Monday, February 9, 2015

Orgasm: Brain Waves and Reflexes

Orgasm is one of the most intense and satisfying human experiences, and if you have ever had an orgasm – and almost all  men  have  –  you  will  not  need  to  have  it  defined.  All  orgasms,  however,  are  not  created  equal.  Orgasm  is  slightly different for each person and even different for the same person at different times. Nonetheless, men’s orgasms share certain  characteristics,  including  rhythmic  body  movements,  increased  heart  rate,  muscle  tension,  and  then  a  sudden
release of tension, including pelvic contractions. They feel good, too. After noting that "orgasm is the least understood of the  sexual  processes,"  the  thirteenth  edition  of Smith's  General  Urology
explains  that  orgasm  includes  "involuntary rhythmic  contractions  of  the  anal  sphincter,  hyperventilation  [increased  breathing  rate],  tachycardia  [increased  heart rate], and elevation of blood pressure."
These definitions include changes that occur throughout your entire body. However, for a long time orgasm was seen – and for many men is  still  seen – as  strictly a genital affair. In the West, William  Reich, in  his controversial book The Function of Orgasm, was the first to argue that orgasm involved the whole body and not just the genitals. In the East, the Taoists have long known that orgasm could be a whole-body experience and developed techniques for expanding orgasmic pleasure. Many sex researchers are now arguing that orgasm really has more to do with our brain than our brawn. Brain-wave research is beginning to reveal that orgasm may occur primarily in the brain. That you can have an orgasm in your sleep – without any bodily touch – seems to confirm this theory. Further support comes from neurologist Robert J. Heath of Tulane University, who discovered that when certain parts of the brain are stimulated with electrodes they produce sexual pleasure identical to that produced by physical stimulation. Many sex therapists are fond of saying that sex takes place in the brain. There is some truth to this statement – especially when it comes to orgasm. Unlike orgasm, which is a peak emotional and physical experience, ejaculation is simply a reflex that occurs at the base of
the spine and results in the ejection of semen. Michael Winn, senior Healing Tao instructor and coauthor of Taoist Sec ets of  Lowe:  Cultivating  Male  Sexual  Energy, explains:  "A  lot  of  men  are  freaked  out  by  the  very  idea  of  nonejaculatory orgasm  because  they’ve  been  having  ejaculatory  sex  for  such  a  long  time,  often  decades.  So  the  first  thing  to  do  is demystify ejaculation, which is just an involuntary muscle spasm." With practice, you can learn to experience the peak feeling of orgasm without triggering the reflex of ejaculation. In the
next two chapters we will explain, step-by-step, exactly how to separate orgasm from ejaculation and how to expand your orgasms throughout your body. But first let’s look at the evidence that men, like women, can have multiple orgasms.Probably  the  most  extensive  laboratory  investigation  of  male  multiple  orgasms  was  made  by  sex  researchers  William Hartman and Marilyn Fithian. They tested thirty-three men who claimed to be multi-orgasmic – that is, to be able to have
two or more orgasms without losing their erection.While these men had sex with their partners in the laboratory, Hartman and Fithian monitored their heart rates, which the
researchers had chosen as the clearest method of identifying orgasms. At rest, the average heart rate is around 70 beats per minute; during orgasm it almost doubles, rising to about 120. After orgasm, the heart returns to its resting rate (see figure  1).  They  also  measured  pelvic  contractions  (most  obvious  in  the  involuntary  squeezing  of  the  anus),  which coincided with the peaking of heart rate at orgasm. What they found was pretty surprising: the arousal charts for these men were identical to those of multi-orgasmic women.
Male  and  female  sexuality  may  be  more  similar  than  is  usually  thought.  Developmentally,  this  similarity  makes  sense, since male and female genitals come from the same fetal tissue. In their famous book The G Spot and Other Recent Discoveries About Human Sexuality, Alice Ladas, Beverly Whipple, and John Perry argued that male and female sexuality were almost identical. In addition to their much-reported discovery of the female "G spot" (which we will discuss more in chapter 4), they also suggested that men can experience multiple orgasms just like women.  During Hartman and Fithian's research, the average number of orgasms a multi-orgasmic man had was four. Some men had the minimum of two, and one had as many as sixteen! In a study by clarion Dunn and Jan Trost, most men reported having from two to nine orgasms per session.  It is important to mention here that Taoist sexuality is not about numbers and keeping score, it is about satisfaction and cultivation.  You  can  feel  satisfied  with  one  orgasm,  with  three  orgasms,  or  with  sixteen  orgasms.  You  cultivate  your sexuality  as  you  deepen  your  an  awareness  of  your  body's  pleasure  and  increase  your  ability  for  intimacy  with  your partner. Each person and each sexual experience will be different, and the "right" number of orgasms will depend on your and your partner’s desires at the time. When you become multi-orgasmic, you will never have to worry about how long
you can last or how many orgasms your partner has, because you will both be able to have all the orgasms you could
ever want. 

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