The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that is rarely trained in the gym. We only hear about it after having a baby, or if there is an issue. Your pelvic floor is your sex muscle, the more it is involved during sex and self pleasure, the more pleasure expands.

What it does

The pelvic floor is a hammock-shaped group of muscles connected to the pubic bone, the coccyx, and the sitting bones. It holds your lower organs. During orgasms, it is these muscles contracting that create the waves of pleasure, and orgasms.

Sedentary living, sitting on chairs, is restricting the health of the pelvic floor, which affects pleasure, and sex. In Tantric, Taoist, and yogic traditions, pelvic activation has always been central to practice. Daily practices that engage the pelvic floor for strength, elasticity, and irrigation, bring positive repercussions for health and spiritual practice.

  • Increases blood flow to the genitals, bringing lubrication, engorgement of erectile tissue, and heightened sensation
  • Stronger muscles produce stronger contractions during orgasm, increasing orgasm intensity
  • Directly linked to control over ejaculation timing
  • A floor that can both contract and fully release reduces pain during sex: a chronically tight floor is one of the primary causes of pain on penetration
  • Protects against incontinence and organ prolapse over time
  • Essential for restoring sensation and function after vaginal birth

How to use it during sex and self-pleasure

Think of the pelvic floor as your main tool to engage physically when you are masturbating or having sex. Simply explore being more aware of what you can do with it, squeeze, you create more localised sensation, push outward, you bring blood flow and oxygen into the area, and sensation spreads through the whole body. Try both directions, and stay connected to your breath. Inhaling and exhaling while moving the pelvic floor.

Building the practice outside of sex

The practice outside of sex is important because it accustoms the body to this awareness before there is any other momentum to navigate. Even five minutes a day of breath with pelvic floor awareness is enough to begin.

There are also indirect routes. Anything to do with voice training, with the vagus nerve, communicates to the pelvic floor as well. When you do your pelvic floor training with your breath, everything starts moving. Libido. Lubrication. Sensation. You are practicing sexuality every moment of the day, if that is your choice.

Try this

As many of these practices require privacy, which might not be immediately available, I invite you to simply imagine the practice. Visualise, sensualise, how you would do this practice, and what it would feel like.

The Kama breath

Find a comfortable position, sitting, standing, or lying down. Relax your jaw and let the breath move freely.

Begin by locating your pelvic floor. Squeeze gently, as if stopping the flow of urine, then relax. Now push outward softly, then relax. Those are your two directions.

Now bring in the breath. As you inhale, let the pelvic floor soften and release. As you exhale, draw gently upward. Keep it subtle. This is not a grip, it is a conscious drawing-in and a full letting go. Run through this slowly, six times, staying present with the sensation.

With the squeeze, sensation localises. With the release, it spreads. Both directions are part of the practice.

Science check

Pelvic floor muscle training improves arousal, orgasm, satisfaction, lubrication and pain during sex. A floor that can both contract and fully release is what sets the range.

Pelvic floor and sexual function , Homsi Jorge, C. et al. (2024). Pelvic floor muscle training as treatment for female sexual dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.