Enhanced Sexual Performance Through Yoga: Exploring the Positive Impacts
Yoga's Impact on Sexual Function: A Closer Look at the Research
Yoga's popularity surges due to claims of enhanced sexual experiences, but does the science support these assertions? Let's delve into the emerging evidence backing the practice's sexual health benefits.
Yoga's wide-ranging health advantages include improved mental wellbeing, reduced stress and anxiety, diabetes management, and more. Recent studies have expanded the scope, exploring the intricacies behind these benefits.
Research shows that yoga reduces inflammation, counters stress-inducing genetic expression, lowers cortisol levels, and boosts brain-healthy proteins. Beyond these benefits, yoga's pleasurable, replenishing sensations point to another facet of its appeal: potential sexual enhancement.
Yoga and Women's Sexual Function
A study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine investigated the influence of 12 weeks of yoga on sexual function among women aged 45 and above. The research found significant improvements across all sections of the Female Sexual Function Index, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. 75% of participants reported enhanced sex lives after yoga training.
During the study, participants practiced 22 yogasanas believed to strengthen core abdominal muscles, improve digestion, strengthen pelvic floor muscles, and improve mood. Trikonasana, bhujangasana, and ardha matsyendra mudra are some poses listed in the research. (Links omitted for space simplicity.)
Yoga and Men's Sexual Function
Men aren't left out of the benefits. A separate study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav, a neurologist at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, India, assessed the influence of a 12-week yoga program on male sexual satisfaction. After the study period, participants reported significant improvements in such aspects as desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm.
The research also revealed that yoga proved a viable, nonpharmacological alternative to fluoxetine (Prozac) for treating premature ejaculation.
Mechanisms Behind Yoga's Sexual Benefits
A review of extant literature, led by researchers at the University of British Columbia's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, provides insights into yoga's sex-enhancing mechanisms. Yoga regulates attention, breathing, and relaxation, thereby lowering anxiety, stress, and enhancing sexual response.
Furthermore, female yoga practitioners are less likely to objectify their bodies and show increased sexual assertiveness, potentially boosting sexual desires.
The moola bandha holds particular promise. This exercise contracts the perineum and activates the nervous system in the pelvic region, promoting parasympathetic activity. Practicing moola bandha can relieve period pain, childbirth pain, and sexual difficulties in women while aiding men with testosterone secretion control and premature ejaculation treatment.
Other yoga poses that strengthen pelvic floor muscles, such as bhekasana, can alleviate symptoms of vaginismus and vestibulodynia, discomforts impacting women's sexual enjoyment.
The Reliability of the Evidence
While anecdotal evidence is plentiful, empirical research on the beneficial effects of yoga for sexual function remains scarce. However, studies with strong evidence tend to focus on populations at risk, such as women with metabolic syndrome or multiple sclerosis (MS).
For instance, a randomized controlled trial observed improvements in arousal and lubrication for women with metabolic syndrome who practiced yoga. Similarly, a randomized study found that women with MS demonstrated enhanced physical ability and sexual function after three months of yoga training.
In conclusion, while the scientific backing for yoga's benefits on sexual function is still developing, the indications are promising. As more research uncovers the intricate connections between yoga and improved sexual health, incorporating this ancient practice into daily routines may unlock surprising benefits for our sexual and overall wellbeing.
- Yoga's benefits extend to sexual health, with research indicating significant improvements in sexual function for both men and women.
- For women, a study in The Journal of Sexual Medicine showed improvements in desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain after 12 weeks of yoga practice.
- Men, too, have reported enhanced sexual satisfaction after participating in a 12-week yoga program, with improvements in various aspects of sexual function.
- Several yoga poses, such as Trikonasana, bhujangasana, and ardha matsyendra mudra, are believed to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and improve sexual function. However, more empirical research is needed to confirm these findings.
