4 simple yoga moves for better sex

Yoga is a low-impact workout that can help calm your mind, ease joint and lower back pain, and reduce your heart rate and blood pressure. But did you know that yoga may also help improve your sex life by boosting your fitness and strengthening certain muscles? 

“Technically, yoga means ‘to join,’ and the whole purpose is to foster mindfulness,” says Kimberly Larson-Ohlsen, MD, an OBGYN at the University of Colorado in Denver. Dr. Larson-Ohlsen says practicing yoga two to three times a week can help in the bedroom. Here are three reasons it can help, along with four moves to get you started.

“For many women, sex is about how you feel in your relationship,” says Larson-Ohlsen. Regular yoga practice strengthens your body, which can help improve self-esteem.

Larson-Ohlsen says if you can strengthen and stretch your pelvic floor muscles they will feel revitalized and relaxed. “When you’ve invigorated those areas, you can enjoy things or experience sexual encounters much more mindfully,” she adds. For women who experience pelvic pain during sex, yoga moves that target your pelvic floor muscles may reduce discomfort.

In order to connect with your partner during sex it helps to have a positive mindset. Distractions can diminish sexual arousal, performance, and satisfaction. Yoga helps improve your attention span, concentration, mood, and mind-body connection, allowing you to be more present in the moment.

Yoga's anti-anxiety and mood-boosting benefits aren't fleeting, either. Larson-Ohlsen says they can last for weeks and weeks afterwards. But remember, because yoga trains you to put yourself in a focused, relaxed state of mind, these benefits may vary depending on how well you can achieve and maintain that.

So what moves should you try? Here are some simple poses that can turn things up a notch in the bedroom.

Lie with your stomach and tops of your feet on the floor, spread your hands out under your shoulders, and then pull your elbows back into your body. As you press the tops of your feet, thighs, and pelvis into the floor, breathe in and lift your chest off the floor while extending your arms. (Think of it as a backbend rooted from the floor.) Hold for up to 30 seconds and repeat a few times. Just be sure not to overextend your neck too far back.

Sexual benefits: helps relieve stress and anxiety, increases flexibility, stimulates abdominal muscles, and stretches the chest, lungs, shoulders, and abs

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet hip-width apart. Keeping your shoulders on the floor, bring your hips slowly towards the ceiling. Interlace your fingers under your hips and push your shoulder blades together. Try holding for 10 breaths, inhaling and exhaling.

Sexual benefits: stretches and strengthens hip and pelvic floor muscles

Sit on a yoga mat. Bend one of your legs in front of you, so your shin is almost parallel with the side of the mat; your heel should rest near your groin. Stretch your opposite leg out behind you. Lower to your forearms and gently rest your head in your arms or hold your torso upright. Hold for five minutes and repeat on the other side. Just be sure to keep your front foot flexed (toes pulled back toward you slightly, rather than pointed) to protect your front knee.

Sexual benefits: opens and relaxes hips, relaxes your mind, and encourages you to be present in the moment

Get into a table-top position with your knees on the ground and your palms in front of you. Gently slide your knees out wide until you feel an opening stretch. Move your feet so they are open behind your knees and flexed outward, inner arches facing the ground. Your shoulders should be over your elbows and weight should rest in your forearms, hands, and hips. Make sure your spine is lengthened by pressing the crown of your head forward, relaxing your shoulders toward your spine and your tailbone toward your heels.

Note: This is an advanced pose. If you're new to yoga you may want to skip it until you are more experienced in your practice. If you do try it, make sure your body is properly warmed up and consider having supports, such as yoga blocks, nearby to help you into and out of the position.

Sexual benefits: increases lung power by facilitating breathing, reduces stress and anxiety, opens groin area