Sexpert: Feb. 16, 2012

Dear Sexpert,

I hear a lot about the sexual benefits of doing yoga. Can you explain more?

—Interested & Inflexible

Dear Interested,

Unfortunately, I am going to have to punt on the more advanced answer to your question: I am no yoga expert. Sure, I’ve slipped on a pair of stretchy pants and bellied up to the mat before, but, as anyone who has studied yoga intensively will tell you, it takes time and dedication to completely understand the mechanisms and benefits of yoga exercises. That being said, I’ve done some research and will do my best to explain why many people credit yoga with greatly enhancing their sex lives.

The simplest answer is that yoga has many physical and physiological benefits. Yoga poses do a great job of stretching out muscles in all different parts of your body — arms, legs, neck, back, abs — as well as building

strength and stamina by requiring you to hold your body in difficult positions. By difficult I certainly do not mean dangerous or unnatural. Rather, a good pose will exercise specific muscles, improve their health and increase their range of motion, all while avoiding unnecessary strain.

It’s obvious that an improved range of motion can make certain acrobatic sexual positions easier to hold and will decrease the risk of injury when contorting your body. But there is another, more general fact about the benefits of good muscle health to your sex life: It won’t just make high-flying, complex positions possible, but it will make average, run-of-the-mill positions more comfortable. With a stronger, more flexible body, you’ll be able to support your partner’s weight more easily and maneuver yourself to maximize pleasure. You might not even realize you’re doing it, but having a more fit body can greatly improve the baseline quality of your sexual activity.

Yoga also teaches breathing exercises and meditation, both of which aid in achieving and maintaining those tricky poses. Not surprisingly, techniques that improve discipline and concentration can be very helpful for men who are interested in delaying orgasm and women who want to maximize climax. It is also worth considering that many yoga programs preach a holistic philosophy of health. I’m not qualified to speak too much on this subject, but I do know that some programs recommend lifestyle changes like improving your diet or quitting alcohol, caffeine and cigarettes, as well as taking up aerobic exercise. All of these actions can have sexual benefits.

There is a lot more to yoga than what I have described above. Yoga has a whole metaphysical system based on opening oneself to the universe and achieving an intimate union with its spiritual tradition. I hope it makes your intimate union even better.

— The Sexpert

The Sexpert is written by a team of peer sexual health educators and fact-checked by University health professionals. You can submit questions to sexpert@dailyprincetonian.com. Don’t be shy!