Yoga's Positive Impact on Sexual Health: Insights into Enhanced Sexual Function and Well-being
Dive into the world of yoga, whereincredible tales of enhanced sexual encounters are rampant. But does science back up these claims? Let's dive in and find out.
Yoga, an ancient practice, is known for its various health benefits, such as tackling depression, reducing stress, alleviating anxiety, managing metabolic syndrome, controlling diabetes, regulating thyroid problems, and much more. Recent studies have delved deeper into the workings behind these benefits. It appears that yoga lowers inflammation, nullifies the genetic expression predisposed to stress, reduces cortisol, and boosts proteins that aid brain growth and health. Truth be told, it just feels freaking amazing. Sometimes, if we're to believe the whispers about coregasms during yoga, it feels extraordinary amazing.
Getting in touch with our bodies can feel rejuvenating, restorative, and physically pleasurable. But can yoga's yummy postures improve our sex lives? Let's take a peek at the research.
Yoga boosts sexual function in women
There's a study that's often mentioned in discussions on the topic. Published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, it demonstrates that, indeed, yoga can enhance sexual function, predominantly in women over 45.
The study observed the impact of 12 weeks of yoga on 40 women, who self-reported their sexual function before and after the sessions. At the end of the 12-week period, the women's sexual function showed significant improvement across all sections of the Female Sexual Function Index, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. As many as 75 percent reported improvement in their sex life after yoga training.
During the study, the women were trained on 22 poses, or yogasanas, believed to improve core abdominal muscles, digestion, pelvic floor strength, and mood. Some poses included trikonasana (also known as the triangle pose), bhujangasana (the snake), and ardha matsyendra mudra (half spinal twist). You can find the full list of poses here.
Yoga boosts sexual function in men
Men aren't left out. A 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 the sexual satisfaction of men.
At the study's conclusion, participants reported significant improvements in their sexual function, as gauged by the standard Male Sexual Quotient. The researchers found improvements across all aspects of male sexual satisfaction: desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm.
A comparative trial carried out by the same team of researchers found that yoga is a viable and nonpharmacological alternative to fluoxetine (also known as Prozac) for treating premature ejaculation.
It included 15 yoga poses, ranging from easier ones (such as Kapalbhati, which involves sitting with your back straight in a crossed-legged position, with the chest open, eyes closed, hands on knees, and abdominal muscles contracted) to more complex ones (such as dhanurasana, or the "bow pose").
Sex-enhancing mechanisms of yoga
Let's understand how yoga improves our sex lives, shall we? A review of existing literature, led by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, helps us understand some of its sex-enhancing mechanisms.
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 and breathing, lowers anxiety and stress, and regulates the nervous system responsible for relaxation.
"All of these effects are associated with improvements in sexual response," write the reviewers, so it's "reasonable that yoga might also be associated with improvements in sexual health."
There are also psychological mechanisms at 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 tendency, in turn, may be associated with increased sexual responsibility and assertiveness, and perhaps sexual desires."
The potency of the moola bandha
While stories about releasing blocked energy in root chakras and moving "kundalini energy" up and down the spine to produce ejaculation-free male orgasms are often devoid of rigorous scientific evidence, other yogic concepts may resonate with skeptics. Moola bandha is such a concept.
"Moola bandha is a perineal contraction that stimulates the sensory-motor and the autonomic nervous system in the pelvic region, and therefore enforces parasympathetic activity in the body," write Dr. Brotto and her colleagues in their review.
"Specifically, moola bandha is thought to directly innervate the gonads and perineal body/cervix." You can watch a video below that incorporates the movement into a practice for pelvic floor muscles.
Some studies quoted by the researchers have suggested that practicing moola bandha relieves period pain, childbirth pain, and sexual difficulties in women, as well as treating premature ejaculation and controlling testosterone secretion in men.
Moola bandha is similar to the modern, medically recommended Kegel exercises, which are thought to prevent urinary incontinence and help women (and men) enjoy sex for longer.
In fact, many sex therapy centers recommend this yoga practice to help women become more aware of their sensations of arousal in the genital area, thus improving desire and sexual experience.
"[M]oola bandha stretches the muscles of the pelvic floor, [...] balances, stimulates, and rejuvenates the area through techniques that increase awareness and circulation," explain Dr. Brotto and colleagues, referring to the work of other researchers.
Another yoga pose that strengthens the pelvic floor muscles is bhekasana, or the "frog pose."
Apart from improving sexual experiences, this pose may help alleviate symptoms of vestibulodynia (pain in the vestibule of the vagina) and vaginismus (the involuntary contraction of vaginal muscles that prevents women from enjoying penetrative sex).
The credibility of the evidence
While it's easy to get overly excited about the potential sexual benefits of yoga, it's worth bearing in mind the sizeable gap between the amount of empirical, or experimental, evidence, and that of non-empirical, or anecdotal, evidence.
The Internet harbors a wealth of the latter, but the studies that have actually trialed the benefits of yoga for sexual function remain scarce. Add to that the fact that most of the studies mentioned above—which found improvements in sexual satisfaction and function for both men and women—have a small sample size and lack a control group.
However, more recent studies – which focused on women with sexual dysfunction in addition to other conditions – have yielded stronger evidence.
For example, a randomized controlled trial examined the effects of yoga in women with metabolic syndrome, a population with a higher risk of sexual dysfunction overall.
For these women, a 12-week yoga program led to "significant improvement" in arousal and lubrication, whereas such improvements were not seen in the women who did not practice yoga.
Improvements were also found in blood pressure, prompting the researchers to conclude that " yoga may be an effective treatment for sexual dysfunction in women with metabolic syndrome as well as for metabolic risk factors."
Another randomized study looked at the sexual benefits of yoga for women living with multiple sclerosis (MS). The participants undertook 3 months of yoga training, consisting of eight weekly sessions.
Importantly, women in the yoga group "showed improvement in physical ability" and sexual function, "while women in the control group manifested exacerbated symptoms."
"Yoga techniques may improve physical activities and sexual satisfaction function of women with MS," the study paper concluded.
So, while we need more scientific evidence to support yoga's benefits for our sex lives, the seeds are definitely there. Until future research can ascertain whether "yogasms" are a real, achievable thing, we think it's worth diving into the world of yoga ourselves. Our pelvic muscles will definitely thank us for it.
- The benefits of yoga in enhancing sexual function have been found in various studies, particularly for women over 45, as demonstrated in a study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
- The study involved 12 weeks of yoga training on 40 women, resulting in significant improvement in all sections of the Female Sexual Function Index.
- A study led by Dr. Vikas Dhikav found similar results, showing significant improvements in male sexual satisfaction for participants who underwent a 12-week yoga program.
- Researchers at the University of British Columbia explained that yoga's effects on attention, breathing, stress, and nervous system regulation are associated with improvements in sexual response.
- Moola bandha, a yogic contraction, is believed to improve sexual health by directly innervating the gonads and perineal body/cervix, and is similar to Kegel exercises.
- Recent, more substantial studies have shown promising results in improving sexual function in women with metabolic syndrome and multiple sclerosis through yoga practices, suggesting that there may be more evidence to support yoga's benefits for sexual health in the future.
