Think Yourself to Orgasm

I studied brains so I'm always interested when I come across a little something about our psychology or our neurology. I ran across this article today and thought I'd share it with you. Pretty interesting pop-psychology.

Article by Melinda Dodd, from MORE Magazine.

Imagine Meg Ryan in the famous deli scene in When Harry Met Sally--only she's not faking it. Certain women can reach orgasm without being touched, and now a few sex researchers have learned how to teach this skill to other women, says Rutgers University neurobehaviorist Barry Komisaruk, PhD, who has been studying the phenomenon for nearly 20 years. Komisaruk's original, 1992 study in Archives of Sexual Behavior found that when women "think themselves off"--usually through a mix of imagery, relaxation and breath work--their bodies respond the same way they do to being touched: Hearts race, pupils dilate and blood pressure soars. A few years later, he used funtional MRI scanners to do tests that revealed why. "Imagining that you're stimulating body parts activates some of the same pleasrue centers of the brain as actually touching them," says Komisaruk. Notes Cambridge, Massachusetts, sex therapist Gina Ogden, PhD: "This research says to women that there's more than one route to orgasm."

Although the latest training techniques vary, most women can learn to think themselves off within 25 minutes, says Fernando Bianco, PhD, MD, a professor in medical sexology at the Psychiatric, Psychological and Sexological Research Institute in Cararcas, Venezuela. Two of his suggestions: Put on an eye mask (to increase your ability to concentrate) and focus less on the details of your fantasy and more on how your body feels. For more touch-free tips, check out the books Women Who Love Sex: Ordinary Women Describe Their Paths to Pleasure, Intimacy, and Ecstasy by Ogden and Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century by sex educator Barbara Carrellas, who also has a website (urbantantra.org)