ing novice meditators with
experienced meditators,
participants had areas of
their brain scanned with
functional magnetic reso-
nance imaging under two
different conditions. In one
condition, the participants
were given instructions to
focus mindfully on their
moment-by-moment sensa-
tions and during moments
of distraction to gently
guide their attention back
to the present moment. In
the other condition, the
participants were presented
with words and told to
figure out what a presented
word meant for them, to
judge themselves for what
they were feeling, and to
allow themselves to get
caught up in the contents of
their thoughts. There were
distinct differences in brain
activation when partici-
pants engaged in mindful-
ness and when they allowed
themselves to get caught up
in their thoughts.
There were other inter-
esting findings from this
study. The group that had
participated in an eight-
week Mindfulness-Based
Stress Reduction (MBSR)
program showed reduced
activity in areas of the brain
associated with emotions,
suggesting that one of the
ways mindfulness is effec-
tive is through reducing
emotional activation associ-
ated with body sensations.
Thus, when one experi-
ences the sensations of
pain, for example, mindful-
ness reduces the tendency
to feel emotions such as
sadness, anger, and despair
in response to that pain.
Furthermore, when the
meditators were distracted,
they maintained awareness
of their body, whereas those
untrained in mindfulness
did not. The researchers
postulated that even in
stressful conditions, experi-
enced meditators maintain
an awareness of what is hap-
pening in their body at all
times. And the more daily
mindfulness that partici-
pants practiced, the more
they could maintain this
state of body awareness.
How might this be rel-
evant to women with low
sexual desire?
The research shows that
women low in interoceptive
awareness are more likely
to have clinical symptoms
such as depression, poor self-
image, and symptoms of an
eating disorder, and training
in mindfulness improves
each of these conditions.
They are also more likely
to judge themselves nega-
tively, which impedes sexual
desire.
Furthermore, we have
evidence that, in general,
women’s concordance
between their self-reported
and physical sexual
response is low, and that
training in mindfulness
significantly increases
the degree of mind-to-
body communication and
improves self-reported
interoceptive awareness.
In turn, improvements
in women’s interoceptive
awareness predict improve-
ments in their levels of
sexual desire and reduc-
tions in their feelings of
sex-related distress.
The take-home message
is this: Mindfulness teaches
women to become moreaware of their internal
bodily sensations, includ-
ing sexual sensations, and
this may improve their
motivations for sex
and increase their
tendency to notice
sexual arousal and
have that arousal
trigger sexual desire.
Could it really be
this simple—that
teaching women to
tune in to their body,
to the signs that
their body is already
producing, and
making them aware
of these sensations can be
enough to trigger sexual
desire? I offer a tentative
“yes” to this question.
Why tentative? Because
awareness of internal
bodily sensations is
only one of potentially
many different ways
that mindfulness exerts
its beneficial effects on
sexual desire. Without
a doubt, when we pay
attention to the body in
a kind, compassionate,
nonjudgmental, and
present-oriented way, it
offers us a new way of being
in the world. And that new
way of being might just
be critical for the sexual
satisfaction that so many
women crave. ●From the book Better Sex
Through Mindfulness:
How Women Can Cultivate
Desire, © 2018, by Lori A.
Brotto. Published in April,
2018 by Greystone Books Ltd.
Reprinted with permission of
the publisher.Mindfulness
teaches women
to become more
aware of their
internal bodily
sensations,
including sexual
sensations.August 2019 mindful 65sexuality