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The Pleasure Principle
I Tried (and Quit) an Orgasmic Breathwork Class
Orgasm requires surrender, and I’m not used to surrendering without feeling like I’m losing part of myself
This article is part of The Pleasure Principle, ZORA’s ultimate guide to solo sex, self-pleasure, and self-love. Take our Sex Survey to share your experiences.
I don’t know what the hell I was thinking when I signed up for an orgasmic breathwork class.
I want to say that I was bored and the title of the class seemed intriguing, but that’s too easy. The truth is that up until that point, I was terribly touch starved. I wasn’t quarantining with anyone, and the last time I was romantically touched by a man was last summer. I was intrigued, and I was also worried that I was using my vibrator so much that I was going to burn my nether regions. I knew there had to be other ways to give myself pleasure.
But orgasmic breathwork? I consider myself to be woo woo, but I have my limits. How can someone get off by just breathing? It didn’t make sense, but I figured that if I was ruminating on the class for this long that it piqued my curiosity. And furthermore, what else was I going to be doing during a weekday evening? I was running out of options, so I thought that I might as well.
I felt the air not only moving into my nostrils and down my throat but also through my limbs, my stomach, my pelvic area.
Although I tried not to take this class seriously, I was taking it seriously. I smudged my living room space where I’d participate with palo santo. I lit a candle and waited for the scent of citrus, bergamot, and sandalwood to fill the area. Then at 7 p.m. sharp, I signed into the Zoom meeting with more than 20 other participants and made sure that I kept my camera off. I also kept all the lights off in my living room too. The woman instructor was a Brooklyn-based intuitive healer with long, dark curls and a very encouraging voice. She made sure to cultivate a space that was welcoming for both beginners and experts alike.
