Some days into my last couples retreat in Bali we were in a group discussion when one of the participants said that what he and his partner were experiencing, based on what I was sharing and teaching, felt like a ‘practice’. Just as they had regular meditation practices, this approach to sexual intimacy had the same qualities. I think that is an excellent way of conceptualising the approach to sex that I encourage.
So, what do we mean by a ‘practice’? Well, spiritual traditions have various spiritual practices or disciplines to enable personal growth and spiritual development. Prayer and meditation are obvious ones, but it can expand to include some of the martial arts and other physical activities such as dance and yoga, volunteering, creative arts, being in nature. But it’s less about the activity itself that makes it a practice, and more about the way in which it’s engaged. Which is why sexual intimacy can also be a spiritual practice.
A practice is engaged in with intention to engage in a certain way and with attention during the experience. It’s mindful, both in the sense of bringing mindfulness to the experience and also for the experience itself to be a mindfulness practice. In the case of sex, regular readers will remember that the academic research I did a few years ago explored how sex itself becomes a mindfulness practice, heightening both the lovers’ experience in the moment, and taking from that experience an ongoing sense of presence and engagement in the rest of life.
It’s also about bringing a sense of the sacred into the experience, to create a sacred space of time and place. In the case of sexual intimacy, the lovers enter into it consciously, with the intention of creating a beautiful experience of pleasure and connection together. Then as the experience unfolds, each pays attention to what they are feeling and wanting to express in the moment, while also paying attention to what the partner is feeling and wanting to express in the moment - and through that they co-create positive meaningful experiences, whatever the activity and however long they stay engaged.
The lovers don’t rush in. There’s what I call a ‘chilled build’ - they take their time first to connect and then to become aroused. There are no expectations of outcome, other than pleasure and connection. There is no need for it to follow the standard linear approach, and even if it does, that happens through focused co-creation, not expectation. Then the experience comes to a close when the lovers feel it’s right.
This approach to sexual engagement can potentially last for hours, but what really matters is that it heightens any kind of sexual encounter, so a sweet and simple cuddly encounter under the covers can be enriched when considered a “practice” and not just a quickie and definitely not as a duty or obligation.
It’s simple really, just as a meditation practice is simple. But it’s not necessarily easy – you have to practise at making sex a practice! You need to change your mind set about what drives a sexual encounter, how it is initiated, how it is engaged with and how it’s concluded.
But once you do, the depth of feeling, both physical and emotional, that you can attain is so beautiful. It can feel not just mindful, but also bodyful and soulful. Then you really are making love.
