Self-Pleasuring and Self-Cultivation

Next, you need to cultivate your sexual sensitivity. The easiest way to develop this awareness is through self-pleasuring. Unfortunately, most of us in the West did not grow up with an understanding of sex and sexual energy as natural and essential parts of our overall health. From the first time you started touching your "privates," your parents may have subtly, or not so subtly, told you to keep your hands out of your pants. Though this probably did not stop you from locking  yourself  in  your  bedroom  or  in  the  bathroom,  you  probably  have  some  guilt  and  embarrassment  about masturbating. You are not alone. Christianity's ambivalence toward sex, especially sex that is not procreative, still influences Western society and sexual mores. For example, in 1994 Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the U.S. surgeon general, was forced to resign for stating publicly that masturbation  "is  a  part  of  human  sexuality."  Therefore,  it  is  worth  mentioning  that  Christianity's  prohibition  of masturbation, which at one time was called onanism, is based on a misreading of the biblical story of Onan. Onan was punished for refusing to impregnate the wife of his dead brother, as was the custom at the time. His "sin" had nothing to do with masturbation.