I'm pretty excited to find out that you can have an orgasm without any sex. And I mean without sex with anyone, including yourself. While masturbation is definitely one of my favorite hobbies, turns out there are lots of ways that, some say, you can reach the big O that don't involve any touching of a sexual nature. And while, I'm intrigued I have to add some of these sound too good to be true. I mean, I always said that I could never get a clit piercing because I would literally never be able to focus on anything again— riding the bus would be an absolutely turn-on/nightmare— but I was sort of joking. Could it really be true that all sorts of normal things are making women around the world have lovely, lovely, orgasms? As someone who is in the middle of longest and most frustrating dry spell of my life I certainly hope so.
Plus, most of these have science on their side, so maybe there's a chance that all my dreams can come true and I can still have lots and lots of orgasms despite not being able to convince another human to touch me. Fingers crossed. Here are the top five normal things that can give you an orgasm (besides the obvious):
1. Exercise
This is the one I've heard the most about. An excercise-induced orgasm, or coregasm. Could it be real? Science says yes! One study of 370 women by Indiana University found that 124 had had an orgasm from exercise, and nearly twice that number had had sexually pleasure from exercise. I am doing my bicycle crunches aalllllll wrong.
2. Childbirth
So I was all worried about the ripping and pain and everything of childbirth, but it turns out that's not the case for everyone. One French study of 206,000 midwives they "reported 668 cases in which mothers told midwives they'd felt orgasmic sensations in birth. In another 868 cases, midwives said they'd seen mothers demonstrate signs of pleasure during childbirth. Finally, nine mothers completed questionnaires confirming they'd experienced an orgasm during birth.", according to LiveScience.
3. Sleep
Who says boys get to have all the fun? And by fun I mean nocturnal emissions. Dr. Barbara Bartlik says Women's Day that we "have orgasms during their sleep, just as men do... These orgasms often accompany erotic dreams, but they also may occur during dreams of a non-erotic nature." So if you've ever woken up a little excited (I have), that's why.
4. Taking Medication
What a weird side-effect. According to Medical Daily, a 42-year-old women with Parkinson's went on medication for the disease, but wound up with more than she bargained for. In addition to the treatment "the drug also caused her to experience increased arousal and libido, which led her to have spontaneous orgasms three to five times a day, lasting five to 20 seconds." Orgasms are fun, but spontaneous ones you can't control aren't what anyone's looking for.
5. Thinking
Apparently you can think your way to orgasm. Which would be amazing for us obsessive, over-thinking types out there, but I'm not so sure. Barbara Carrellas, a sex therapist and author from New York, teaches people to achieve a "breath and energy orgasm", according to Tracy Clark-Flory at Salon who tried it. It sounds a lot like hyperventilating, but may be worth a shot? It's certainly sounds more fun than worrying over and over again about that stupid thing you might have said at last night's party. I'll give it a go.
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