Improved Sexual Health through Yoga Practice: Insights into Enhancing Intimacy
Yoga's popularity on wellness blogs and personal accounts abound for its ability to enhance sexual experiences might leave some questioning if the science backs up these claims. Well, let's dive in and explore.
Yoga, with roots dating back centuries, is gaining recognition for its various health benefits. Apart from aiding conditions like depression, stress, anxiety, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and thyroid problems, it's been linked to complex mechanisms that improve overall health. It's been found to lower the body's inflammatory response, counter genetic stress, decrease cortisol, and boost proteins responsible for brain growth and health.
Now, onto the whopper question: Does yoga live up to its hype in the bedroom?
Sexual Satisfaction for the Ladies
In a renowned study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, researchers found that yoga could indeed improve sexual function, especially for ladies over the age of 45. Over 40 women participated, self-reporting their sexual function before and after 12 weeks of yoga sessions. By the end of the program, the women's sexual function significantly improved across all sections on the Female Sexual Function Index, which includes desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. An impressive 75% of the women reported improvement in their sex life following yoga training.
During the study, the women learned 22 poses believed to strengthen the core, boost digestion, strengthen the pelvic floor, and elevate mood. Poses such as trikonasana (triangle pose), bhujangasana (snap pose), and ardha matsyendra mudra (half spinal twist) were among the many practiced.
Slightly Sweaty Love-Making for the Gentlemen
It's not just fair lady loves who reap the almighty benefits of yoga. An analogous study led by neurologist Dr. Vikas Dhikav, from the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, India, discovered that a 12-week yoga program could boost male sexual satisfaction. By the study's end, the participants reported significant improvements in their Male Sexual Quotient, which evaluates desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm.
A comparative trial headed by the same research team found suggestive evidence that yoga is a viable nonpharmacological alternative to fluoxetine (Prozac) for treating premature ejaculation. This trial encompassed 15 yoga poses, ranging from simpler poses such as Kapalbhati, to more challenging ones like dhanurasana (the bow pose).
How Yoga Unleashes the Adonis in You
But how exactly does yoga tango with your sex life? A literature review conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) sheds some light on this steamy subject.
Dr. Lori Brotto, a professor at UBC's Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, explores the ways yoga sorts your mind, reduces stress, and lowers anxiety, all while activating the parts of the nervous system that induce relaxation. "All of these effects are associated with improvements in sexual response," say the reviewers, hinting that improvements in sexual health might not be too far behind.
Other psychological factors also come into play. "Female practitioners of yoga have been found to be less likely to objectify their bodies," explain Dr. Brotto and her colleagues, "and to be more aware of their physical selves." This added mindfulness may foster greater sexual responsibility, assertiveness, and potentially, desires.
A concept within yoga known as moola bandha might hold some answers for the skeptics. "Moola bandha is a perineal contraction that stimulates the sensory-motor and the autonomic nervous system in the pelvic region, and directly innervates the gonads and perineal body/cervix," say the reviewers. Practicing moola bandha could relieve period pain, childbirth pain, sexual difficulties in women, and even manage testosterone in men.
The Evidence - Hot or Cold?
The evidence supporting yoga's benefits for sexual health remains a tantalizing mystery. While studies showing improvements in sexual satisfaction and function for both men and women leave us yearning for more, the sample sizes are typically small and often lack a control group. Furthermore, research specifically linking yoga to improved sexual function is scarce. That said, more recent studies with subjects battling other conditions, such as metabolic syndrome, have yielded stronger evidence. For instance, a randomized controlled trial showed that yoga significantly improved arousal and lubrication in women with metabolic syndrome, as compared to those who didn't practice yoga.
All in all, it's safe to say that "yogasms" have yet to hit the mainstream, but the intriguing research into yoga's effects on sexual health leaves us hopeful. Until further research can either validate or debunk yoga's sexy shine, we recommend practicing it for its myriad other beneficial effects - and your pelvic muscles will definitely thank you for it!
- Yoga, a practice with roots dating back centuries, is gaining recognition for its various health benefits, including improvements in sexual function, especially for women over 45, as shown in a study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
- The study found that after 12 weeks of yoga sessions, women's sexual function significantly improved across all sections on the Female Sexual Function Index.
- Yoga training also showed promising results for men, with a study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav revealing significant improvements in male sexual satisfaction and performance.
- A literature review conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia suggests that yoga's benefits for sexual health stem from its ability to reduce stress, lower anxiety, and activate the nervous system for relaxation, which are all associated with improvements in sexual response.
- The evidence supporting yoga's benefits for sexual health is still promising but inconclusive due to small sample sizes and lack of control groups in many studies.
- Despite this, more recent studies have yielded stronger evidence, such as one showing that yoga significantly improved arousal and lubrication in women with metabolic syndrome.
- Until further research validates or debunks yoga's impact on sexual health, regular practice of yoga is recommended for its myriad other health benefits, including improvements in mental and physical health for both men and women.
