Enhanced Sexual Wellbeing: Exploring Yoga's Contributions
Impulse comes a-knockin' with the interweb swarming with wellness blogs preaching yoga for a stellar sex life, flanked by personal tales of the art's uncanny effects on one's intimate experiences. But does the science validate these claims? Let's find out.
From ancient roots to modern-day healthcare, yoga has garnered attention for benefits ranging from easing stress and anxiety to managing diabetes and improving metabolic health. But can it really make your bedroom antics better? We investigate.
Yoga Ignites Sexual Sparks in Women
One often-cited study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine discovered that yoga could indeed boost sexual function – particularly in women over 45. This study analyzed the impact of 12 weeks of yoga on 40 women who reported on their sexual functions before and after. Post-yoga sessions, their sexual functions significantly improved across the board, as indicated by the Female Sexual Function Index (desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain). A whopping 75 percent of the women professed improved sex lives after their yoga training. These ladies were schooled on 22 poses, believed to fortify core muscles, boost digestion, strengthen pelvic floors, and improve mood. Poses such as trikonasana (triangle pose), bhujangasana (snake), and ardha matsyendra mudra (half spinal twist) graced their exercise routine.
Yoga Amps Up Men’s Performance
Ladies aren't the only ones reaping the rewards. A similar study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav, a neurologist at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, India, probed the effects of a 12-week yoga program on the sexual satisfaction of men. At the study's conclusion, the participants reported marked improvements in their sexual functions as assessed by the Male Sexual Quotient. Improvements were observed in all aspects of male sexual satisfaction – desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm. The researchers also conducted a comparative trial featuring the same crew, unearthing that yoga is a nonpharmacological, viable alternative to fluoxetine (Prozac) for treating premature ejaculation. This trial included 15 yoga poses, with simpler ones like Kapalbhati (involving a straight back, open chest, closed eyes, hands on knees, and contracted abdominal muscles) and more complex ones like dhanurasana (the bow pose).
Yoga's Secret Sauce for Better Sex
So, how does yoga enhance our amorous escapades? A literature review led by researchers at the University of British Columbia sheds light on some of its sex-boosting mechanisms. Dr. Lori Brotto, professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at UBC, is the first author of the review. Her team explains that yoga fine-tunes attention and breathing, diminishes anxiety and stress, and reigns in the nervous system that triggers relaxation. "All of these effects are associated with improvements in sexual response," write the researchers, "so it is reasonable that yoga might also be associated with improvements in sexual health."
There's also psychological wizardry at play. "Female yoga practitioners have been found to be less likely to objectify their bodies and more closely attuned to their physical selves," expound Dr. Brotto and her team, hinting at increased sexual responsibility, assertiveness, and potential desires.
Enter the Moola Bandha
Stories of unleashing blocked energy in root chakras and moving "kundalini energy" up and down the spine to produce ejaculation-free male orgasms may lack solid scientific evidence, but other yogic concepts intrigue skeptics. Moola Bandha is one such concept. "Moola Bandha is a perineal contraction that stimulates the sensory-motor and autonomic nervous system in the pelvic region, thereby enforcing parasympathetic activity in the body," write Dr. Brotto and her associates in their review. "Specifically, moola bandha is thought to directly innervate the gonads and perineal body/cervix." Some studies cited by researchers have suggested that practicing moola bandha relieves period pain, childbirth pain, and sexual challenges in women, as well as treating premature ejaculation and regulating testosterone secretion in men. Moola Bandha shares similarities with the modern, medically recommended Kegel exercises, thought to prevent urinary incontinence and aid men and women in enjoying sex for longer. Many sex therapy centers endorse this yoga practice to increase women's awareness of their genital arousal sensations and, consequently, improve desire and sexual experiences. Another yoga pose fortifying pelvic floor muscles is bhekasana (frog pose). This pose may help alleviate symptoms of vestibulodynia (vaginal pain) and vaginismus (involuntary vaginal muscle contractions).
The Evidence: A Mixed Bag
While the potential sexual benefits of yoga may arouse curiosity, it's crucial to remember that the gap between empirical (experimental) evidence and anecdotal (personal) accounts is vast. The internet houses a wealth of the latter, yet studies that probe yoga's effects on sexual functions remain somewhat scarce. Many of these studies suffer from small sample sizes and lack control groups or randomization, limiting their generalizability. That being said, recent studies focusing on women with sexual dysfunction in addition to other health conditions have delivered stronger evidence. For example, a randomized controlled trial studies the effects of yoga in women with metabolic syndrome, a community with a heightened risk of sexual dysfunction.
For these women, a 12-week yoga program led to "significant improvement" in arousal and lubrication, with no such improvements observed in the women who didn't practice yoga. Improvements were also noted 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 metabolic risk factors." Another randomized trial examined the sexual benefits of yoga for women suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS). The participants underwent three months of yoga training consisting of eight weekly sessions. Crucially, yoga group women showed improvements in physical ability and sexual function, while women in the control group experienced deterioration. "Yoga techniques may improve physical activities and sexual satisfaction for women with MS," declared the study paper's conclusion.
So, while we need more rigorous scientific evidence to cement yoga's benefits for our bedroom escapades, the seeds are certainly there. Until further research verifies whether "yogasms" are a reality, we think there's ample reason to incorporate yoga in our daily lives – and our pelvic muscles will thank us for it.
- Yoga has been shown to boost sexual function, particularly in women over 45, as indicated by a study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
- The scientific study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav found that a 12-week yoga program significantly improved male sexual functions, as assessed by the Male Sexual Quotient.
- According to a literature review led by researchers at the University of British Columbia, yoga can enhance sexual health by fine-tuning attention and breathing, diminishing anxiety and stress, and reigning in the nervous system that triggers relaxation, among other benefits.
