Orgasms can be elusive, leaving us O-so frustrated.
While not every love-making session has to end in a climax for it to be a good time, it’s definitely an added bonus. But just 65% of heterosexual women usually orgasm during sex (compared to 95% of men).
But there are ways to increase your chances – and we aren’t just talking about sex toys or clitoral stimulation. Introducing, interoception.
Never heard of it? Interoception is defined as ‘the sense of the internal condition of the body’. Basically if you’re interoceptive, you’re in-tune with the sensations occurring beneath the surface.
There are some interoceptive sensations we probably all notice, like your stomach rumbling to signal hunger, or feeling a full bladder when you need to use the bathroom. But some are less obvious.
Psychosexual therapist Ness Cooper explains to Metro: ‘Examples of these sensations in daily life include pins and needles, feeling your pulse increase as you walk and feeling liquid running through your body as you drink it.
‘During sex, you might notice your body temperature change in certain parts, your heart rate increase and your breathing get shallower.’
If you’re wondering what this has to do with orgasms, a new study from the Journal of Brain Sciences found that increased interoceptive awareness was associated with higher orgasm frequency and satisfaction for women, non-binary people and trans men.
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In fact, late neuroanatomist Bud Craig specifically categorised orgasm itself as an interoceptive sense, ‘given that its sensory tract organisation follows similar pathways to the brain’ as other interoception senses.
What does the science say?
The study of 360 participants, conducted by the University of Essex, measured each person’s levels of interoception by having them respond to statements such as ‘When I am tense, I notice where the tension is located in my body’ and ‘I listen to my body to inform me about what to do’.
Each person scored each of the eight statements with a score of zero (meaning never) to five (meaning always) with a higher score meaning they are interoceptively aware – then they also scored their orgasm frequency.
The correlation between each participant’s interoceptive awareness and how frequently they orgasmed was evaluated by experts from the department of psychology.
Experts found that someone who noticed their interoceptive sensations had increased orgasm frequency and the women who ‘trusted their body sensations’ reported higher levels of orgasm satisfaction when masturbating and when having partnered sex, compared to women who didn’t.
Why can interoception help us reach orgasm?
‘Interoception can help sync your body and mind up,’ psychosexual therapist Ness explains.
‘Many of our bodies work by being stimulated, which triggers action, and some of these forms of stimulation can come from within the body.’
It’s all well and good knowing that being self-aware can help you reach the big O, but if you struggle with being in-tune with your body it can be hard to put into practice.
To get better at interoception, you could try Sensate Focus Therapy. Invented by Dr Virginia Johnson and Dr William Masters in 1970, it’s one of the main forms of sex therapy out there, according to Ness.
‘It’s focused on slowly building up sensation and how this can turn
you on,’ she says. ‘It starts with non-genital focused touch, and over a number of sessions builds to genital-based touch.
‘The goal basically is to become aware of what turns you on and how your mind and body reacts during it.’
Ness adds that you could also try meditation and tantric practices to improve your self-awareness by focusing on a specific area of your body.
The drawbacks
Like everything in the bedroom, interoception isn’t going to be for everyone.
Ness brands it a ‘valuable skill’ but points out that some may struggle with it if they are already hyper aware of the processes within their body.
‘Those with OCD may struggle with interoception due to their mind also focusing on a lot of thought processes already which may or may not be related to sex,’ she explains. ‘They may struggle tuning into the ones they want to experience right there in the moment of sex.’
It could also be difficult for those who suffer with injuries or chronic pain as their body already has a lot of sensations going on, making it harder to connect the body and mind.
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.