Enhanced Sexual Function Through Yoga Practice: Yoga's Impact on Intimacy and Libido
The internet is full of wellness blogs extolling the virtues of yoga for a better sex life, with personal accounts claiming improved sexual experiences - sometimes spectacularly so. But does the science back these claims? Let's find out.
Yoga, an ancient practice, is increasingly being recognized for its wide-ranging health benefits, from reducing stress and anxiety to improving metabolic health and managing thyroid issues. Recent research has delved into the mechanics behind these benefits.
It turns out that yoga can lower the body's inflammatory response, counter stress-inducing genetic expression, lower cortisol levels, and boost a protein that promotes brain growth and health. As if that isn't enough, it just feels damn good. Some even suggest it feels absolutely freaking fantastic - aka, the rumored 'coregasm' during yoga.
Touching base with our bodies can be rejuvenating, restorative, and physically pleasurable. But can yoga's yummy poses actually improve our sex lives? Let's have a look at the research.
Yoga Boosts Sexual Function in Women
One study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine discovered that yoga can indeed enhance sexual function, especially in women over 45. The study analyzed the impact of 12 weeks of yoga on 40 women, who self-reported on their sexual function before and after the sessions.
Post the 12-week period, the women's sexual function had significantly improved across all sections of the Female Sexual Function Index: "desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain." An impressive 75% of the women reported improvement in their sex life after yoga training.
The women were taught 22 poses, or yogasanas, believed to strengthen the pelvic floor, boost digestion, improve mood, and work on the core abdominal muscles. Three of these poses are trikonasana (triangle pose), bhujangasana (snake pose), and ardha matsyendra mudra (half spinal twist). You can access the full list here.
Men Reap the Benefits Too
Men aren't left out either. A study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav, a neurologist at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, India, examined the influence of a 12-week yoga program on the sexual satisfaction of men.
At the study's end, the participants reported significant improvement in their sexual function, as assessed by the standard Male Sexual Quotient. The researchers documented improvement across all aspects of male sexual satisfaction: "desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm."
The team also conducted a comparative trial, finding that yoga is a viable and nonpharmacological alternative to Prozac for treating premature ejaculation. It included 15 yoga poses, ranging from simpler ones (such as Kapalbhati) to more complex ones (such as dhanurasana, or the "bow pose").
Yoga's Sex-Enhancing Mechanisms
So, how does yoga improve our sex lives, exactly? A review of existing literature led by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver helps us understand some of its sex-enhancing mechanisms.
Dr. Lori Brotto, a professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at UBC, is the first author of the review.
Dr. Brotto and colleagues explain that yoga regulates attention and breathing, lowers anxiety and stress, and controls - that is, activates the part of the nervous system that tells your body to chill out, relax, rest, digest, lower heart rate, and triggers any other metabolic processes that induce relaxation.
"All of these effects are associated with improvements in sexual response," write the reviewers, so it is "reasonable that yoga might also be associated with improvements in sexual health."
There are also psychological mechanisms at play. "Female practitioners of yoga have been found to be less likely to objectify their bodies," explain Dr. Brotto and her colleagues, "and to be more aware of their physical selves."
"This tendency, in turn, may be associated with increased sexual responsibility and assertiveness, and perhaps sexual desires."
The Power of the Moola Bandha
Stories about unblocking energy in root chakras and moving 'kundalini energy' up and down the spine, culminating in ejaculation-free male orgasms, are not backed by solid scientific evidence.
However, other yogic concepts could be more convincing to the skeptics among us. Moola bandha is one such concept.
"Moola bandha is a perineal contraction that stimulates the sensory-motor and the autonomic nervous system in the pelvic region, and therefore enforces parasympathetic activity in the body," write Dr. Brotto and her colleagues in their review.
"Specifically, moola bandha is thought to directly innervate the gonads and perineal body/cervix." The video below integrates the movement into a practice for pelvic floor muscles.
Some studies quoted by the researchers have suggested that practicing moola bandha relieves menstrual pain, childbirth pain, and sexual difficulties in women, as well as treating premature ejaculation and controlling testosterone secretion in men.
Moola bandha is similar to the modern, medically recommended Kegel exercises, thought to prevent urinary incontinence and help individuals enjoy sex for longer. In fact, many sex therapy centers recommend this yoga practice to help women become more aware of their sensations of arousal in the genital area, leading to improved desire and sexual experience.
Another yoga pose that strengthens the pelvic floor muscles is bhekasana, or the "frog pose." Along with improving the sexual experience, this pose may help alleviate symptoms of vestibulodynia, pain in the vestibule of the vagina, and vaginismus, the involuntary contraction of vaginal muscles that prevents women from enjoying penetrative sex.
The Depth of the Evidence
While it's easy to get excited about the potential sexual benefits of yoga, it's important to remember the vast discrepancy between the amount of empirical, or experimental, evidence, and that of anecdotal evidence.
The Internet abounds with the latter, but the studies that have actually trialed the benefits of yoga for sexual function remain scarce. The studies mentioned above - which found improvements in sexual satisfaction and function for both men and women - have relatively small sample sizes and did not benefit from a control group.
However, more recent studies - which focused on women with sexual dysfunction in addition to other conditions - have yielded stronger evidence. For instance, a randomized controlled trial examined the effects of yoga in women with metabolic syndrome, a population with a higher risk of sexual dysfunction.
For these women, a 12-week yoga program led to "significant improvement" in arousal and lubrication, whereas such improvements were not seen in the women who did not practice yoga. Improvements were also found in blood pressure, prompting the 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 controlled trial looked at the sexual benefits of yoga for women living with multiple sclerosis (MS). The participants underwent 3 months of yoga training, consisting of eight weekly sessions. Importantly, women in the yoga group "showed improvement in physical ability" and sexual function, while women in the control group "manifested exacerbated symptoms."
"Yoga techniques may improve the physical activities and sexual satisfaction function of women with MS," the study paper concluded.
So, while we need more scientific evidence to confirm yoga's benefits for our sex lives, the seeds are certainly planted. Until future research can conclusively determine whether 'yogasms' are a real, achievable thing, we think there's enough reason to give yoga a try. And our pelvic muscles will definitely thank us for it.
- Yoga, through its practice, has been found to enhance sexual function in women, particularly those over 45, as indicated in a study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
- The research also suggests that men can benefit from yoga, as noted in a study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav, with improvements in sexual function across all aspects of male sexual satisfaction.
- The sex-enhancing mechanisms of yoga are attributed to its regulation of attention and breathing, lowering anxiety and stress, and activating the parasympathetic nervous system, according to a review of existing literature at the University of British Columbia.
