Meditation is often praised for its therapeutic effects on human body and mind and is said to be useful in bringing down anxiety and depression. Now, there's another reason to celebrate meditation as a recent study found that it would make sex life better, especially for women.
The study, published in Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, says women who meditate are likely to have better sex life and desire than non-meditators.
Researchers studied 451 women between the age of 19 and 70. The participants answered an online questionnaire on their sex life and meditation experience. It was found that the women who meditate reported better sexual functioning and desire. Not only this, they scored better on measures of interoceptive awareness and trait mindfulness, author of the study Lori A. Brotto, a professor at the University of British Columbia, told PsyPost.
While interoceptive awareness can be defined as the awareness of internal body sensations, trait mindfulness refers to a person's average mindfulness.
However, there are some drawbacks to the study. The results do not say how long a woman should meditate to have a better sex life or which form of meditation is the most beneficial and also the frequency. It is also not clear if long-term meditative practices yield any sexual benefits.
Brotto explains further: "Mood was found to be a significant predictor of both improved sexual function and sexual desire in women who meditate meaning that it seemed that improvements in mood associated with meditation may contribute to the women's better sexual functioning."
It is believed that meditation brings an overall improvement in mental well-being and it would in turn, reflect positively on the sex lives of women.
"One implication of the findings is that women experiencing sexual difficulties could potentially stand to benefit from any form of meditation, regardless of how frequently they are able to practice," Brotto was quoted as saying by the website.
He also said that the researchers have pilot data and clinical experience to suggest that men can also benefit the same way from meditation.
