Improved Sexual Performance through Yoga Practices: Insights into its Advantages
Wanna know if all the hype about yoga boosting your sex life is legit? Let's dive in and uncover the truth behind the claims.
The internet is bursting with wellness blogs preaching that yoga can greatly enhance your sexual experience, backed by numerous personal stories. But does science back up these claims? We're about to find out.
Research on yoga's health benefits has exploded in recent years, revealing its potential for treating a wide array of conditions ranging from stress and depression to metabolic syndrome and diabetes. And as it turns out, this ancient practice may also have some impressive effects on our bedroom antics.
First off, let's talk about women over the age of 45. A study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine found that 12 weeks of yoga improved their sexual function across the board - desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. And get this - a whopping 75% of the participants reported an enhancement in their sex life!
The women were trained on 22 yoga poses (or yogasanas) that strengthen the pelvic floor, improve digestion, and boost mood. Some examples? Trikonasana (triangle pose), bhujangasana (snake), and ardha matsyendra mudra (half spinal twist). You can learn more about these poses here.
Now, guys, don't feel left out! An analogous study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav, a neurologist at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, India, discovered that a 12-week yoga program significantly boosted male sexual satisfaction. This male group exhibited improvements in desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, and confidence, as well as erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm.
Want more? A comparative trial conducted by the same research team even found that yoga is a plausible, non-pharmacological alternative for treating premature ejaculation.
So, how does yoga work its magic down below? A review of existing literature, led by Dr. Lori Brotto from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, sheds some light on this question.
Yoga is shown to regulate attention and breathing, lower anxiety and stress, and activate our body's relaxation response. These effects are all linked to improvements in sexual response. There are also psychological mechanisms at play: Female yoga practitioners tend to have a more positive body image and be more aware of their physical self, which may lead to increased sexual confidence and desires.
One intriguing concept is moola bandha, a perineal contraction that stimulates the autonomic nervous system in the pelvic region and boosts relaxation. Some studies have suggested that practicing moola bandha can relieve period pain, childbirth pain, and sexual difficulties in women, as well as help men control testosterone secretion.
So, while tales of releasing blocked energy and moving kundalini energy up the spine to produce ejaculation-free male orgasms require more scientific evidence, it seems that yoga does have some reasonable explanations for its sexual health benefits.
Ready to give it a shot and reap the benefits for yourself? Your pelvic muscles will definitely thank you! Just remember that more research is needed to fully establish yoga's impact on our sex lives, but for now, incorporating it into your daily routine could be a game-changer.
- The study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine shows that 12 weeks of yoga can significantly improve sexual function for women over 45, with 75% of participants reporting an enhancement in their sex life.
- A 12-week yoga program led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav discovered that it can boost male sexual satisfaction, with improvements in desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, and confidence, as well as erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm.
- A review of existing literature suggests that yoga's sexual health benefits come from its ability to regulate attention and breathing, lower anxiety and stress, and activate the body's relaxation response, which are all linked to improvements in sexual response.
