intrigue is well-founded. Until further research confirms whether "yogasms" are reachable, it's worth a shot to incorporate yoga into our daily routines. And trust us, our pelvic muscles will thank us!
Yoga, an ancient practice, is increasingly recognized for its numerous health benefits, including improvements in sexual health. A study in The Journal of Sexual Medicine found that 12 weeks of yoga enhanced sexual function in women aged 45 and above. Men also reported improved sexual performance after a 12-week yoga program.
Research led by Dr. Lori Brotto at the University of British Columbia's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology suggests that yoga regulates attention and breathing, lowers anxiety and stress, and affects the nervous system to induce relaxation – all factors associated with improvements in sexual response.
Yoga poses such as moola bandha and bhekasana are believed to strengthen pelvic floor muscles, offering relief from period pain, childbirth pain, and sexual difficulties in women, as well as regulating testosterone secretion in men. This is similar to medically recommended Kegel exercises.
While empirical research in this area is scarce, recent studies focusing on women dealing with sexual dysfunction in addition to other conditions have shown stronger evidence. For instance, a randomized controlled trial in women with metabolic syndrome revealed significant improvements in arousal and lubrication for those who practiced yoga.
Improvements were also noticed in blood pressure, leading researchers to conclude that yoga may be an effective treatment for sexual dysfunction in women with metabolic syndrome as well as for metabolic risk factors.
Another randomized study for women with multiple sclerosis found that those in the yoga group improved in physical ability and sexual function, whereas the control group exhibited worsened symptoms. Thus, though more conclusive evidence is needed, it's safe to say that the intrigue surrounding yoga's potential sexual benefits is well-founded.
As part of a holistic approach to health-and-wellness, education-and-self-development, and personal-growth – including mental-health, mens-health, and womens-health – it's worth incorporating yoga into our daily fitness-and-exercise routines. After all, our pelvic muscles will thank us!
