Why Masturbating Could Be the Most Important Thing You Do Today

While it’s common knowledge that sex is a basic human need, few of us believe masturbation to be vital to our health. It’s about time we reassess that misconception and learn the countless health benefits of self-satisfaction. 

When psychologist Abraham Maslow created his soon to be world famous hierarchy of needs, he ranked sex as high as food and shelter. While going without sex won’t kill us, having a healthy sex life – whether it’s with someone or by yourself – is vital to both our happiness and health. But ask anyone what they do to make sure they stay healthy and they’re much more likely to talk about diet, exercise, and sleep than sex. 

Research has shown that intimacy and sex are critical for our mental and emotional well-being, and having regular sexual experiences has been linked to reduced stress and improved mood, according to healthnews.com. That’s partly due to chemical reactions – when you orgasm, your brain produces lots of different hormones and neurochemicals, including serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, endorphins, and cortisol. In addition to making you feel pleasure, satisfaction and wellbeing, these substances affect your mood, improve your sleep, and even help you cope with pain better. 

While these benefits aren’t at all insignificant – and there are countless more – the most important effect of a healthy sex life in general and masturbation in particular might be that it strengthens your relationship to yourself. In fact, says psychologist and GLÄNTA contributor Maria Pavlovic, we need to stop thinking of self-pleasuring as a lesser option than sex with others.

‘Masturbating is an act of incredible integrity – I acknowledge that my pleasure is important, and I take care of myself by giving myself just that’. 

Modern day life is often stressful and brimmed with must-dos, and masturbation, says Pavlovic, is a great way to calming your nervous system, while simultaneously bonding with yourself. ‘There are three main ways to regulate an emotional surge in the body: breathing, movement and touch. And masturbation involves all three’. When we’re stressed out, it takes our bodies a long time to wind down. Erotic pleasure helps us to slow down and relax. ‘It’s healing’, continues Pavlovic, ‘all the way down to cellular level”. 

Nowadays there’s a plethora of sex tech to help put you in the mood and achieve pleasure, ranging from sex toys to apps to sensory stimulants like scented candles and massage oils. At its best, it can help us explore and experiment, learning more about our own sexuality and that of our potential partner(s). Healthnews.com lists potential benefits including increased sexual confidence and self-esteem, greater openness and comfort around sexual expression and improved communication and understanding in relationships. And there’s still progress to be made.

AI opens up a whole new potential for self-learning sex tech, allowing you to get to know yourself in depths yet to be discovered. 

Understanding the benefits of masturbation might make you feel like it’s something you should (and hopefully, want to) do more often, but how to go about it when you’re busy, stressed, and thinking about everything but? The key, says Pavlovic, is making a conscious decision that you’d like to experience more pleasure, and recognising that it’s something you can do for yourself. ‘You have to start by upgrade the value of pleasure: deciding that my pleasure is important to me’. Then, she suggests, try to create a space for yourself – a time and place – and try touching and caressing yourself. You don’t necessarily have to aim for an orgasm, just enjoy the feeling of your own touch. ‘Taking care of your own sexual pleasure, it’s pretty great’ says Pavlovic. ‘You do for yourself; you don’t need anyone else to do it for you’. 

So, whether it’s to improve your mood, your immune system, or your self-respect – the next time you feel like getting yourself off: go for it!