YOGA FOR HOTTER, BETTER SEX www.menshealth.com/yoga www.menshealth.com/yoga YOGA FOR HOTTER, BETTER SEX 6 simple yoga moves can boost your performance in bed and give you a whole-body orgasm By: Kristen Dollard Chair Pose 1. Stand in Mountain pose: Arms at sides, sternum lifted. Bend your knees deeply. Squeeze your inner thighs together and straighten your arms, lifting them above your head and stretching your fingertips toward the sky. 2. Accentuate the lift in your arms and chest so your upper spine is in a slight backbend. Tuck your pelvis. Shoot for 10 breaths. Feel that butt-burn? Hint: Lift your toes up off the floor, squat deeper, and press your heels into the floor to get greater benefits from the pose. Camel Pose 1. Kneeling, with your body erect, check your alignment, making sure your knees are directly beneath your hips and curling your toes under (deviate from photo to begin). Stack your hips on top of your knees, your shoulders atop your hips, and your ears atop your shoulders. 2. Place the palms of your hands on the small of your back, fingertips facing up. If that is uncomfortable, your fingertips can face the floor. 3. As you inhale, inflate your chest and feel your breastbone ride, floating your ribcage up and off your waist. 4. Then continue to lift your upper back up and over an imaginary ball behind you until you begin to reach one hand and then the other toward your heels. You should arrive in your deepest arch only in your upper back when both hands rest comfortably on your heels or props. 5. Take five full, complete breaths, letting your head drop back; if that strains your neck, tuck your chin and relax your face muscles. Keep your pelvis and thighs moving forward so your legs are lengthening. 6. To come back up, bring both hands to your low back, and on one inhale use your core to lift your body until it is erect. Move into child’s pose for five breaths to counteract this backbend. Hint: If you cannot reach to your heels, put tall blocks or firm pillows next to your ankles, or curl your toes under in order to keep the weight forward so that the backbend stays in your upper chest. www.menshealth.com/yoga Horndog Pose Release your aching back for better sex “Testosterone doesn’t make you smarter; it actually makes you dumber,” says Charles Matkin owner of Matkin Yoga in New York. He wants to reassure men that sex is practice, not a performance. His wife makes him feel better by telling him “[orgasm] is the overrated part.” This pose is a play on downward facing dog, a pose you’ll meet in any class you attend. Take a yoga strap (or belt or tie) and create a loop in the bottom and tie it to the doorknob. Stand facing away from the closed door and lay the strap across the middle of your thighs. Tie the other end to the doorknob so that you are able to fold forward at the waist feeling the pressure on your thighs pulling you towards the door as you swim forward, walking your hands along the ground if possible. Imagine a woman in your life pulling your thighs back. This is a common assist for the muscle-bound in a hands-on yoga class. Hold for 10 breaths. Macho Low Lunges Strengthening your pelvic floor will enhance your staying power Doing yoga doesn’t mean that you have to forgo the tough stuff. Don’t feel comfortable while you’re at it? Then you’re not doing it right, Matkin says. Take a manly stance and own it. When you do this, pretend that you are holding urine in. That will tighten the muscle between the sit bone and pubic bone, making taunt like a trampoline. Stand tall with your tailbone pointing down and abs pulled in. Step forward one leg’s length with your right leg and lower yourself into Lunge. Your right thigh should be parallel to floor, with your back leg fully extended. Your arms can be straight up or on your hips. Hold for 10 breaths, return to start, and repeat with your left leg forward. Standing Fan The ultimate groin, hips, and hamstring stretch can unlock the pelvis and allow for your mojo to move you Men need to release their lower-back muscles, and they don’t realize their hips are insanely tight from sports, sitting at work, and commuting. The other big secret is that your hips start 3 inches above your navel, but we think they are located below our belt. This stretch will help you articulate your pelvic muscles and release joint tension so that you can find a “sacral rhythm” that would make Marc Anthony jealous. Stand with your legs 4 feet apart, toes slightly inward, and contract your leg muscles, keeping your legs straight. Don’t lock your knees. Bend forward from your hips, keeping your back straight. Place your hands on the back of chair, on your calves, or on the floor. Relax your neck and allow it to dangle loosely without tension. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds, imagining the space between each vertebra of your spine expanding. As you become more flexible, your forearms will rest on floor. www.menshealth.com/yoga Sex Breath Don’t mount her‚ match her breath and be yourself If you are always in flight-or fight-mode you cannot be in tune your body or hers. There is no bigger letdown than leaving the sizzling moment and feeling like you will lose your erection. To mediate this fear, start to breathe more deliberately and in sync with your partner. Focus on clenching and releasing, Matkin says. If your partner is available, have her do this with you; if not, envision her doing this. Sit cross-legged. Have your partner mount you so she is sitting in your lap. You are face to face. Breathe slowly and deliberately, trying to make only the most minute movements. Begin to sway only and if you are moving into a deep, oily, unctuous groove. Stay for as long as possible in this frictionless stance and match your breathing to hers. Breathe in her ear or on her neck. Slowly allow this to evolve into intercourse (if you choose). When it’s time to orgasm, don’t hold back.