You might want to sit down for this one. This is some important information, so please, pay close attention.
There are many claims out there on what yoga can do for you. Wait! Where ya going? Sit back down.
You’ll really want to take note of this. Yoga has been around for a long time, but as it continues to thrive in the mainstream, people are truly discovering the benefits of practicing yoga. They say that yoga has helped them be better at playing sports, it has made them feel less anxious, and it has even improved their sex lives. Yes, you read that right?
Yoga can improve your sex life. Want to know how?
Here are nine and a half things that yoga will do to help you have better sex.
1) Body Acceptance
When you first start doing yoga, it’s all about the body.
The instructor is guiding you into poses and body positions that you’ve never even heard of let alone ever thought your body could do.
You might even leave the class sweating with sore muscles. That’s a good thing, right? The physical practice of yoga is designed to make you more aware of your body.
Twisting, bending, and stretching yourself in remarkable ways will certainly make you pay more attention to your body. You’ll discover parts of your body that you didn’t even know existed! As a result, you appreciate your body more; you’ll even accept your body more as you continue to practice yoga.
What does this have to do with having better sex?
Sometimes in the heat of passion, instead of being in the moment with your partner, we can get caught up in the way we look or how we’re performing. “Am I too heavy? Does she like the way I __? Is he looking at me funny? Did I put on deodorant?”
These are very distracting thoughts. But if you’re more connected to your body and can fully appreciate your body with confidence, these questions will rarely arise. Yoga brings that confidence; you’ll become much more self-loving while consistently going to your yoga classes.
2) Blood Flow
This may be a strange thing to talk about, but think about it!
You want to have good blood flow to the proper areas in your body to heighten your sensual experience.
Yoga surely gets your blood pumping when you’re taking a class that really moves your body.
Deep breathing is the key to fluid movements and sustaining challenging poses. That means you’re getting healthy circulation of blood and oxygen throughout your system.
This can be very beneficial in bed, too! Sometimes your sexual activity can be quite aerobic. Why not be in tip-top heart shape to endure the experience.
3) Endurance
Related to good blood flow is endurance. As you continue to practice yoga, you build an endurance that may allow you to try longer and perhaps even more challenging classes.
In some cases, going to yoga classes that include a lot of movement (like a Vinyasa Flow Class or a Hot Yoga Class), is like going to the gym: your body, over time, acclimates to the new stimuli.
As your body reaches these physical plateaus, it’s time to step-it-up if you want to keep improving. Well, as you continue to challenge your body, your ability to endure the workload increases.
This can also be a positive aspect between the sheets. You don’t want to poop-out on your partner in the middle of an ‘afternoon delight.’ You gotta have that endurance strength so that you can make it through round one (and two….and three!)
4) MSQ and FSQ (What’s that?)
With all these gains happening in your body just from going to yoga classes, lots of other things improve, too.
Overall sexual functioning improves over time with a steady yoga practice under your belt (pun intended).
I ran across a study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine that suggests that yoga attributes to improved sexual functioning in males and females.
Without going into too much science and statistics, this study stated that women aged between 22-55 enrolled in a yoga camp scored higher on a female Sexual Quotient (FSQ) Questionnaire after 12 weeks of yoga than they did before the yoga camp. All of them reported an improvement in their sex lives, including improvement in desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain reduction.
On the masculine side, the results are just as impressive. The men in this study also scored higher on a Male Sexual Quotient (MSQ) Questionnaire after 12 weeks of yoga than they did before the yoga camp. The sexual functions outlined in the questionnaire were desire, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, intercourse satisfaction, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm. (Is it getting hot in here?) I’m hoping this gets more men to practice yoga, too! Increase your MSQ, guys!
5) Connection With Yourself
While you’re still pondering that study, let’s turn to another reason how yoga improves your sex life: it allows you to connect to yourself.
It was stated earlier that yoga helps with body acceptance. To take it further, yoga encourages a connection with your whole self, not just your body.
With yoga, you have a better sense of yourself; you settle into a deeper satisfaction about what you truly believe and how you behave in the world.
You are confident in those aspects so it allows you to walk your life path in a more positive fashion. When it comes to sex, you can have that sense of connection. You’ll find that your sexual pleasuring has intention and focus.
It’s not just about “getting off;” it’s much deeper than that. You’ll find that your sexual expression brings you joy and happiness to your life. Sex is pleasurable and satisfying and becomes more integrated into your weekly (or daily) routines. It’s integrated into the way you perceive yourself in the world.
6) Greater Intimacy
But, of course, sex isn’t all about you!
If you’re having sex with a partner, this can be a very intimate experience for the both of you. Not only do you connect with yourself, but you become more aware of the person with you.
Your eyes are opened to what pleases them; you want to bring pleasure to that person, and if the connection is balanced, that pleasure is reciprocated.
Sex is a mutual partnership. How does yoga help with this? Remember, yoga makes you more aware of the subtle details of your body. It helps you to channel inward and focus more on how you think, what makes you react in certain ways, and how you relate to others. As you learn more about your inner workings, you naturally become more curious as to how other people think and behave.
You develop a sense of empathy, compassion, and awareness of the needs and desires of others. This is also great in bed! You and your partner can be very connected in this way (especially if you’re both practicing yoga.)
7) Improves Your Mood
Now, with all that fresh blood pulsing through your veins, the right trigger points are highlighted in the brain which stimulates all those happy love juices! (I’m referring to dopamine and serotonin! Get your mind out of the gutter!)
When these hormones flood the brain, you feel good…..really good! And guess what, yoga does that, too!
And who doesn’t like to feel good. So, that means you’ll probably want sex more often. (And more yoga!) Tell your partner to beware!
8) Flexibility
I think it goes without saying that yoga makes you more flexible. Your shoulders, hips, and hamstrings will experience a greater range of motion with a consistent yoga practice.
But let’s focus on hips for a moment. Second to hamstrings, people complain of having tight hips. Not so great when you’re having sex since lots of the action is happening in that area, right?
When you’re doing yoga poses like Pigeon Pose, Cobbler’s Pose, or Camel Pose. You really stimulate a release in the hips that benefit you and your partner when you’re getting it on!
AND…..
When you’re more flexible your range of motion broadens significantly. And this brings me to my favorite reason why yoga is great for sex!
MULTIPLE SEX POSITIONS! (Did you think I was going to say multiple orgasms? Well, yoga can probably help with that, too!)
No longer will you and your partner be engaging in the same two or three sexual positions you always do. With greater flexibility, mobility, improved blood flow, endurance, and all the rest – just think of the endless ways you can contort your body into new and exciting ways to bring heightened pleasure and stimulation to the sexual experience.
9) One Last Thing
Not sure what positions to try? Pick up a copy of the Kama Sutras. This is an ancient Hindu text that discusses, in part, practical advice on sexual intercourse.
It’s main purpose, though, is to present its readers with a guide toward virtuous and gracious living. It talks about love and family life. A small portion of the book, though, does depict creative sexual positions (using drawn illustrations) as a way to enhance the joy of your human experience.
As mentioned, sex is pleasurable and a part of your whole sense of being. It should be a healthy part of your life journey. Sex doesn’t have to be stale, bland, or mundane. Keep it rich and exciting.
Practicing yoga can be the beginning of making that step toward the joy of sex.
Namaste.
The yoganum family
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