Improved Sexual Health Through Yoga Practices: Uncovering the Intriguing Link
Dive into the world of wellness blogs that sing the praises of yoga for a better sex life, or listen to personal accounts of its life-changing effects on sexual experiences. But does the research back up these claims? Let's investigate, shall we?
Yoga, this ancient practice that's gaining modern popularity, has an array of reported benefits for our health. Ranging from helping with depression, stress, and anxiety to improving metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and thyroid problems. And, as we'll dive deeper, we'll see that its benefits extend far beyond our physical health.
Intriguingly, recent studies have explained the complex mechanisms behind yoga's benefits. Turns out, yoga reduces the body's inflammatory response, counters genetic expression that predisposes people to stress, lowers cortisol, and increases production of a protein essential for brain growth and health. Sounds pretty awesome, right?
But let's focus on the juicy part - can yoga's poses actually enhance our sex lives? We sift through the evidence.
Yoga Empowers Women in the Bedroom
One study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine shed light on yoga's potential to improve sexual function, particularly in women aged 45 or older. This study explored the effects of 12 weeks of yoga on 40 women who self-reported their sexual function before and after their yoga practices.
After the 12-week period, the women's sexual function had significantly improved across all sections of the Female Sexual Function Index, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. An astounding 75 percent of the women reported an improvement in their sex life after their yoga training.
These women were taught 22 poses, like trikonasana, bhujangasana, and ardha matsyendra mudra, believed to improve core abdominal muscles, digestion, pelvic floor strength, and mood. Interested in these poses? Check 'em out here.
Yoga Elevates Sexual Satisfaction in Men
But yoga benefits men as well! A study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav, a neurologist at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, India, examined the effects of a 12-week yoga program on male sexual satisfaction.
Upon completion of the study period, participants reported significant improvements in their sexual function, as evaluated by the standard Male Sexual Quotient. The researchers found improvements across all aspects of male sexual satisfaction - desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm.
Going a step further, a comparative trial by the same team of researchers found that yoga is a viable and nonpharmacological alternative to fluoxetine (Prozac) for treating premature ejaculation. This trial included 15 yoga poses, such as Kapalbhati and dhanurasana.
Yoga's Mechanisms for Better Sex
But how does yoga work its magic? A review of existing literature by researchers at the University of British Columbia helps us understand some of yoga's sex-enhancing mechanisms.
Led by Dr. Lori Brotto, a professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at UBC, this review explains that yoga regulates attention and breathing, lowers anxiety and stress, and activates the part of the nervous system that promotes relaxation. These effects are associated with improvements in sexual response, Brotto and her colleagues note.
Psychological mechanisms are at play as well. Female practitioners of yoga, the researchers note, are less likely to objectify their bodies and more aware of their physical selves. This self-awareness, they suggest, may be associated with increased sexual responsibility, assertiveness, and desires.
The Moola Bandha, a Yoga SecretWeapon
For those who shy away from energy-block releasing and mystical kundalini energy ascending, consider Moola Bandha, a concept straight from the halls of yogic wisdom. Moola Bandha is a perineal contraction that stimulates the autonomic nervous system in the pelvic region, leading to parasympathetic activity in the body. This stimulation may directly innervate the gonads and perineal body/cervix.
Practicing Moola Bandha has been suggested to relieve period pain, childbirth pain, and sexual difficulties in women, as well as to treat premature ejaculation and regulate testosterone secretion in men. In fact, many sex therapy centers recommend this yoga practice to help women become more aware of their sensations of arousal in the genital area, thus improving desire and sexual experiences.
Bhekasana, or the "frog pose," is another yoga pose that strengthens the pelvic floor muscles. This pose may help ease symptoms of vestibulodynia, pain in the vestibule of the vagina, as well as vaginismus, the involuntary contraction of vaginal muscles that prevents women from enjoying penetrative sex.
Evidence for Yoga's Sexual Benefits
Though the potential sexual benefits of yoga are exciting, it's worth remembering that empirical, or experimental, evidence for these benefits is limited, with non-empirical, or anecdotal, evidence more readily available online. Despite this, scientific studies focused on women with metabolic syndrome and women with multiple sclerosis have generated stronger evidence for yoga's ability to improve sexual function.
For women with metabolic syndrome, a 12-week yoga program led to significant improvements in arousal and lubrication, whereas such improvements were not seen in women who did not practice yoga. This research, along with other evidence, indicates that yoga may be an effective treatment for sexual dysfunction in these women, as well as for metabolic risk factors.
Women with multiple sclerosis undergoing 3 months of yoga training showed improvements in physical ability and sexual function, while the control group experienced exacerbated symptoms. "Yoga techniques may improve physical activities and sexual satisfaction function of women with MS," the study concluded.
While there's still a need for more scientific evidence to confirm the sexual benefits of yoga, the initial findings are promising. Until we can say for sure whether "yogasms" are achievable, incorporating yoga into our daily routines seems like a worthwhile endeavor. Our pelvic muscles will definitely thank us for it!
- The Journal of Sexual Medicine published a study indicating that 12 weeks of yoga significantly improved sexual function in women aged 45 or older, as measured by the Female Sexual Function Index.
- A study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav found that a 12-week yoga program resulted in improved sexual function in men, as evaluated by the Male Sexual Quotient.
- A review of existing literature by researchers at the University of British Columbia suggests that yoga's benefits for sexual health stem from its ability to regulate attention and breathing, lower anxiety and stress, and activate the nervous system's relaxation response.
