6 ways yoga really does help your sex life
Sting made an off-handed comment a few years ago about how his yoga practice is responsible for his ability to go all day long in the sack. People went crazy over it. They started talking left and right about how amazing yoga is for sex and how it could make you a sex god! Well, he was joking, as it turns out, but that comment has lived on in infamy.
The truth is, yes, yoga really can do great things for your sex life. Maybe not in the way Sting said it can, but there are some real-life benefits that manifest between the sheets. Some of the positives are more obvious than others (hello, flexible hips), yet each one of them can contribute to a healthier, more colorful sex life. (Psst, my favorite tip? Use yoga postures as sex positions. You’re welcome.)
Grab your yoga mat, my friend, because this is the best reason you’ve ever had to get your butt to a vinyasa flow class. Here are six ways yoga really does help your sex life.
1. Yoga makes you more flexible (duh)
Of course it does! Your bendy body will be able to do fun things in the bedroom that you never knew you could do before. OK, so maybe you can’t bring both feet behind your head yet (who can, really?), but you’ll probably see way more hip flexibility than you did before you were a yogi. That flexibility allows you to try new stuff, as well as show off to your partner too, and they’ll find you even sexier than they did before.
2. Yoga increases blood flow down there
Mitchel Bleier, who has been teaching yoga for 18 years and owns a studio in Connecticut, says countless yoga postures increase the blood flow in your genital area. Yoga also strengthens your pelvic floor muscles, which you might know as your Kegel muscles. This combination means you have more control of tightening your vaginal wall, which equals stronger and better orgasms. Yes, please!
3. Doing yoga strengthens your muscles
All the following will see big improvements from keeping up a regular yoga practice: butt, ab, and arm muscles. Once your core is revved up and you’ve got a stronger sense of stability in your body, there’s no way you won’t see extra fireworks in your sex life.
Traditional yogis believe that the three chakras (energy pathways in the body) in your core get activated with a lot of yoga, and they can help you connect with your sexual partner more easily. Hey, if you’re not into that stuff, don’t worry about it. All you need to know is that yoga makes you strong enough to test out all those fun sex positions you’ve been eyeing for a while now.
4. Practicing yoga makes you more aware of your body in general
All that stretching and moving around the mat doesn’t only make you more flexible. It helps you make sense of each part of your body, from your head to your toes. Each and every posture you do requires a lot of control over many different parts of your body at the same time.
Over time, that awareness will make its appearance in your everyday life—like when you’re rolling around between the sheets with someone else. Suddenly, the smallest of sensations make a really big difference. A simple caress on the small of your back could set you off like a rocket.
5. Yoga gives you the energy you need to last longer
Who doesn’t want sex to last as long as possible? Definitely not you. Having a regular yoga practice fights fatigue and grants you the extra energy you need to make it through the day. So by the time you’re done with your long day, and most people are fall in a pile of exhaustion in front of the TV, you’ll still have some juice to get down and dirty. Hell, you just might have enough energy to make that tryst last longer than it normally does.
6. Yoga makes you more confident off the mat—and in the bedroom
Many people report leaving a yoga class with less insecurities and doubts than they had when they walked in. It may not be proven by science yet, but yoga really seems to have a way of making you feel more self-confident. And the better you feel about yourself, the better you feel when you’re in bed.
There’s a big connection between a woman’s self-esteem and her ability to orgasm. If she’s feel really down and out about herself, there’s a high likelihood her sex life isn’t very satisfying. Well, yoga puts you in the right direction to feeling super duper about yourself. And that’ll pay off in the bedroom in spades.