Tai Chi Sex

On November 6th, US News and World Report featured a blog by Deborah Kotz discussing natural ways to boost a woman’s sex drive. http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-women/2008/11/6/5-natural-ways-to-boost-sex-drive.html Kotz cites a study that finds that while 40% of women “have sexual problems” only 12% are concerned about them. She challenges the notion that such women need to be treated with drugs, and suggests a number of ways to enhance the female libido. One of these methods is exercise.

It’s not clear from the article who is suggesting there are problems, and exactly what the problems are, but everyone knows that exercise makes us feel sexier. Slimming down, getting stronger, seeing muscles grow, experiencing the flow of endorphins and having more stamina makes us more interested in lovemaking and makes us more desirable too.

Not all forms of exercise are created equal, though, particularly when it comes to sex. Tai chi’s philosophical and energetic underpinnings have everything to do with the binary universe—the brilliant observation made by Chinese sages thousands of years before the on/off switch created the computer age—that the world is defined by the harmonious interplay of opposing forces. Harmonious? Opposing? That’s right, light and dark, up and down, warm and cold, and of course male and female. Tai chi is a very sensual art in the sense that practicing it heightens our awareness of those very opposites. Every movement in tai chi both features male and female elements, hard and soft dimension, a weighty and a weightless arm or leg. Mastering tai chi requires great sensitivity, and women often attain mastery more easily and more quickly than men do because they are accustomed to using both softness and force to achieve their objective whereas many men rely on force alone.

Tai chi is as much medicine as philosophy though, and the medicine on which it is based studies and employs energy rather than pills. So in addition to heightening sensitivity and creating new awareness of the male and female elements of words, deeds, movements, feelings and forces, the art builds sexual power by enhancing the circulation of qi, life force, to vital areas including the sexual organs. In fact, a core goal of the practice (core is double entendre here because there is no better core-strengthening routine than a rigorous tai chi class) is to increase the sexual essence, or jing. In the best mind/body tradition, this means building reservoirs of power in both genders not only through the movements themselves, but through meditation, dietary changes, and mental training.

Last but not least, tai chi conveys a wealth of knowledge useful in lovemaking and in stimulating performance and desire, including: creative unpredictability, relaxation, rhythms, self-expression, going with the flow, receiving and giving, and more. The practice is a laboratory in which practitioners (known as players) study their own body in depth, learning new dimensions of their physical and mental being. There is nothing sexier than a healthy body and a healthy interest in how that body works. If your sex life is feeling dull or you are feeling stuck and just can’t get rolling, tai chi may be just to awaken your true and powerful sexual nature.