Yoga's Positive Impact on Sexual Health and Functionality
Wellness blogs and personal accounts tout yoga's potential for improving sexual experiences, but does scientific research support these claims? We delve into the topic.
Yoga, with its origins rooted in ancient practices, is gaining recognition for its numerous health benefits. Some of these benefits include alleviating conditions such as stress, anxiety, depression, and metabolic syndrome. More recently, research has uncovered the intricate mechanisms behind these benefits.
Yoga has been found to lower the body's inflammatory response, counter genetic stress triggers, decrease cortisol levels, and boost the production of a protein that promotes brain growth and maintenance. The feel-good factor associated with yoga isn't confined to a sense of serenity; for some, it extends to a heightened level of pleasure, often referred to as "coregasms" during yoga.
With these benefits in mind, it's natural to wonder if yoga could enhance sexual encounters. We examine the research.
Yoga and Female Sexual Function
A study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine found that yoga significantly improved sexual function in a group of women aged 45 and over, across areas including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. As many as 75 percent of the participants reported an improvement in their sexual lives after yoga practice.
The women were trained in 22 poses or yogasanas, believed to improve core abdominal muscles, digestion, pelvic floor strength, and mood. Some of these poses included trikonasana (triangle pose), bhujangasana (snake pose), and ardha matsyendra mudra (half spinal twist). The full list can be found here.
Yoga and Male Sexual Function
Men also stand to benefit from yoga. A study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav, a neurologist at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, India, discovered improvements in male sexual satisfaction after a 12-week yoga program.
The participants demonstrated enhanced desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm. Additionally, a comparative trial by the same team found yoga to be a viable and nonpharmacological alternative to fluoxetine for treating premature ejaculation.
Yoga's mechanisms for better sexual health have been explored in a study led by researchers at the University of British Columbia. They explain that yoga regulates attention and breathing, reduces anxiety and stress, and activates the nervous system's relaxation response, all of which have been associated with enhanced sexual response.
There's also a psychological aspect to yoga's sexual benefits. Female practitioners have been found to be less likely to objectify their bodies and more aware of their physical selves, potentially leading to increased sexual responsibility, assertiveness, and desire.
The Moola Bandha Effect
While tales of releasing blocked energy in root chakras and attaining kundalini energy-induced orgasms are met with skepticism, other yogic concepts may resonate with skeptics. One such concept is Moola Bandha, a perineal contraction that stimulates the nervous system in the pelvic region, promoting relaxation and emphasizing parasympathetic activity in the body.
Researchers believe that practicing Moola Bandha could relieve period pain, childbirth pain, and sexual difficulties in women, as well as treat premature ejaculation and regulate testosterone secretion in men. In fact, many sex therapy centers recommend Moola Bandha to help women become more aware of their genital arousal, thereby improving desire and sexual experience.
Another yoga pose, Bhekasana (frog pose), can help ease symptoms of vestibulodynia (vaginal pain) and vaginismus (involuntary vaginal muscle contractions), conditions that can adversely affect sexual pleasure.
The Limitations of Evidence
While the potential sexual benefits of yoga excite, it's essential to consider the gap between empirical, or experimental, evidence, and anecdotal evidence. The internet hosts a plethora of the latter, but the studies investigating yoga's effects on sexual function remain relatively scarce.
Most of the aforementioned studies have small sample sizes and lack control groups. However, more recent studies, such as those focusing on women with metabolic syndrome, have produced stronger evidence for yoga's sexual benefits.
For instance, a randomized controlled trial found that women with metabolic syndrome who completed a 12-week yoga program exhibited significant improvements in sexual arousal and lubrication, compared to women who did not practice yoga. Improvements were also observed in blood pressure, leading researchers to suggest 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 showed that yoga could improve the sexual satisfaction of women with multiple sclerosis, reducing symptoms and enhancing physical ability.
In conclusion, while more scientific evidence is needed to verify yoga's effects on sexual function, the indications are promising. Whether "yogasms" are a real, achievable thing remains to be determined. However, the myriad indirect benefits of yoga—improved pelvic floor strength, mental health, and overall well-being—strongly suggest that incorporating yoga into our daily routines could enhance our sexual experiences, and our pelvic muscles would certainly thank us for it.
- The study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine found that practicing specific yoga poses could significantly improve sexual function in women aged 45 and over, leading to increased desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain reduction.
- A 12-week yoga program led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav improved male sexual satisfaction, enhancing desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm, making yoga a possible alternative to pharmacological treatments for premature ejaculation.
- Researchers believe that practicing Moola Bandha, a yogic contraction that stimulates the pelvic nervous system, could provide relief for period pain, childbirth pain, sexual difficulties in women, and premature ejaculation and regulate testosterone secretion in men, potentially improving overall sexual health.
