Improved Sexual Health through Yoga Practice: Exploring the Potential Benefits
Yoga, an ancient practice, is increasingly gaining recognition for its numerous health benefits, including its potential impact on sexual function. Research is starting to unravel the mechanisms behind these reported improvements.
Some of the conditions that yoga may alleviate include depression, stress, anxiety, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and thyroid problems. Recent studies delve into the intricate ways yoga helps, such as lowering the body's inflammatory response, countering stress-inducing genetic expression, reducing cortisol levels, and boosting brain-healthy proteins.
Apart from these benefits, the practice is known for eliciting feelings of physical pleasure. The purported 'coregasm' during yoga, while still debated, adds to its allure. Getting in touch with our bodies through yoga can feel refreshing, restorative, and gratifying.
But does yoga improve our sexual experiences? We explore the studies supporting this claim.
Improved Sexual Function in Women
One study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine examined the effects of 12 weeks of yoga on 40 women over 45 years old. Reporting on their sexual function before and after the sessions, the women showed significant improvements in all aspects of the Female Sexual Function Index, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain, with as many as 75% reporting an improvement in their sex lives.
The women were trained on 22 yoga poses, or yogasanas, believed to strengthen pelvic floor muscles, improve digestion, and boost mood. Poses such as trikonasana, bhujangasana, and ardha matsyendra mudra were part of this 12-week regimen.
Improved Sexual Function in Men
Yoga's benefits are not limited to women. A similar study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav, a neurologist at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, India, found significant improvements in male sexual satisfaction after a 12-week yoga program. The participants reported improvements in all areas of the Male Sexual Quotient, including desire, performance, ejaculatory control, and orgasm.
The study also found that yoga is a viable, nonpharmacological alternative to fluoxetine (Prozac) for treating premature ejaculation. It included 15 yoga poses ranging from simpler ones like Kapalbhati to more complex ones like dhanurasana (the 'bow pose').
Yoga Mechanisms for Better Sex
Understanding how yoga enhances sexual function involves studying its impact on attention, breathing, anxiety, and stress levels. Researchers at the University of British Columbia further elucidate these mechanisms. They explain that yoga's regulation of attention, breathing, and stress levels, and its ability to trigger relaxation, could be associated with improvements in sexual response.
Additionally, there's a psychological aspect to consider. Female yogi practitioners are less likely to objectify their bodies and more aware of their physical selves. This self-awareness may foster increased sexual responsibility, assertiveness, and perhaps desire.
The Moola Bandha Factor
While stories about energy blockages and 'kundalini energy' lack scientific evidence, other yogic concepts resonate with skeptics. Moola bandha, a perineal contraction, enforces parasympathetic activity in the pelvic region, potentially benefiting the gonads and perineal body/cervix. This contraction can relieve period pain, childbirth pain, and sexual difficulties in women, as well as control testosterone secretion in men.
Moola bandha resembles the medical practice of Kegel exercises, which are thought to prevent urinary incontinence and help individuals enjoy sex for longer. Many sex therapy centers recommend this yoga practice to help women become more aware of their sensations of arousal in the genital area, improving desire and sexual experience.
While the potential sexual benefits of yoga are exciting, it's essential to remember the discrepancy between empirical and anecdotal evidence. The lack of comprehensive studies comparing yoga to traditional medical interventions necessitates further research. However, preliminary studies show promise for yoga's role in improving sexual function, particularly for women with metabolic syndrome or multiple sclerosis. Until more conclusive evidence emerges, incorporating yoga into our daily routines could be a valuable step towards better sexual and overall well-being.
- Yoga, with its potential impact on sexual function, is gaining recognition in the realm of health-and-wellness, fueling an increasing interest in its benefits.
- Research is exploring the mechanisms behind yoga's reported improvements in sexual function, delving into factors such as lowering inflammatory response and boosting brain-healthy proteins.
- In addition to enhancing physical health, yoga elicits feelings of pleasure and is known for the purported 'coregasm' during practice, adding to its allure.
- One study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine showed significant improvements in sexual function in women over 45, following 12 weeks of yoga, with as many as 75% reporting an improvement in their sex lives.
- Men have also reported improvements in sexual satisfaction after a 12-week yoga program, making it a viable, nonpharmacological alternative to fluoxetine for treating premature ejaculation.
- Understanding yoga's impact on sexual function involves studying its influence on attention, breathing, anxiety, and stress levels, as well as its ability to trigger relaxation.
- The psychological aspect of yoga practice plays a role in sexual health, with female yogis being less likely to objectify their bodies and more aware of their physical selves, fostering increased sexual responsibility and perhaps desire.
- Moola bandha, a yogic concept involving a perineal contraction, potentially benefits sexual function by engaging parasympathetic activity in the pelvic region and has similarities with the medical practice of Kegel exercises.
- Until more conclusive evidence emerges, incorporating yoga into our daily routines could be a valuable step towards better sexual and overall well-being, particularly for those with conditions like metabolic syndrome or multiple sclerosis.
