Enhanced Sexual Performance through Yoga: Insights on Its Advantages
Yoga, the ancient practice, has garnered attention in the modern wellness community for its purported impact on sexual health. Personal accounts and blogs frequently advocate for yoga as a means to enhance sexual experiences. However, does scientific research support these claims? Let's explore.
Recent research has begun to unveil the myriad health advantages associated with yoga, including alleviating conditions such as depression, stress, anxiety, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and thyroid problems.
The benefits go beyond physical health; yoga has been found to lower the body's inflammatory response, counter genetic expressions that predispose individuals to stress, decrease cortisol levels, and boost a protein that aids in brain growth and maintenance.
Enhanced sexual function is one of the intriguing advantages attributed to yoga. In a study published in "The Journal of Sexual Medicine," researchers found that a 12-week yoga program improved sexual function in women, particularly those over 45. The improvements were noted across various aspects of the Female Sexual Function Index, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. Up to 75% of the women reported improvements in their sex lives after yoga training.
The study involved teaching the women 22 yogic postures, or yogasanas, believed to bolster core abdominal muscles, improve digestion, strengthen the pelvic floor, and enhance mood. Some of the poses included trikonasana (triangle pose), bhujangasana (snake pose), and ardha matsyendra mudra (half spinal twist).
Men also reap the benefits of yoga in terms of sexual health. 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 led to improved sexual satisfaction in men, as gauged by the standard Male Sexual Quotient. The researchers discovered enhancements in various aspects of male sexual satisfaction, including desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm.
The study also found that yoga could be an effective, non-pharmacological treatment for Premature Ejaculation. It involved 15 yoga poses, ranging from the simpler Kapalbhati (a breathing exercise) to the more complex dhanurasana (bow pose).
Researchers from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, conducted a review to better understand the sexual-enhancing mechanisms behind yoga. They explained that yoga regulates attention and breathing, lowers anxiety and stress, and activates the nervous system that promotes relaxation, which are all associated with improvements in sexual response.
Female practitioners of yoga are found to be less inclined to objectify their bodies and more attuned to their physical selves, according to Dr. Lori Brotto, the lead author of the review. This heightened body awareness, in turn, may foster sexual responsibility, assertiveness, and desires.
One yogic concept that may explain the connection between yoga and sexual health is Moola Bandha. Moola Bandha is a perineal contraction that stimulates the pelvic region's sensory-motor and autonomic nervous systems, enforcing parasympathetic activity in the body. It is thought to directly affect the gonads and perineal body/cervix. Some studies have suggested that practicing Moola Bandha may alleviate period pain, childbirth pain, and sexual difficulties in women, as well as treat premature ejaculation and control testosterone secretion in men.
While the potential sexual benefits of yoga are intriguing, it is essential to remember that the number of empirical, or experimental, studies investigating yoga's impact on sexual function is limited. However, more recent studies focusing on women with sexual dysfunction and other conditions have produced stronger evidence.
For instance, a randomized controlled trial examined the effects of yoga in women with metabolic syndrome, a population with a higher risk of sexual dysfunction. The 12-week yoga program led to "significant improvement" in arousal and lubrication for these women, whereas such improvements were not observed in the women who did not practice yoga.
Improvements were also seen in blood pressure, leading 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 examined the sexual benefits of yoga for women living with multiple sclerosis. The participants underwent 3 months of yoga training, consisting of eight weekly sessions. Importantly, women in the yoga group "showed improvement in physical ability" and sexual function, "while women in the control group manifested exacerbated symptoms."
While more research is needed to fully understand the extent to which yoga promotes better sexual health, the evidence sufficiently suggests that incorporating yoga into our daily lives may have positive effects on sexual function and overall well-being. Incorporating this ancient practice into our lives may yield tantalizing benefits for our health and, perhaps, our romantic lives.
- The research on yoga's impact on sexual health is expanding, with some studies indicating improvements in sexual function for both men and women. For instance, a 12-week yoga program led to improved sexual satisfaction in men, as measured by the Male Sexual Quotient.
- Yoga, beyond its physical health benefits, has been found to positively influence sexual health. One study found that practicing Moola Bandha, a yogic contraction, may alleviate sexual difficulties in women and treat premature ejaculation in men.
- The combination of relaxation techniques, improved body awareness, and regulation of the nervous system through yoga practice may foster sexual responsibility, assertiveness, and desires in female practitioners, as suggested by a review conducted by researchers from the University of British Columbia.
