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When the call to release waste from the body is urgent, but the opportunity is not immediately available, the normal reaction is to avoid an embarrassing contretemps by contracting and squeezing in the muscles of the pelvic floor. It may be the bladder or the bowels that have to be held in cheek, but for most people contraction of one set of muscles means contraction of both. There is an anatomical reason for this: There is some intermingling of the fibers of both sets of muscles. It is possible to develop control of each set separately, with little noticeable contraction of the other muscle group, but our concern now is the squeezing in and drawing up of the whole area from pubis to rectum.
What is required is the protective action taken when there is a powerful call to use a toilet, but you must wait. Much the more powerful of the two sets of squeezing in muscles are those encircling the anus, the internal and external sphincters. If you concentrate your commands on contracting these, a strong contraction of the pelvic floor is assured. The levator ani, on each side of the rectum, press in and draw up. This is the largest and most important muscle of the pelvic floor, providing its main support and also the pressures that assist defecation and urination.
Hold a strong contraction of the pelvic floor for five seconds. Then let go and relax. Take a breath and hold it during the contraction. Perform ten times, and on three occasions during each day, say in the morning, middle of the day, and toward bedtime. The control is unobtrusive and can 'be performed at home or in the office, in a bus or the car. As pointed out, best results come from concentrating on the strongly gripping sphincters of the anus, but at the same time drawing up the scrotum and penis into the body. At first the sensation of contraction is likely to be slight, but it will become more marked with practice. Take good note of this feeling of contraction - and of the subsequent relaxation - for a good reason: Relaxation is a letting go from a sensation of tension. And the ability to relax the genital muscles is of importance to developing techniques of sexual control to be described later.
Contracting the muscles of the pelvic floor increases the flow of blood to the area; develops strength and tone in the pelvic muscles; improves neuromuscular control; and conditions awareness of the sensations of tension, leading to greater ability to relax the muscles (i.e., to let go from tension). Having contracted the genital and rectal muscles together for a few days, you should attempt the more subtle control of contracting each set of muscles separately. Full mastery of separate control is not essential for our purposes, but practice has value. One way to aid this more advanced control is by passing urine and feces at different times.
The penis erects in two stages. First of all, it stiffens through a rush of blood into the spongy tissues. Then it lifts and rises to an angle above horizontal. The muscles that accomplish this second stage are the erector penis muscles. At the same time the transversus perinei and the ejaculatory muscles are contracted to press on the root of the penis and prevent an outflow of blood.
The whole operation is carried out by the nervous system in response to sexual excitement that may be tactile or psychological, but is usually a combination of both. The operation is involuntary. But the penile muscles of erection can be contracted by conscious control so as to produce short sharp "lifts" of the penis. The penis may be flaccid or erect. The "jerk" is more marked when the member is erect and resistance can then be provided to strengthen the muscles by holding the palm of one hand against the organ on the body side. Contract and lift sharply against the resistance of the hand. This principle of resistance is basic to weightlifting, isometrics, and other strength-boding systems. When the penis is flaccid, aim as if to jerk it upright. The resulting movement is small, but not without value. Such an unobtrusive exercise is easily performed at any time of the day.
In all probability the ejaculatory muscles will have been contracted by the previous exercise - indeed, by the previous two exercises. Separate control of the ejaculatory muscles and the penile muscles of erection is the sort of thing at which Yogis excel, but serves no real purpose for us here. However, there is an additional way in which a man can exercise the ejaculatory muscles and develop control over them. The male reader will recognize the existence and action of the ejaculator urinae muscles for they jerk out the last drops of urine. The same muscles help to expel semen. Once ejaculation starts, it would take exceptional control to stop the discharge in its entirety - but a partial reduction is possible. Such control can have its uses to the man concerned with sexual stamina. You should practice the following control each time you empty your bladder: when urinating, check the flow abruptly through mental command, then release the stream again after about five seconds. The effect of letting go from contraction will be to throw out the urine more forcibly. Once again it is important to take note of the sensations of contraction and of relaxation, i.e., letting go from the sensation of contraction.
SEXERCISES FOR WOMEN
There are important reasons why women should exercise their pelvic muscles and seek to bring them under conscious control. To begin with, exercise promotes general good health, thus increasing sexual vitality.
The exercises and controls strengthen, tone, and train the muscles of the pelvis, including those of the lower back, the abdomen, and those intimate muscles of the pelvic floor that directly influence sexual performance. The exercises also improve circulation to and in the pelvis, feed the roots of the nerves with blood, and nourish the glands and genital organs.
These exercises have the power to dissolve tensions in the spine and lower back, at the same time removing aches and pains. Suppleness and mobility of the spine and pelvis increase. This means that a woman has greater ease in intercourse and increased ability to adopt a variety of sex positions, which add to the pleasure of sexual relationships and help prevent boredom in a sexual relationship.
The muscle controls exercise directly those intimate muscles of the pelvic floor that have a direct bearing on sexual fitness and pleasure. Conscious control over these muscles can be used to enhance the pleasure of both partners in sexual intercourse, through the gripping action of the vaginal muscles that perform a milking action on the shaft of the penis and also, for the woman, in lowering the clitoris to rub against the erect penile shaft. Further, her greater suppleness and fitness enable the woman to tilt her pelvis which will help her achieve orgasm while making love.
Sexual enjoyment of this kind has much to contribute to sexual relations and benefits the woman - it boosts her self-confidence and heightens her sense of womanhood. There is also the contribution pelvic exercise makes for easier childbirth and aids in recovery of muscle tone and elasticity afterward. Following childbirth, stretched muscles and displaced organs have to return to normal tone and position; this recovery will be speeded up and made more effective by the exercises given here. They also strengthen posture, needed to counter the pull forward caused by the weight of the child in the uterus.
A similar stretching and loss of tone occurs in the vaginal muscles. A sagging abdomen is visible to the eye; slack vaginal muscles are not. In fact, it is likely to be the man who becomes most aware of the change when he discovers that his coital sensations have diminished during intercourse. A woman aware of the need for sex efficiency will be concerned to restore tone through the vaginal-contraction exercises shortly to be described.
A bonus benefit from sex-efficiency exercises is that rapport between mind and muscle is enhanced and in turn increases ability to relax. For when you can recognize the feeling of contraction in individual body muscles, you can also recognize and achieve relaxation, which is a letting go from contraction. Overtense people are out of touch with their body muscles and so no longer know the feeling of relaxation. By controlling muscular tension you can reduce nervous and emotional tension, setting up a beneficial cycle in place of the vicious one hitherto operating.
MUSCLE CONTROLS FOR WOMEN AND THEIR USE
Conventional isotonic exercise, with which everyone is familiar, involves the working of joints and the movement of limbs and body parts. But there are sets of muscles that can be contracted only through conscious control without movement of joints or limbs. The body stays steady and the mind flashes a message to a selected muscle and it contracts or relaxes at will. Such controls in the pelvic muscles are connected with woman's sexual enjoyment.
The pelvic floor can be thought of as a cupola whose convex side is undermost. On contraction it flattens. When this happens the terminal parts of the vagina and the rectum are drawn upward and inward. At first, general contraction is the most that you can expect to achieve - later, specific muscles of the area can be separately contracted. The general contraction will prove highly beneficial, so there is no need to develop anxiety over speed of progress to more advanced controls. Be patient and the skill will come. Try too hard and you defeat your purpose.
This control is not so unfamiliar as it might appear at first reading. It is doubtful that there is any woman reader who has not on occasion felt an urgent call to urinate but been forced by circumstances to hold the urge in check for at least some minutes. What happens during the enforced waiting period? The pelvic floor is held contracted; there is a drawing up and in of certain intimate muscles. So you see that in a general sense you are already familiar with what is required and how to accomplish it.
Both the rectum and the vagina have an encircling muscular collar at the
entrance that squeezes in on contraction and lets go on relaxation. Its normal
tone is also gripping and thus closing. The entrance to the vagina normally
remains closed and opens only to an object pressing from within or without. The vaginal entrance remains its narrowest part even after frequent intercourse
or repeated childbirth. Much the stronger of the two sets of muscles is the
sphincter ani. The anus is normally kept
firmly closed until the build-up of waste matter triggers off the command for it
to relax and open. This is a form of muscle control that we learn as infants.
It takes a little training, but eventually we master the trick. Less familiar are the muscles of the vaginal walls that have a similar action, though they are also employed when a woman wants badly to use a toilet but is forced to wait. Again, too, they are involuntarily squeezed in during the spasmodic contractions of sexual orgasm.
The muscle that acts as a vaginal sphincter, the bulbospongiosus, is in two parts, each to one side of the vaginal opening up against one of the two bulbs. The fibers from each side unite to the rear and intermingle with the fibers of the sphincter ani. To the front they converge in a kind of horseshoe and attach to the sides of the clitoris. These two associations - with the anus and with the clitoris are of importance to sexual pleasure.
The wider upper part of the vagina is also capable of being squeezed in through conscious control. This is accomplished by the levator vaginal muscle that envelops the full length of the vaginal passage. When contracted during intercourse it has a milking action on the penis, drawing it in and squeezing it.
A pair of muscular bands, the transversus perinei, on contraction widens the vaginal entrance. Their contraction should be accompanied by a corresponding relaxation of the vaginal sphincter. A woman, fearful of sex or inhibited about it, will tend to contract muscles where she should relax them and relax muscles where she should contract them, resisting, albeit involuntarily, entry of the penis. Each of the two main passages that traverse the female pelvis, the vagina and the rectum, has two main muscles controlling its action - a sphincter muscle that grips and opens and a levator muscle that draws up.
The anus remains contracted unless opening for bowel action. If one opens the anus it closes again immediately the object has been removed. The vaginal orifice, on the other hand, is always slightly open. Its sphincter muscle is less used and so is not so lean and strongly developed as that of the anus. But it too can exert a grip. This gripping action and the squeezing and pulling in of the levator muscle inside the vagina is what concerns us here.
The unfamiliar sphincter vaginae needs training if it is to function with anything like the strength and efficiency of the sphincter anus, which was trained early in life and functions almost daily throughout life. Fortunately, as we pointed out, these muscles surrounding the orifices of the vagina and rectum share certain muscle fibers, so that you have only to contract the anus, which any woman can accomplish, for the vaginal opening to contract to some extent also. This contraction will not be as vigorous as that of the anus, but it will progressively strengthen with practice.
As these intimate muscles strengthen, this muscle control can be used to heighten the pleasure of both partners during sexual intercourse, through the squeezing and drawing in of the penis; to counter any slackness of the vaginal muscles caused by the stretching effects of childbirth; to hold the penis in the vagina longer following ejaculation and when the male has potency problems; to hold in seminal fluid when conception is desired. These points will be expanded later.
Apart from the muscles controlling its orifice, the anus can be drawn in and up by a pair of more deeply set muscles, the levator ani. Empty the bladder before practice. Experiment will show the position that suits each reader best for practicing the control. Possibilities are standing erect with the feet comfortably apart, sitting erect, lying on one side with the knees partly drawn up, kneeling with the legs together and the buttocks resting against the insides of one's heels, or lying on one's back with knees bent and the soles of the feet flat on the floor. Having adopted the position, the body should stay relaxed and all one's attention should be focused on the pelvic floor and the muscles to be contracted.
The muscles are attached to the pelvic bone in such a way that they can be contracted by an act of will, by issuing a command from the mental headquarters. The message is carried rapidly by the nervous system to the muscles. You will find that they will obey. "Contract," you order; "Hold the contraction," you say; then: "Let go and relax."
Remember that the sensation and neuromuscular action are similar to what a woman would feel if she had to contain a strong desire to urinate. It will therefore help if you simulate this discomfiting situation in early practice.
Draw in and up with anus and vagina. Squeeze tightly and hold the contraction for fifteen seconds. You can count a hundred-and-one to a hundred-and-fifteen. Then let go and relax fully. The sensation of contraction gives you something to let go from. After resting about a minute, contract the vaginal and anal sphincters once again for fifteen seconds. Relax again. Perform this contraction four to six times at intervals throughout each day.
During contraction all parts of the body other than the pelvic floor should remain relaxed. To tense elsewhere such as the legs, arms, or facial muscles would be to dissipate the neuromuscular effort that should be localized in the pelvic floor.
However, one slight movement of the body is permissible and helpful: As the muscles contract swing and tilt the pelvis slightly forward. This movement, of the pelvis only, should be but a few inches, indeed can only, be a short movement for it will be curtailed by the body position adopted.