Valentine’s Day is near and great sex is always a trending topic. As many of you know yoga is great for a variety of reasons, improving flexibility, decreasing stress, and increasing muscle strength. However, did you know that yoga can also improve your sex life? By stimulating your second chakra, the sacral chakra, you increase the blood flow in your genital region which can significantly enhance sexual encounters. This chakra also enables you to open yourself up to true pleasure and liberates you to explore your creativity and desire to experience new adventures.
Additionally, studies have shown when individuals have higher levels of stress their sexual desire tends to decrease. Therefore by establishing a consistent yoga practice and decreasing your cortisol levels you will in turn increase your libido. A regular yoga practice can also improve your body control and awareness which will allow you better to explore aspects of yourself and your partner during sex.
In understanding all these aspects of the physical and metaphysical components of yoga, these five postures will increase your hip flexibility, decrease stress, and lead to an all-around better sex life.
Feel free to grab a yoga mat, blanket, or towel to dive into the following postures.
Note: Hold each for 30-60 seconds.
Cat/Cow Pose
Cat pose
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For our first stretch, cat pose and cow pose will be performed together. Start with cat pose by getting into a tabletop position, pressing into your mat, drawing your chin to your chest, and rounding your shoulders.
Cow pose
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Then move into cow pose by continuing to press your hands down, look up to the ceiling, press your collarbone forward, and pull your shoulders back.
Continue to flow between cat and cow pose for 30-60 seconds.
Camel Pose
Camel pose
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For camel pose, stand on your knees, bring them to hip distance, place your palms on the small of your back, and look up to the ceiling. Begin to take your gaze back, press your chest up to the ceiling, and your hips forward to the front of your mat.
You can also bring your hands to your heels as long as your hips remain stacked over your knees.
Butterfly Pose
Butterfly pose
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Butterfly pose is a classic hip-opening stretch. In order to do it, come to a seat on your mat, bring the soles of your feet together, press your knees towards the mat, and fold forward.
Seated Straddle Pose
Seated straddle pose
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For the seated straddle pose, come to a seat, and spread your legs the width of your mat (or as far as you can without bending your knees). Then, fold forward and extend your hands away from the mat.
Happy Baby Pose
Happy baby pose
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Happy baby pose is great for relaxation in addition to being a variation for the missionary sex position. To do it, lie on your back, bring your knees to your chest, grab for the outside of your feet, bring your knees to the outside of your ribs, and press your feet up to the ceiling. Once settled, press your heels up and flex your toes down.
Use your hands to pull down and ensure your entire spine, including your lower back is on the ground. If your lower back is off the ground, grab for behind your knees instead of the soles of your feet. You also have the option to straighten your legs.
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Featured image by Christa Janine/xoNecole
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The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak
