Enhanced Sexual Performance: Yoga's Role in Boosting Intimacy and Satisfaction
In modern times, an increasing number of wellness blogs and personal accounts attest to the potential benefits of yoga for enhancing the sexual experience. However, does the scientific evidence support these claims? Let's investigate.
Historically, yoga has been acknowledged for its various health advantages, such as managing stress, depression, anxiety, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, among others. Now, researchers are delving deeper into the complex mechanisms underlying these benefits.
Evidence suggests that yoga can reduce the body's inflammatory response, counteract genetic expressions linked to stress, lower cortisol levels, and stimulate the production of a specific protein that aids brain growth and well-being. On top of these benefits, yoga simply feels good for many practitioners, occasionally reaching heights of extraordinary pleasure, according to popular discourse.
A growing body of research provides insights into the positive influence of yoga on sexual function, starting with the findings from a study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine. Researchers observed that 12 weeks of yoga practice significantly improved sexual function in women aged 45 and above, particularly in terms of desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. Approximately 75% of the women in the study reported an improvement in their sex lives following yoga training.
Notably, women in the study were guided through 22 yoga poses believed to improve core abdominal strength, digestion, pelvic floor, and mood. These poses include trikonasana, bhujangasana, and ardha matsyendra mudra. A full list can be found here.
Men, too, benefit from the practice of yoga, as demonstrated by a study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, India. After a 12-week yoga program, the participants reported improved satisfaction across multiple aspects of male sexual function, including desire, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm. It's worth noting that the same team of researchers found yoga to be a viable, non-pharmacological alternative for treating premature ejaculation.
But how exactly does yoga boost sexual function? A review of existing literature conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology provides some insight. They explain that yoga regulates attention, breathing, and stress levels while activating the nervous system responsible for promoting relaxation. Such effects, they assert, are associated with improvements in sexual response.
Psychologically, female practitioners of yoga tend to have a less objectified body image, and a heightened awareness of their physical selves. This self-awareness may encourage increased sexual responsibility, assertiveness, and desire.
Another yogic concept of interest is Moola bandha, a perineal contraction that stimulates the nervous system in the pelvic region, fostering relaxation and benefiting the gonads and pelvic floor. Some studies have linked Moola bandha to relieving period pain, childbirth pain, sexual difficulties for women, and controlling testosterone secretion in men. Moola bandha shares similarities with the medical practice of Kegel exercises, often recommended to prevent urinary incontinence and improve sexual satisfaction.
While the potential sexual benefits of yoga attract attention, it is essential to consider the disparity between empirical and anecdotal evidence. The existing studies that confirm improvements in sexual satisfaction and function for both men and women remain limited, often with a small sample size and an absence of control groups. However, more recent studies focusing on women with sexual dysfunction and other health conditions, such as metabolic syndrome, have yielded stronger evidence supporting the positive impact of yoga on sexual health.
- Despite consisting of limited research, more recent studies focusing on women with sexual dysfunction and other health conditions like metabolic syndrome, have provided stronger evidence supporting the positive impact of yoga on sexual health.
- The specific yoga poses, such as trikonasana, bhujangasana, and ardha matsyendra mudra, which were guided to women in a study, were found to significantly improve sexual function, particularly factors like desire, arousal, and satisfaction.
- Psychological benefits of yoga for women practitioners may contribute to improved sexual health, as they tend to have a less objectified body image and a heightened awareness of their physical selves, which may encourage increased sexual responsibility, assertiveness, and desire.
- Yogic concepts like Moola bandha, a perineal contraction, stimulate the nervous system in the pelvic region, promoting relaxation and benefiting gonads and the pelvic floor, hence being linked to relieving period pain, childbirth pain, sexual difficulties for women, and controlling testosterone secretion in men.
