This Daily Habit Can Give You The Same Effects As Masturbation

There's no denying that people love to masturbate. It's the second most common human sex act, according to Martha Cornog in The Big Book of Masturbation. People masturbate for a variety of reasons, aside from the obvious sexual benefits:

Masturbation is a great natural solution to coping with the above issues. Another option for when masturbating isn't a convenient option? Meditation.

The benefits of masturbation are actually remarkably similar to those that occur in the other activity that people do right before going to sleep: meditation. That's because meditating has some very similar orgasmic effect on the mind and body as masturbation. If releasing stress or sleeping better at night is high on your priority list, meditation might be another great go-to practice for you. Here's why:

Masturbation can take the edge off after a demanding day. Meditation does the same: Plenty of research has found meditation to be effective at reducing work stress and anxiety, and similar to masturbation, you get a release of feel-good chemicals such as dopamine (important for maintaining focus and experiencing attraction), serotonin (calms and eases tension), oxytocin (the premier pleasure hormone), and endorphins (pain-numbing, stress-reducing hormones).

Just like with masturbating, meditating before bed can help you fall asleep faster. Meditation has long been known for its ability to significantly decrease insomnia and fatigue. Meditation has even been shown1 to increase your "slow wave sleep," which ushers your body into the deepest state of rest possible.

The science concurs: A 2018 study2 published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapist found people who meditate tend to have better sexual functioning and more sexual desire than non-meditators. And while masturbation can be an effective stress reliever, meditation specifically helps to keep cortisol, a major stress chemical, at bay. Some research has found cortisol can inhibit testosterone production, which can mess with your sex drive. Thus, meditation might actually be particularly effective at improving sexual desire.

So if you're looking for another self-care activity that feels as good as masturbating, try adding meditation to your relaxation regimen.