New analysis supplies preliminary proof that an intimacy apply referred to as orgasmic meditation leads to altered patterns of purposeful connectivity within the mind. The findings have been printed in Frontiers in Psychology.
Orgasmic meditation (OM) is a paired apply between two people that focuses on clitoral stimulation to facilitate a meditative expertise. Lead researcher Andrew B. Newberg, a professor at Thomas Jefferson University and analysis director on the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health, advised PsyPost there have been two main causes he was curious about learning orgasmic meditation.
“One is that I have been studying the neurophysiology of religious and spiritual practices/experiences for almost 30 years,” he defined. “These studies have included more traditional practices such as meditation and prayer to more unique practices such as speaking in tongues and now, orgasmic meditation. Thus, it is part of my ongoing research into this whole field of study – sometimes referred to as neurotheology.”
“The second main reason is that my original work looked at the relationship between religious rituals and how they evolved in human beings. Human rituals are fundamental to religious and spiritual traditions and include various ceremonies, holidays, and practices that are repetitive and help connect people to each other and to the specific stories and teachings of the tradition.”
“Our hypothesis has been that human rituals evolved from animal rituals and we have tried to track areas of the brain involved in such rituals,” Newburg stated. “But animal rituals are primarily mating rituals. Thus, there should be a strong link between mating or sexual experience and spiritual experience. My hope was that this study of OM would be an important link to support this idea.”
For the research, the researchers recruited 20 wholesome girls who had been frequently performing the apply. The girls then invited a male companion to take part within the research together with them. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to look at purposeful connectivity after quarter-hour of OM apply and after a management situation during which the members had been in the identical room and positioned the identical manner.
Compared to the management situation, Newburg and his colleagues noticed that the OM apply was related to elevated purposeful connectivity between a number of mind areas. “Such findings in the period immediately following a practice imply some degree of a lasting effect of the practice on brain function even when the person is no longer performing the practice,” the researchers famous.
For each women and men, the OM apply was related to altered connectivity involving the left superior temporal lobe, the frontal lobe, anterior cingulate, and insula. For girls, the apply was additionally related to altered connectivity involving the cerebellum, thalamus, inferior frontal lobe posterior parietal lobe, angular gyrus, amygdala and center temporal gyrus, and prefrontal cortex.
“In general, the results support the close connection between the sexual and spiritual,” Newburg stated. “Importantly, the OM practice is not about sexual gratification, but rather, about helping to bring about a strong spiritual experience. In that sense it might be regarded as similar to other spiritual practices that focus on body processes such as breathing or walking. To that end, the brain changes associated with OM are more closely related to other meditation practices, although there are some areas associated with sexual stimulation as well. Thus, it is a true hybrid practice.”
But the OM apply couldn’t bodily be carried out as members underwent fMRI scans, a limitation acknowledged by the researchers. Female members had been scanned instantly after OM apply or the management situation, whereas their male counterparts had been scanned roughly 45 minutes later.
“There is still a lot left to be understood about the neurophysiology of the OM practice as well as the relationship between sexuality and spirituality,” Newburg defined. “An important caveat to the current study is that the fMRI data was obtained after the OM practice. We have additional data that will actually show what is happening during the practice itself and we hope to show that the data from both analyses further contribute to understanding how OM affects the brain and body.”
“On the other hand, since the fMRI data shows effects persisting after the OM practice, there are implications for its use on a therapeutic level possibly helping patients with anxiety, depression or emotional trauma. We hope to launch future clinical trials to determine how OM might be useful in a clinical setting.”
The research, “Alterations in Functional Connectivity Measured by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and the Relationship With Heart Rate Variability in Subjects After Performing Orgasmic Meditation: An Exploratory Study“, was authored by Andrew B. Newberg, Nancy A. Wintering, Chloe Hriso, Faezeh Vedaei, Marie Stoner, and Reneita Ross.
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