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You already know that meditation is good for you. It reduces stress and anxiety, improves sleep, can lower blood pressure, and helps you build resilience against the things that could get you down. There’s also a link between meditation and happiness. According to a study in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, meditation is linked to higher mindfulness and higher self-compassion, both of which are linked to happiness.
But what can meditation do for your sex life?
Increasing evidence suggests mediation for sex is a legit way to address sexual dysfunctions. Lori Brotto, noted psychologist and sex researcher, notes that “mindfulness can also be extended to the treatment of men with premature ejaculation, delayed ejaculation, [and] low sexual desire.”
Another study of 193 women (to use the researchers’ language around gender) found that those who meditated had improved sexual functioning and higher levels of desire related to arousal, lubrication, and orgasm.
So why does meditation improve sexual functioning?
Lover co-founder and clinical psychologist Dr. Britney Blair says, “the more you’re meditating outside of the bedroom, the more you’re able to translate that into great sex in the bedroom. Think of it as mental fitness for great sex. If you’re going to the gym and boxing every day it’s much more likely that when you’re in the ring, you’re going to be able to box.”
Check out the following meditations for better sex to improve your mental fitness and your sex life.
Mindfulness Practice for Couples
Knowing how to be in a meditative state by yourself is one thing. Practicing it with a partner is quite another. In this exercise, Jessica Graham guides you and your partner through a meditation for deepened intimacy and connection.
Meditation and Sex
Leader of the meditation world, Headspace, has produced some accessible meditation exercises to get you lost in your body. We recommend its three-minute body scan “to notice everything, but change nothing — the first step in becoming present,” but if you’re just starting out check out this video on what meditation can do for you first.
Tantric Meditations for Sexual Healing, Pleasure, and Empowerment
Tantra refers to the “woven together” traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism as well as the many varied practices within them. It’s over 5,000 years old. One way to practice weaving together is to weave the physical bodies with the spiritual through sexual expression and eroticism. Though white people often misinterpret this practice, at its core is immersion in the mind-body experience of sex and desire with the goal of spiritual transcendence. This 12-minute meditation is a way to get started.
15-Minute Body Scan
A quick body scan can center you before you continue on with your day, but have you ever spent 15 minutes focusing on every sensation in every part of your body, from your head to your all the way down to your toes. You’ll wish this one went on forever.
Mindfulness Moments Throughout Your Day
If setting aside 10 minutes a day for meditation is too hard to prioritize, work on incorporating mindfulness into your everyday routine. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
For instance, you can focus on the sensation of the water hitting your skin when you shower, every motion and sensation and taste and smell you experience when you brush your teeth, or every part of the ritual of making a cup of coffee.
Moments like these can, over time, help you train your brain to tune into the sensations of your body, which over time can naturally translate into being more present during sex.
Visit the Lover app for easy tips, techniques, and practices for more mindful sex and advice on using meditation as a tool for pleasure.