Part 8 (1/2)
-FROM AN ANONYMOUS SOURCE ON THE INTERNET G.o.d usually comes up at least once in the throes of s.e.xual ecstasy. ”Oh my G.o.d ... Please G.o.d ... G.o.d don't stop ...” are not uncommon phrases preceding intense o.r.g.a.s.ms. On the surface it might seem as though religious ecstasy and s.e.xual pleasure have little in common, besides, of course, calling out G.o.d's name. Looking under the surface, however, reveals some fascinating similarities. Experiences of G.o.d and s.e.x are usually enhanced by rituals, music, and candles. Both experiences involve requesting help, if you consider ”Oh G.o.d please don't stop” asking for help, and both experiences can be a.s.sociated with tremendous joy.
In recent years imaging has been used as a tool for brain scientists to look at brain function in relation to religious experience and s.e.xual ecstasy. Researchers have come to learn that behaviors that were seen as vastly different from each other have more in common than once thought. Both peak experiences seem to be processed primarily in the right side of the brain, especially the right temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex. So enhancing one experience may, in fact, help the other. Enhancing right-hemisphere function may enhance both religious and s.e.xual experience.
Is there really evidence to support the connection between religious experience and s.e.xual ecstasy? s.e.xual ecstasy or o.r.g.a.s.mic pleasure appears to involve primarily the right hemisphere. Researchers from the University of Kuopio in Finland used brain-SPECT imaging to study eight healthy right-handed men during o.r.g.a.s.m. They found overall decreased blood flow in the brain during o.r.g.a.s.m except in right prefrontal cortex, where cerebral blood flow was increased significantly! There are twenty-three cases of temporal lobe epilepsy that are a.s.sociated with the feeling of having an o.r.g.a.s.m, called an o.r.g.a.s.mic epileptic aura. Eighty-seven percent of the patients had their abnormality on the right side, especially the right temporal lobe. A study from the Department of Neuroscience at Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, examined eleven patients with epilepsy who reported auras of ecstasy or pleasure. Four had erotic sensations and five described ”a religious/spiritual experience.”
Research from the Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory at Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada, under the direction of Michael Persinger has studied religious experience and the brain for many years. They have reported that religious experience, especially of a sensed presence or being, can be induced by placing a weak magnetic field over the right temporal lobe. Women, who have greater access to the right hemisphere in general, reported more frequent experiences of a sensed presence than did men, and men were more likely than women to consider these experiences as ”intrusions” from a negative alien source. Some of the phenomena generated by the right temporal lobe included ”evil ent.i.ties,” G.o.ds, out-of-body experiences, and alterations in s.p.a.ce-time.
Neurotheology Rayford and Jill have both experienced strong religious visions. He was an agnostic and she was a Christian. He thought that the devil was following him; she thought the Blessed Mother appeared to her. Both have temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Like other forms of epilepsy, the condition causes convulsions but it is also a.s.sociated with religious feelings, s.e.xual ecstasy, and sometimes hallucinations. Research into why people like Rayford and Jill saw what they did has opened up a whole field of brain science: neurotheology.
Several religious figures are thought to have temporal lobe epilepsy. An example is Ellen White, one of the founders of the Seventh Day Adventist Movement born in 1827. She suffered a brain injury at age nine that totally changed her personality and she subsequently started to have powerful religious visions.
Author Fyodor Dostoyevsky was reported to have bouts of ”temporal lobe seizures.” He felt his affliction was a ”holy experience.” His biographer Rene Fueloep-Miller quotes Dostoyevsky as saying, that his epilepsy ”rouses in me hitherto unsuspected emotions, gives me feelings of magnificence, abundance and eternity.” In The Idiot, Dostoyevsky offers one of the most nuanced descriptions of the experience: ”There was always one instant just before the epileptic fit ... when suddenly in the midst of sadness, spiritual darkness and oppression, his brain seemed momentarily to catch fire, and in an extraordinary rush, all his vital forces were at their highest tension. The sense of life, the consciousness of self, were multiplied almost ten times at these moments which lasted no longer than a flash of lightning. His mind and his heart were flooded with extraordinary light; all his uneasiness, all his doubts, all his anxieties were relieved at once; they were all resolved in a loft calm, full of serene, harmonious joy and hope, full of reason and ultimate meaning. But these moments, these flashes, were only a premonition of that final second (it was never more than a second) with which the fit began. That second was, of course, unendurable. Thinking of that moment later, when he was well again, he often said to himself that all these gleams and flashes of supreme sensation and consciousness of self, and therefore, also of the highest form of being, were nothing but disease, the violation of the normal state; and if so, it was not at all the highest form of being, but on the contrary must be reckoned the lowest. Yet he came at last to an extreme paradoxical conclusion. 'What if it is disease?' he decided at last. 'What does it matter that it is an abnormal intensity, if the result, if the sensation, remembered and a.n.a.lyzed afterwards in health, turns out to be the acme of harmony and beauty, and gives a feeling, unknown and undivined till then, of completeness, of proportion, of reconciliation, and of startled prayerful merging with the highest synthesis of life?'”
The brain feels joy and ecstasy. It also feels sadness and pain. Learning how to enhance brain function can enhance all areas of life, even the ones most sacred.
Sacred s.e.x s.e.x can be a sacred act. Being inside another person's body, becoming one with him or her, allows for the exchange not only of bodily fluids, but also of energy forces, thoughts, and intentions. s.e.xual union can be a spiritual experience. Many religions of the world discuss s.e.x in a sacred context.
Tantra (a Sanskrit word which means ”woven together”) is a term applied to several schools of Hindu yoga in which s.e.x is wors.h.i.+pped. And tantra has been applied to s.e.xual practices of other religions, including Tibetan Buddhism and Taoism.
Hindu Tantra Tantra yoga is thought to date back thousands of years. There were rituals, or pujas, focusing on s.e.x organs, such as yoni puja, a ceremony honoring the v.u.l.v.a, either of a statue or a living woman; and linga puja, honoring the p.e.n.i.s, often in the form of a natural upright stone. Similar objects of wors.h.i.+p have been found among the archaeological remains of many neolithic people around the world, leading some scholars to speculate that ”s.e.x wors.h.i.+p” in some form or another is humanity's oldest religion. An Alaskan friend gave me a long, cylindrical carved statue. It was a walrus ooskis (p.e.n.i.s). He said it symbolized fertility and was a traditional gift given to couples.
A major component of Hindu tantra is meditation stemming from a yoga tradition. In general, yoga is a Hindu practice that teaches pract.i.tioners to quiet activity of the body, mind, and will so that the individual may realize its distinction from them and attain liberation. Meditative yoga schools include hatha yoga (body posture) and bhakti yoga (devotion). Many yoga schools advocate a nons.e.xual approach to wors.h.i.+p, in which visualizing a deity, chanting of a mantra, concentrating on symbols called yantras, and the practice of tapas (discipline) are the foremost activities. During a s.e.xual approach to wors.h.i.+p, yoni puja, the pract.i.tioner may meditate on a yantra-often a downward-pointing triangle-that symbolizes the v.u.l.v.a of the G.o.ddess.
Some tantra yoga teachers recommend meditative practices that also share elements with kundalini yoga, where subtle streams of energy are raised in the body by means of posture, breath control, and movements. Teachers in this school of tantra typically advocate retention of s.e.m.e.n even during s.e.xual excitement as a prerequisite for spiritual advancement.
Can meditation and prayer really enhance the brain and in turn enhance your s.e.xual experiences, as suggested here? Research studies by Andrew Newburg from the University of Pennsylvania and others have shown that prayer and meditation can indeed influence brain function in a positive way. Studying Tibetan monks and Franciscan nuns, Dr. Newburg found that these meditative activities dampened the outside world (parietal lobes) and brought the focus internally by enhancing the prefrontal cortex.
With the sponsors.h.i.+p of the Alzheimer's Prevention Research Foundation, my colleagues and I teamed with Drs. Dharma Singh Khalsa and Nisha Money to study the impact of meditation on the brain. We chose a simple twelve-minute form of kundalini yoga meditation, Kriya Kirtan, that is easy for busy people to practice. It is based on the five primal sounds: saa, taa, naa, maa (aa being the fifth sound). Meditators chant each sound as they consecutively touch their thumb to fingers two, three, four and five. The sounds and fingering are repeated for two minutes out loud, two minutes whispering, four minutes silently, two minutes whispering, and two minutes out loud. We performed SPECT scans at rest one day and then after meditation the next day. We saw marked decreases in the left parietal lobes (decreasing awareness of time and s.p.a.ce) and significant increases in the prefrontal cortex (which showed that meditation helped to tune people in, not out). We also observed increased activity in the right temporal lobe, an area that has been a.s.sociated with spirituality and s.e.xuality, which our meditators found amusing. ”Of course,” one said, ”that is why we meditate.”
Best known in the West are the several forms of tantra yoga in which wors.h.i.+p services take the form of s.e.xual rituals featuring slow, nono.r.g.a.s.mic intercourse as a prelude to an experience of the divine. This broad category of tantric s.e.x ritualism, which derives from the pre-Hindu religions of Shaktism and Shaivism, has in turn produced two schools of practice: the ”right hand path,” a meditational, monogamous rite; and the ”left hand path,” in which dozens-or more-couples engage in the ritual s.e.x act at the same time, sometimes following the lead of a pair of teachers.
Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism, and Tantra A version of tantrism can be found in contemporary Tibetan Buddhism, where a blend of pre-Buddhist G.o.ddess wors.h.i.+p is interspersed with rituals from the ancient Tibetan religion Bon. Like Hindu tantra, Tibetan Buddhist tantra encompa.s.ses schools of practice that range from the meditational to the s.e.xually active.
Taosim has several tantric schools with different views on the role of s.e.xual activity. One form of Taoist tantra, s.e.xual alchemy, places emphasis on the search for a long life. Taoist tantric alchemy involves breath and muscle control and emphasizes the retention of sperm as proof of spiritual attainment. Other Taoist tantra teachers, working out of a paradigm that seems to be derived from Shaktism, claim that Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, was in fact advocating a form of yoni puja or wors.h.i.+p of the v.u.l.v.a when he wrote about ”the valley spirit.”
Religious and s.e.xual Ecstasy:
Practical Applications
If the right side of the brain is involved in both religious and s.e.xual ecstasy, how can you use this knowledge to enhance your own and your partner's s.e.xual experiences? Since the right side of the brain helps us process music and rhythm, soft tunes and a romantic dance may help you and your partner get in the mood. The right side of the brain also sees in pictures, instead of in words, so being in a beautiful environment is usually another plus. The right side of the brain also tends to be the anxious or nervous side of the brain, so calming worries, through a warm bath, relaxing back or foot rub, or a rea.s.suring talk, can be helpful.
You can also stimulate the right side of the brain by kissing the left side of the body. This intervention can be tricky, because sometimes the right side of the brain is a.s.sociated with anxiety and it might be better to kiss the right side of the body to stimulate a person's left side. I recommend you run a series of experiments on your partner's body to see what side he or she likes stroked or kissed better. Actually, this principle of experimenting is one of the best strategies you can use. See what turns your partner on ... write it down ... talk about it ... and remember it.
Creating Rituals: Practical Applications Creating sacred rituals for your s.e.x life can yield many long-term advantages. These rituals do not need to be rigid, which stifles creativity, but rather can provide a fun, safe, intimate environment in which to more fully explore your s.e.xuality. Start by setting the boundaries of what is acceptable behavior; talk about what is comfortable and not. It is important for you and your partner to discuss the things that make you feel relaxed, comfortable, excited, and sensual. It is important to create a safe environment in which to play. Some partners do this by agreeing on a code word which tells the other that they want to stop or are feeling uncomfortable, without breaking the mood. As well, it's important for you and your partner to talk about the things that make you feel good, uncomfortable, or that you are just plain unsure about. s.e.x, at its core, is a form of communication between two people.
After you have agreed to safe boundaries, you can take s.e.x to a new level by investing in a few books or magazines. I write for Men's Health magazine and it is always filled with great s.e.x tips for couples. Cosmopolitan and other magazines have playful ideas as well. Books on tantric s.e.x or role-playing games can also be fun. Page through them together, talking about and exploring new ideas and techniques for inspiring pa.s.sion.
Once you've agreed on the existing and new areas of interest to play in, begin creating your plan of action for that evening (or afternoon or morning). Often, simple rituals can be very exciting, such as a beautiful bath filled with rose petals and floating candles, along with sensual music, t.i.tillating aromas, oils for ma.s.sage, and an aphrodisiac tea or treat. This alone can create a mood of irresistible desire. There are times, though, that more excitement is required to bring on the feelings of arousal. This is where doing something outside of the norm can take a really exhilarating form. For instance, going to the ocean or a lake in a private spot and skinny-dipping, pulling the stop switch on an elevator (that doesn't have surveillance cameras) and making love in a unique setting, or playing out a s.e.xual fantasy. This is an area of unlimited possibility and fun, if both partners can agree to cooperate with each other on hidden desires. Again, the word cooperation is a very important one. It's crucial for both partners to feel comfortable but also be willing to be a bit flexible, as long as the method doesn't compromise a core value or involve unwanted pain for a partner. Sometimes by opening oneself up to new possibilities, whole new worlds of sensuality are unleashed.
Remember, ritual is symbolic of the experience to come, so it can take just about any form-a phone call to your partner at work, homemade cookies as an afternoon snack, or a walk through the park holding hands. This is your unique bonding which takes place in order to open up the channels for deeper love and connection between you and your significant other. Let go, be creative, and use your brain to have fun.
Lesson #8: s.e.x can be a spiritual experience.
BRAIN s.e.x TRICKS.
s.e.x Potions, Pa.s.sion, and Finding the ”d.a.m.n Spot”
”Just find the d.a.m.n spot. All you have to do is find the spot.”
-JOY BEHAR, The View According to Greek myth, Ura.n.u.s, the father of the t.i.tans, was castrated by his son Cronus. When his severed genitalia was thrown into the sea, the waters began to churn. From the sea foam (known in Greek as aphros), Aphrodite was born, the G.o.ddess of love and the mother of Eros (known by his Roman name as Cupid). This is the origin of the name aphrodisiacs, the term that describes the many methods reported to enhance libido, potency, and s.e.xual pleasure. This chapter explores the neuroscience of the foods, drinks, drugs, scents, or devices believed to enhance s.e.xual interest and performance.
Aphrodisiacs v.i.a.g.r.a, and his pharmaceutical brothers, Cialis and Levitra, have drawn international public attention to aphrodisiacs. You cannot turn on the television or listen to a radio show without hearing about these medications. We are constantly reminded of our desire for s.e.x. Images of baby boomer men grace the screen as they relax by the beach. The suggestive tag lines include ”Let the dance begin” and ”Relax and take your time.” v.i.a.g.r.a even has a frequent-buyer card and you get your seventh prescription for free. It may seem as though there is a new obsession with s.e.x, but mankind has been focused on s.e.x-and ways to make it better-since the beginning of time.
The search for aphrodisiacs dates back at least five thousand years and has included useful remedies as well as ones that have hurt and killed people, and cost many animals their lives. For example, there are two reports on the effects of swallowing a substance containing toad secretions. Of seven previously healthy men who took the drug, the active ingredient in the West Indian ”love stone” and the Chinese medication ”chan su,” four died. Toad secretions contain a substance that causes abnormal heart rhythms in people, which may be responsible for the high they feel when taking it. Unfortunately, it can also stop the heart fatally. Which aphrodisiacs are helpful, practical, and have research to show efficacy, and which are dangerous or illegal?
One aphrodisiac to avoid is Spanish fly (cantharidin), which has been used for a thousand years as a s.e.xual stimulant. It is one of the best known and infamous modern love potions. Made from the dried body of blister beetles, so named for causing blistering of the skin, it irritates the urinary tract, sending a rush of blood to the genitals, causing the feeling of excitement. However, it is also a poison and illegal in the United States. While most commonly available preparations of Spanish fly contain cantharidin in negligible amounts, if at all, the chemical is available illicitly in concentrations capable of causing severe toxicity. Symptoms of cantharidin poisoning include burning of the mouth, trouble swallowing, nausea, blood in the urine, and painful urination. Priapism (painful erections that won't go away), seizures, and heart abnormalities are also possible. The practice of eating live beetles in Southeast Asia and ”the kissing bugs” (triatomids) in Mexico may work in a similar way. Similarly, these bugs are also dangerous and should not be ingested.
For increasing libido, ambrein, a major const.i.tuent of a gray, waxy secretion (ambergris) found in the digestive tract of some sperm whales, is used in Arab countries, but it is illegal in the United States. This substance increases the concentration of several hormones, including testosterone. It was once used as a fixative in perfumes, and is used as an aphrodisiac in some parts of the world. When given a dose of ambrien, male rats got a lot more interested in s.e.x, even when no female rats were nearby. When receptive females were put into the cages, the male rats had ”recurrent episodes of penile erection, a dose-dependent, vigorous, and repet.i.tive increase in intromissions and an increased anogenital investigatory behavior.” The rats went into a mating frenzy. The researchers from King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, concluded that ambrien is indeed a s.e.xual stimulant, adding legitimacy to similar claims by Chinese traditional medicine. Historically, Chinese n.o.blemen would drink ambrein dissolved into a draught. Ambrein is illegal in the United States, where sperm whales are listed as an endangered species.
Asian ginseng is commonly used to treat s.e.xual dysfunction in men and is available in the United States. Recent lab studies in animals have shown that both Asian and American forms of ginseng enhance libido and s.e.xual performance. The effects of ginseng have several probable causes. There is a direct effect of ginseng on the central nervous system and genital tissues. There is good evidence that ginseng can facilitate erection by directly increasing blood flow to the p.e.n.i.s. The effects of ginseng appear to work through the release of nitric oxide (similar to v.i.a.g.r.a). Ginseng also affects the brain and has been shown to enhance the activity of neurotransmitters and hormones involved in s.e.xual behavior. Ginseng is considered an adaptogen that enhances physical performance, promotes vitality, and increases resistance to stress and aging. When used appropriately, ginseng appears to be safe. Nevertheless, doc.u.mented side effects include hypertension, diarrhea, restlessness, and v.a.g.i.n.al bleeding. Most published research studies have used a standardized Panax ginseng extract in a dosage of 200 mg per day. Other sources recommend 0.5 to 2 g of dry root per day on a short-term basis, with the ginseng taken in tea form or chewed. Capsule formulas are generally given in a dosage of 100 to 600 mg per day, usually in divided doses.
The prettiest brains I have seen are those on ginkgo. Ginkgo biloba, from the Chinese ginkgo tree, is a powerful antioxidant that is best known for its ability to enhance circulation, memory, and concentration. The best studied form of ginkgo biloba is a special extract called EGB 761, which has been studied in blood vessel disease, clotting disorders, depression, and Alzheimer's disease. There are also reports that it enhances s.e.xual function. Many psychiatrists use ginkgo to counteract the s.e.xual side effects of SSRI antidepressant medications. There are many different forms of ginkgo, making dosing confusing. In the United States Ginkoba and Ginkgold (Nature's Way) are brands that have been compounded to reflect EGB 761. The usual effective dose is 60 to 120 mg twice per day. There is a small risk of bleeding in the body, and the dosages of other blood-thinning agents being taken may sometimes need to be reduced. Before taking supplements, make sure to talk with your doctor.
Yohimbine, extracted from Yohimbine bark, can facilitate erections by stimulating the nervous system and increasing blood flow to the p.e.n.i.s. But it is not for everyone. Common side effects include increased heart rate, raised blood pressure, anxiety, and nausea. Available by prescription, Yohimbine should be used under a doctor's supervision.
L-arginine is a naturally occurring amino acid that is a precursor to nitric oxide. It has been used with some success to enhance s.e.xual function because it is believed to improve blood flow to the genitals. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark reported that in rats L-arginine helped regulate v.a.g.i.n.al smooth-muscle tone and also affected blood flow in all areas. L-arginine coupled with yohimbe has been found to make a positive difference in women with low s.e.xual desire. Researchers from the University of Texas, Austin studied twenty-four women using this combination and found it significantly increased blood flow an hour after they were given these substances.
s.e.xy Scents Humorist Dave Barry once wrote, ”Of all the human senses-sight, hearing, touch, taste, and the feeling that a huge man with a barbecue fork is lurking in the closet-perhaps the least appreciated, yet most important, is our sense of smell.” In treating patients who suffered from loss of the sense of smell, psychiatrist Alan Hirsch, from the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, found that almost 25 percent had also developed s.e.xual dysfunction, suggesting that odor can have a large impact on s.e.xual arousal. Your sense of smell is the strongest of your five senses and highly involved in s.e.xual function, pleasure, and irritation. Scientists discuss the concept of ”smell print,” where memories are a.s.sociated with certain smells. Years later, a smell will vividly cause a person to recall the memory a.s.sociated with it. Smells are like fingerprints, highly individualized.
The deep limbic brain is involved with our sense of smell and interest in s.e.x. The two go hand in hand. The smell of cooked cinnamon, on the one hand, is a natural aphrodisiac for men. The s.e.x organ in the brain that is responsive to s.e.xual-interest hormones is two and a half times larger in men than in women. When I told my mother about cooked cinnamon, she hit her forehead and said, ”That is why I have seven children! He would never leave me alone.” The Lebanese cook with a lot of cinnamon.
Dr. Hirsch has studied many smells a.s.sociated with s.e.xual interest in both males and females. Measuring penile blood flow, with a device that looked like a small blood pressure cuff, he found that certain scents or combinations of scents activated the erector machinery more than others. The combination scent of lavender and pumpkin pie was at the top of the list, increasing penile blood flow by 40 percent! Other winning scents included doughnut and black licorice, doughnut and pumpkin pie, doughnut and lavender, orange, cheese pizza, roast beef, and cinnamon buns.
Which ones work for females? To uncover this sweet-smelling piece of information, Dr. Hirsch measured v.a.g.i.n.al blood flow with a special monitoring device. Increased v.a.g.i.n.al blood flow is a sign of s.e.xual arousal in women, while decreased blood flow is the opposite. He started by measuring the response to men's colognes. All of them decreased v.a.g.i.n.al blood flow. Don't waste your money.