Sometimes you’re tired and just want sex to end or you don’t want to make your partner feel insecure about not helping you climax. Maybe your lover has pleasured your body for 45 minutes and even though it feels great, your orgasm remains beyond the horizon and it embarrasses you or causes guilt. If any of these sound familiar, you’re not alone.

When you’ve realized your pleasure is worth the time and care, take it up a notch. Don’t speed through the end once you’re excited. Elongate the pleasure and anticipation through teasing and different sensory play. For specific examples with descriptions, check out 7 Steps to Next Level Physical Intimacy. Remember, it’s not a sprint. Good things take time and you’re totally worth it.

In 2019, a pair of laws were passed: the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA). They were passed with the intention of making it easier to fight sex trafficking online.

Gender identity, gender presentation, and sexual orientation are beautiful and complex forms of identity that mix and match in infinite ways. Sometimes they are completely independent from one another, and at other times, they are so entangled that it would do injustice if separation were attempted. Unfortunately, due to widespread homophobia (and cisnormativity), the meshing or conflating of gender and sexual orientation labels around gender norms can be both limiting as well as used as weapons against different people and communities.

Knowing more about yourself can help you find more compatible relationships and more pleasurable sex. “How?” You ask. Whether you’re brand new in the dating world or a seasoned pro, it’s easy to make mistake after mistake if we don’t pause, pay attention, and make intentional decisions. Going with the flow can be fun for a while, but if it leads you down a repeatedly doomed relationship path, it might be time to leave trial and error behind. If you’re unconvinced, check out below for some clarity.

If someone with a vagina spreads their legs, you’ll see their vulva. Some people also call this area the vagina, but the vagina is the canal that exists inside the body. As readers, you get to call your body parts whatever feels right for you, but for the article, I’ll use vulva so we’re all on the same page.

For many, sex is defined as vaginal-penile intercourse, or penetration of vagina/anus by fingers, penises, and toys, which, while fun, is also dreadfully limiting — for everyone. Thankfully for you, this article offers ways to think about sex that go beyond sexual poking and open us up to experience pleasure all across our bodies.

Yeast infections are NO fun and, for some of us, can occur quite frequently. As my mother warned me years ago, once you get one, they like to come back again and again—major bummer. Thankfully, there are ways to reduce these pesky infections.

As a sex educator, my educational focus is, of course, sex. However, being intentionally inclusive of different communities should be standard practice, not just reserved for specific spaces. The following reminders and tips can be incorporated in health & sex ed classes but also biology, history, and general learning environments.

Growing up in this theater environment probably explains why it took a while for me to learn that most white men aren’t gay. Gay love, alongside straight love, was my reality. No one had to explain sexual orientation to me. Through observation, I learned that men could love each other, and men and women could love each other. It wasn’t until years later that I learned about other folks on the rainbow spectrum but enveloping them into the #loveislove upbringing I received was easy.

It can be easy to lose ourselves in the Valentine’s celebrations of romantic, sexual, and even Galetine relationships. While it can be exciting to plan date nights and time with friends, are you planning enough alone time with just yourself?

Whether you’ve got a special somebody, multiple somebodies, or are flying solo, building intimacy with yourself can be just what the soul ordered. Check out the quick tips below for some ideas :)

Protip: If you’re asking, " Am I queer?" You probably are.

Find out what inspired Yael Rosenstock to develop and conduct her 'Using the FIve Senses for Arousal' Workshop to help people.

"What made you get into…this?"

As women, we've always been made to look at sex from the other perspective instead of our own. Now it's time to recognize and reclaim our perspective.

Coercion and rape can leave the deepest scars in victims, and even witnesses', minds. Read to know more about how these scars burn years later.

While some of those are physical and sensual, others have more to do with our experiences of vulnerability, familiarity, and use of love languages. Fortunately, intimacy is so much more than just sex, and our relationships—sexual and platonic—can always be evolving and growing!

Originally published on Live Alive Wellness Blog

https://livealive.pureromance.com/2020/05/physical-intimacy/

It’s a more common prob than you think.

Good jobs take work to find and create.