Guys, you need to add yoga to your life immediately. Why? To be better at sex. Yes, really. Yoga has been primarily geared toward green-juice-sipping, Lululemon-clad women – but the reality is you’ve been missing out! Sure, increased flexibility, balance, and feeling a little more zen all sound appealing. But did you know yoga can also boost your performance in the bedroom? Read on to uncover how yoga’s physical, mental, and energetic practice can positively influence your sexual health.
Energy + Endurance
While yoga is a gentle practice, its weight-bearing nature can lead to longer, leaner, and more toned muscle groups. Many yoga postures specifically strengthen your pelvic muscles, and stronger muscles in that region may improve your control as you approach orgasm. In fact, according to a study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, yoga appears to be a feasible, safe, effective, and acceptable non-pharmacological option for premature ejaculation.
Yoga is also excellent for re-centering your energy, clearing the mind, and shifting your focus – an important step when transitioning from the boardroom to the bedroom.
Follow the Flow
The benefits of yoga postures for sexual health include increasing blood flow to areas often neglected from our seated and vertical postures all day. From inversions, pelvic tilts, and spinal twists, many yoga postures support blood flow – specifically, to the pelvic and hip regions. Increased blood flow allows the pelvis and hip area to open for better mobility, heightened sensitivity, and elevated desire.
Postures for Pleasure
While the practice overall has many benefits, specific postures support the physiology of pleasure.
- Cat and Cow Pose: This gentle pose guides your spine into flexion and extension while toning the hips and pelvis. The movement sends blood flow to the pelvic region. This strengthens the muscles that support your genitals, aiding sexual function and performance.
- Bridge Pose: This pose opens our chest and upper back, areas that are often closed off as we hunch over a laptop or simply the dinner table. The posture also opens and strengthens the pelvic region and glutes, enhancing pelvic control during sex.
- Low Lunge: With the back knee down, this position goes deeper into opening the front of the hips and the quadriceps. When this area is open vs. tight, it mobilizes the hips and pelvis in all directions for a more comfortable and broader range of movement during sex.
- Legs up the Wall: This is a great, restorative pose that encourages the parasympathetic nervous system response, aka, “rest and digest.” Throughout the day, blood flow and lymph tend to accumulate in our feet and lower legs. This pose sends it back toward the pelvis and upper body, where it can be used and recirculated.
Still not convinced? Take it from sex therapist Gracie Landes, LMFT, CST, who told Men’s Health: “Because yoga helps people develop a sense of calmness, strength, stamina, agility, knowledge of their own bodies, and the ability to remain in the present moment, and make small adjustments, it can greatly enhance sexual performance and confidence, regardless of which asana [poses] are practiced.”
Practicing yoga can increase stamina and flexibility, heighten body sensitivity, and help boost your self-confidence – all qualities that support better sexual health. So, consider incorporating yoga into your next date night – grab your partner and schedule a class at your local studio, followed by dinner and then perhaps to the bedroom.
Responses