I just discovered a new study that suggests that orgasm has an affect on your brain that’s almost identical to meditation.
This means you can sit alone on a tiny cushion or jump into bed with your lover, and get similar benefits to your general zen-ness and overall brain bliss.
Very cool.
I’ve long considered sex to be a sacred act, and I’m excited that we now have a little bit of scientific proof.
The study, summarized in Scientific American, says similar regions light up in the right-brain during orgasm and meditation. But, according to the article, there is one key difference:
“Unlike meditation, orgasm seems a heightened sense of being within one’s body rather than the sense of being outside of it.”
As a lover of tantric philosophy, I just want to say — finally, there’s evidence that we can experience sacred bliss by going deeper into physical experience, rather than moving away from it.
The bias over a few thousands years of classical yogic thinking has been that “enlightenment” comes from moving away from one’s lower (temptation-oriented chakras) towards the upper, more “spiritual” chakras.
The word itself – “enlightenment” – contains “light” because of this preference for moving into the lighter (higher) chakras. We also have words like “ascension” and “higher self” that refer to supposedly greater states of spirituality.
But maybe, just maybe, we don’t have to go “upward” to get in touch with our divine essence. Maybe we can experience profound spirituality by being more deeply present and aware in our body as we share loving, physical connection with another.
And maybe our lower chakras are as big of a part of our spirituality as our upper chakras. I for one, am all for chakra equality.