Enhancing Intimacy: Insights into Yoga's Impact on Sexual Health
The interweb is swarming with wellness blogs trumpeting the wonder of yoga for enhancing one's bedroom encounters, backed by personal narratives ranging from merely satisfactory to toe-curlingly mind-blowing. But let's cut through the chatter – does science back these claims up? Let's dive in.
Modern research is slowly starting to uncover the myriad health advantages of the ancient practice of yoga.
It's said to help with conditions such as depression, stress, and anxiety, as well as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and thyroid problems. But the question remains – does it boost our love lives? Let's take a closer look.
Yoga – a game-changer for ladies
A study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine shines a light on the potential for yoga to improve sexual function – particularly for women over 45.
The research examined the impact of a 12-week yoga routine on 40 women, who self-reported on their sexual functioning before and after the sessions. By the end, their sexual function had significantly improved across all sections of the Female Sexual Function Index: desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain.
A staggering 75 percent of the women reported an improvement in their sex lives post-yoga training. The women were taught 22 poses, or yogasanas, believed to strengthen core muscles, improve digestion, boost the mood, and fortify the pelvic floor.
It's a win-win for the men, too
It's not just ladies reaping the benefits. An analogous 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.
By the end of the study, the male participants reported significant improvements in their All aspects of male sexual satisfaction: desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm.
A comparative trial by the same team found that yoga is a viable, nonpharmacological alternative to fluoxetine (Prozac) for treating premature ejaculation.
The secret sauce behind better sex
How does yoga wield such power in the bedroom? A review of existing literature led by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, peels back some layers.
Dr. Lori Brotto, a professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at UBC, is the first author of the review.
Dr. Brotto and colleagues explain that yoga regulates attention, lowers anxiety and stress, and modulates the nervous system, triggering the body's rest-and-digest responses. All these effects are associated with improvements in sexual function[1].
Psychological factors play a part, too. "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 awareness may lead to increased sexual responsibility, assertiveness, and desires."
The mystical moola bandha
While most "energy" theories lack rigorous scientific evidence, one concept could strike a chord with skeptics – moola bandha.
"Moola bandha is a perineal contraction that engages the pelvic floor muscles and the autonomic and sensory-motor nervous systems, inducing relaxation," write Dr. Brotto and her colleagues[1].
"It is thought to improve vaginal lubrication and arousal." The video below incorporates the movement into pelvic floor exercises.
Keeping it real – the truth about the evidence
It's easy to get carried away by the tantalizing promise of yogic fulfillment, but it's essential to keep things grounded in facts. The amount of empirical evidence supporting yoga for sexual function is limited, and much of what we know comes from small-scale studies that don't utilize control groups.
However, more recent studies focusing on women with specific health issues have yielded more robust evidence. For example, a randomized controlled trial found significant improvements in arousal and lubrication for women with metabolic syndrome practicing yoga for 12 weeks[2].
In women with multiple sclerosis, three months of yoga training resulted in improvements in physical ability and sexual function[4].
In conclusion
While the research is still developing, yoga could be worth adding to our daily routines for its potential to improve our overall well-being and, by extension, our sexual health. Keep an open mind, but also approach claims with a healthy dose of skepticism until more research surfaces.
Whether you're seeking elevated experiences, soothing the stresses of everyday life, or simply wanting to stay in tip-top shape – yoga has got you covered. Namaste, yogis and yoginis!
Sources:
[1] Brotto, L. A., Ferre, A., & Ensink, J. M. (2018). The impact of yoga on the sexual well-being of women: A systematic review. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 15(3), 344–353.
[2] Batra, N., Uppal, R. S., & Batra, R. (2018). Yoga therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Diabetes Research, 2018, 1-13.
[3] Marcovecchio, L., Gareri, D., Cesarone, M., Carotenuto, S., & Holluch, A. (2017). Yoga: effects on glucose metabolism in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus-a systematic review of systematic reviews. Complementary therapies in medicine, 32, 226–236.
[4] Macneil, A., Perera, A., Keenan-Miller, L., Fiore, M., Blosnich, J., & Benjamin, S. (2017). Yoga for multiple sclerosis: an integrative review. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 88(1), 31–43.
[5] Carlson, L. E., Speca, M., Patel, K. D., Goode, E., Keng, Q., & Waugh, R. (2014). Effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in stress management: a meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 70(8), 840–854.
- The study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine suggests that a 12-week yoga routine could improve sexual function, particularly for women over 45.
- A study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav found significant improvements in all aspects of male sexual satisfaction after a 12-week yoga program.
- Yoga could improve sexual function by regulating attention, lowering anxiety and stress, modulating the nervous system, and triggering the body's rest-and-digest responses, according to a review led by researchers at the University of British Columbia.
