Enhancing Sexual Performance Through Yoga: Unveiling Its Positive Impacts
Unleashing the Power of Yoga: A Deep Dive into its Sex-Enhancing Properties
The web is brimming with wellness blogs endorsing yoga for a stellar sex life, backed by personal accounts claiming significant improvements. But does science substantiate these claims? Join us as we delve into the hidden world of yoga benefits on sexual function.
Yoga, an ancient practice, is gradually revealing its multifaceted health benefits, such as alleviating depression, stress, anxiety, metabolic syndrome, and improving thyroid issues. Recent studies are also uncovering the intricate mechanisms governing these advantages.
For instance, yoga diminishes the body's inflammatory response, negates the genetic stress predisposition, lowers cortisol, and bolsters a protein boosting the brain's growth and health. Let's not forget, it leaves you feeling fantastic, with tales of coregasms during practice creating quite a buzz!
Now, the question is, can yoga's creative poses transform our sexual experiences? Let's dive into the science.
Yoga Magic for Women Over 45
A study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine analyzed the impact of 12 weeks of yoga on 40 women aged 45 and above. Each participant reported on their sexual function before and after the sessions, and the results were remarkable.
Post the 12-week period, the women's sexual function showcased significant improvements across all aspects of the Female Sexual Function Index, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. A staggering 75 percent of the women reported improved sex lives following yoga training.
The women were trained on 22 poses, including trikonasana (triangle pose), bhujangasana (snake), and ardha matsyendra mudra (half spinal twist). For the complete list of asanas, head here.
Yoga's Magic Touch for Men
Men aren't left out of the fun! Dr. Vikas Dhikav, a neurologist at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, India, led a study on a 12-week yoga program's effects on men's sexual satisfaction.
At the end of the session, the participants boasted a considerable improvement in their sexual function, as assessed by the standard Male Sexual Quotient. The researchers detected enhancements across all aspects of male sexual satisfaction, such as desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm.
In a similar comparative trial, the same researchers found that yoga is a viable and nonpharmacological alternative to fluoxetine (Prozac) for treating premature ejaculation. The regimen included 15 yoga poses, ranging from the simple Kapalbhati to the complex dhanurasana (bow pose).
Exploring the Yoga Mechanisms for Tantalizing Happy Endings
So, how does yoga improve our carnal experiences in the dark of the night? A review led by researchers at the University of British Columbia's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology provides some fascinating insights.
Dr. Lori Brotto, professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University of British Columbia, and her team explain that yoga regulates attention and breathing, minimizes anxiety and stress, and modulates – that is, activates the part of the nervous system responsible for relaxation, slowing the heart rate, and triggering other metabolic processes that induce relaxation.
These effects are believed to be associated with improvements in sexual response, implying that yoga could be linked to sexual health improvements. Furthermore, there are psychological mechanisms at play. Female yoga practitioners have been found to be less likely to objectify their bodies, promoting increased sexual assertiveness and desires.
The Wonders of Moola Bandha
Though tales of liberating blocked energy in root chakras and moving "kundalini energy" to cause ejaculation-free male orgasms lack solid scientific evidence, other yogic concepts may appeal to the skeptics. Moola bandha, for instance, is one of them.
"Moola bandha is a pelvic contraction that stimulates the sensory-motor and autonomic nervous system in the pelvic region, and consequently enforces parasympathetic activity in the body," explain Dr. Brotto and colleagues in their review.
"Specifically, moola bandha directly innervates the gonads and perineal body/cervix." A video demonstrating the integration of the movement into a pelvic floor muscles practice can be found here.
Studies cited by the researchers suggest that practicing moola bandha offers relief from period pain, childbirth pain, and sexual difficulties in women, as well as controlling testosterone secretion in men. Moola bandha is akin to the modern, medically recommended Kegel exercises, which are thought to prevent urinary incontinence and help individuals enjoy sex for longer.
Moreover, bhekasana, or the "frog pose," strengthens the pelvic floor muscles and may ease symptoms of vestibulodynia (vaginal pain) and vaginismus (involuntary contraction of vaginal muscles).
How Transparent is the Evidence?
Though the romanticized potential of yoga for sexual benefits may be exciting, it's essential to bear in mind the considerable gap between the available empirical evidence and anecdotal evidence.
The internet abounds with non-empirical evidence, but research examining the effects of yoga on sexual function remains scarce. Most of the studies mentioned earlier, which reported enhancements in sexual satisfaction and function for both men and women, boasted small sample sizes without a control group.
However, more recent studies, focusing on women with sexual dysfunction along with other conditions, have provided stronger evidence. For example, a randomized controlled trial investigated the effects of a 12-week yoga program on women with metabolic syndrome, a population with a higher risk of sexual dysfunction.
For these women, a 12-week yoga program yielded "significant improvement" in arousal and lubrication, while similar improvements were not noticed in the women who did not practice yoga. Improvements were also observed in blood pressure, leading 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 trial focused on women living with multiple sclerosis (MS). The participants undertook three months of yoga training consisting of eight weekly sessions. Importantly, women in the yoga group "displayed improvements in physical ability" and sexual function, while women in the control group exhibited exacerbated symptoms.
"Yoga techniques may improve physical activities and sexual satisfaction in women with MS," the study paper concluded.
While we impatiently await more substantial scientific evidence to verify the legitimacy of "yogasms," there seems to be enough evidence to dabble in yoga and reap its tantalizing benefits. If you're brave enough to test it for yourself, your pelvic muscles will surely appreciate it!
- The scientific community is yet to fully substantiate the claims of improved sexual function through yoga, but recent studies suggest that it may have profound effects.
- In a study of women over 45, the Female Sexual Function Index showed significant improvements in desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain after 12 weeks of yoga training.
- Men also witnessed improvements in their sexual satisfaction following a 12-week yoga program, with enhancements across various aspects such as desire, performance, and orgasm.
- Researchers at the University of British Columbia's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology have linked yoga's effects on sexual health to its regulation of attention, breathing, and reduction of anxiety and stress.
- One specific yogic technique, Moola Bandha, innervates the gonads and perineal body/cervix, offering potential relief from period pain, childbirth pain, sexual difficulties in women, and even controlling testosterone secretion in men.
- While empirical evidence regarding yoga's sexual benefits is sparse, recent studies focusing on women with metabolic syndrome and multiple sclerosis have shown significant improvements in sexual function and physical ability, lending credence to the practice's potential.
