Enhanced Sexual Performance through Yoga Practices: Exploring the Advantages
Research Explores Link Between Yoga and Sexual Wellness
In the ever-growing digital landscape, an abundance of wellness blogs recommend yoga for enhanced sexual experiences. However, does the research substantiate these claims? Let's investigate.
Yoga, an age-old practice, is increasingly being studied for its wide-ranging health benefits. Conditions such as stress, depression, anxiety, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and thyroid problems may find relief through regular yoga practice.
Recent research delves into the mechanisms behind these benefits. Yoga has been found to reduce the body's inflammatory response, alter genes that predispose individuals to stress, lower cortisol levels, and boost proteins that promote brain growth and health.
But can yoga positively impact our sex lives? We examine the scientific evidence.
Yoga Improves Sexual Function in Women
A study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine found promising results. Over a 12-week period, 40 women who self-reported on their sexual function underwent yoga sessions. The participants, primarily women over 45, reported significant improvements across all sections of the Female Sexual Function Index, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. As many as 75 percent of the women reported enhancements in their sexual lives after yoga training.
The participants were trained on 22 yogasanas, or poses, believed to strengthen the pelvic floor, improve digestion, and boost mood. The poses included trikonasana, bhujangasana, and ardha matsyendra mudra. More information on the asanas can be found here.
Yoga also shows promise for men. A study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav, a neurologist at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, India, found improvements in male sexual satisfaction after a 12-week yoga program. Improvements were noted in desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm.
Yogic Mechanisms for Enhanced Sexual Function
Research from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver provides insights into yoga's sex-enhancing mechanisms. Yoga regulates attention and breathing, lowers anxiety and stress, and activates the nervous system to promote relaxation. These effects are linked to improved sexual response.
Furthermore, female yoga practitioners are less likely to objectify their bodies and more aware of their physical selves. This awareness may foster increased sexual responsibility, assertiveness, and desire.
The Moola Bandha
While mythical stories about energy release and kundalini energy may lack scientific evidence, other yogic concepts may resonate with skeptics. Moola bandha, a perineal contraction, stimulates the autonomic nervous system in the pelvic region, promoting relaxation and potentially improving sexual function.
Moola bandha may offer relief from period pain, childbirth pain, and sexual difficulties in women, as well as treating premature ejaculation and controlling testosterone secretion in men. It is similar to the modern, medically recommended exercises thought to prevent urinary incontinence and enhance sexual satisfaction.
In conclusion, while more research is needed to confirm the sexual benefits of yoga, the preliminary evidence is promising. Yoga's effects on overall health, psychological well-being, and trauma recovery may indirectly enhance sexual function. As our pelvic muscles—and potentially our overall well-being—might thank us for it, incorporating yoga into our daily routines seems like a worthwhile exploration.
- In the realm of health-and-wellness and fitness-and-exercise, research has uncovered the potential link between yoga and sexual wellness.
- Yoga practices, including poses like trikonasana, bhujangasana, and ardha matsyendra mudra, seem to positively influence sexual function, as shown through studies on both men and women.
- The science behind yoga's impact on sexual health includes its ability to regulate attention, lower anxiety and stress, and promote relaxation, which can lead to improved sexual response.
