Masturbation and Genital Self-Massage

Masturbation is about sexual stimulation of one’s own or someone else’s genitals for sexual pleasure, for instance as foreplay, as a means of self-love and self-knowledge, for sexual arousal, or carried out with the goal of having an orgasm.

Masturbation can be done alone or with a partner or partners, which may be followed by sexual intercourse, and can include manual stimulation of the partner’s genitals (mutual masturbation), and/or only stimulation of one’s own genitals.

It may be carried out with the hands, fingers, mouth, feet, everyday objects, or special toys or tools such as vibrators, dildos, or other manual, mechanical, or electronic massagers.

On a pure physical level, the contractions that take place during masturbation can help strengthen the bladder and the pelvic floor muscles, which, for instance, can support alleviating urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction (ED) or prevent premature ejaculation (PE).

Self-Massage of the genitals or other parts of the body that influence the genitals or sexual performance is rather of a therapeutic nature addressing a variety of pathologies, such as low libido, ED, delayed ejaculation (maximizing arousal before sexual intercourse), and PE (for instance by carrying out pre-coital masturbation), to name some issues. Genital Self-Massage can be part of exercises given by a therapist to do at home, or self-chosen exercises and practices of which one thinks that they might be beneficial for one’s own sexual functioning

Masturbation and Genital Self-Massage are controversial topics. Although it’s a widely accepted practice in the West, considered healthy and normal, various cultures and religions still see it as a spiritually and morally damaging practice. For an individual person, the latter can give rise to sexual and emotional trauma due to suppressed sexuality and a negative self-image, with all problems attached to that.

Apart from massaging one’s own penis, vagina, cervix, or clitoris, common other sexual self-stimulations, either done for pleasure or healing, are Prostate Massage, G-Spot or Sacred Spot Massage, Perineum Massage, Testicles Massage, and Rosebud and Anal Massage.

Within Tantric Sex practices, masturbation is typically seen as a means to give self-love, to practice conscious and mindfulness touch, to get to know your body and your desires well, which may have as its goal experiencing sexual self-pleasure, but also being able to have greater sexual fulfillment and intimacy with a partner.

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