Better Sex Through Mindfulness with Lori Brotto

  Twenty years after Viagra was approved to treat erectile issues in men, we still don’t have any quick fixes for the primary sexual struggle of women: low sexual desire. In this podcast interview, Dr. Lori Brotto shares what has been the most promising treatment for women who struggle with sexual desire – mindfulness. Mindfulness based sex therapy is not a quick fix, but instead is an ongoing practice and lifestyle that offers profound and lasting benefits for a wide range of sexual struggles. In her new book Better Sex Through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire, Lori Brotto gives an illuminating overview of the past fifteen years of research on applying mindfulness based interventions for sexual concerns. Along the way, she challenges many of the cultural narratives that drive so many of these struggles: a misunderstanding of the nature of sexual desire, the scripts and routines that drive so many sexual encounters, and the culture of distraction and stress we all live in. Meanwhile, Lori Brotto outlines several of the mindfulness practices that she uses in her clinic so readers can immediately begin applying these concepts to their own sexual experience. The take-home message is this: mindfulness teaches women to become more aware of their internal bodily sensations, including sexual sensations, and this may improve their motivations for sex and increase their tendency to notice sexual arousal and have that arousal trigger sexual desire. Could it really be this simple – that teaching women to tune into their body, to the signs that their body is already producing, and making them aware of these sensations can be enough to trigger sexual desire? I offer a tentative “yes” to this question. Why tentative? Because awareness of internal bodily sensations is only one of potentially many different ways that mindfulness exerts its beneficial effects on sexual desire. Without a doubt, when we pay attention to the body in a kind, compassionate, nonjudgemental and present-oriented way, it offers us a new way of being in the world. And that new way of being might just be critical for the sexual satisfaction that so many women crave. ~ Lori Brotto, Ph.D.   Find out more about Dr. Lori Brotto’s research here, and follow her on twitter here. A full transcript of the podcast interview with Lori Brotto is below. If you are ready to begin exploring the frontiers of Mindful Sex, join our online course on Mindful Sex! Our Mindful Sex course is the perfect complement to Lori’s brilliant book, and we will be discussing the book in depth within the course community.   Full Transcript of Pleasure Mechanics Interview With Lori Brotto: [00:00:00] – Chris Rose Lori Brotto, welcome to Speaking of Sex. [00:00:04] – Lori Brotto Thanks so much for having me today Chris. [00:00:06] – Chris Rose Can you introduce yourself and the work that you do. [00:00:09] – Lori Brotto Sure. So I’m Lori Brotto. I am a registered psychologist by training, a researcher in the Department of Gynecology at the University of British Columbia and the executive director of Women’s Health Research Institute in the province of B.C. and my research has been focusing mostly over the last decade or so on the development and treatment of sexual concern...