admin @ Thu, 2006-09-14 11:00
Rather than direct them to the latest issue of Cosmo or Men's Health for steamy tips on finding her secret pleasure points or his all-time favourite mattress moves, I told them to hit the yoga mat.
I'm not referring to the old jokes about being flexible enough to get into lots of wacky positions or perform contortionist feats of masturbation.
Over time, yoga brings about changes in a person that enhance sexual performance and pleasure (read: Transcendental orgasms) and can boost intimacy.
It happens on a number of levels. First, your body starts to change. You become stronger, more flexible and aware of your physical capabilities and limitations.
Yoga also improves blood flow, which heightens arousal and sensitivity to touch, and the increased pelvic, hip and abdominal muscle strength you gain have obvious physical benefits during lovemaking.
But most significantly, yoga builds core muscle strength. By working on one key muscle in the body -- the P-C muscle or pubococcygeus muscle -- you increase sensation and control, which can lead to more intense orgasms, multiple orgasms and stronger erections.
You locate it by contracting and releasing the area between the pubic bone and tailbone, as if you want to stop yourself from urinating. Essentially, you are doing Kegel exercises. This steady engaging and lifting of the pelvic floor during yoga practice builds strength, balance and mental focus. Over time you become very attuned with your body, literally more grounded and self-aware.
Yoga teaches you to breathe from the diaphragm -- a deep, directed breath in and out through the nose with mouth closed that expands and contracts the rib cage. It relaxes and centres you while helping you to maintain focus during your practice.
Before I knew it I'd started to breathe this way all of the time -- even in bed. My partner thought I was hyperventilating when things got hot and heavy, but the result was a stronger, longer orgasm that I could harness with my breath and ride like a wave rippling through my body -- all the way to freakin' nirvana.
On another level, however, yoga reminds us of what sex at its zenith ought to be -- a sacred act. Yoga means "union" in Sanskrit and you can't get any closer to a literal definition of what sex is.
In tantric yogic tradition, the physical act of sex mirrors the "re-union" of Shiva and Shakti, the Hindu god and goddess, yin and yang, or male and female expressions of the divine.
According to believers, the awakening of kundalini energy in the body, starting at Mula Bandha and extending up through the spine to the crown of your head, can increase sexual potency and pleasure, including spontaneous orgasms.
"When you're doing yoga the focus is on yoga. When you're having sex the focus is on sex. It's the focus that's so important, being there in the present moment," says Jacquie Noelle Greaux, a California-based yoga instructor and creator of the Better Sex Through Yoga video series.
Her same-titled book is due out in February and details yoga postures to enhance your sex life. Her videos are available at www.BetterSexThroughYoga.com.
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