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Breathing and Orgasm
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Breathing and Orgasm Disclaimer: the following may be disturbing or upsetting to some readers and should not be considered my endorsement of this practice. Asphyxiophilia is the restriction of oxygen to the brain with the intent of heightening sexual arousal. When the act is done by a person to themselves, it is referred to as autoerotic asphyxiation. The behavior is classified as paraphilia in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, while “gasper” is the colloquial term for someone who engages in the practice. Documented as having been practiced since the early 17th century, erotic asphyxiation used to be suggested as a treatment for erectile dysfunction since subjects executed by hanging were noted to develop an erection. Author John Curra wrote, "The carotid arteries (on either side of the neck) carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the brain. When these are compressed, as in strangulation or hanging, the sudden loss of oxygen to the brain and the accumulation of carbon dioxide can increase feelings of giddiness, lightheadness and pleasure, all of which heighten masturbatory sensations." Author George Shuman notes, "When the brain is deprived of oxygen, it induces a lucid, semi-hallucinogenic state called hypoxia. Combined with orgasm, the rush is said to be no less powerful than cocaine, and highly addictive." Approximately 250 to 1,000 people die resulting from its practice in the United States each year. The majority of deaths are male. During masturbation, I noticed that I hold my breath for several seconds as I start to feel the wave building toward orgasm. For me, it is an unconscious process. After about twenty seconds into my orgasm, I have to remind myself to breathe because I am hyper-focused on my orgasm. The brief amount of time I am deprived of oxygen seems to heighten and extend the effect of my orgasm. Last week I was having a particularly stressful day. My work colleague offered to do a short "brainspotting" session, a technique proven useful to access and develop internal resource states end experiences. Brainspotting allows the therapist and to “pendulate” between resource or positive states and trauma states. It's said to be useful to enable more gradual, graded processing and desensitization of intensely traumatic and emotionally charged issues and symptoms. This involved deep breathing and eye movements. She pointed out that I held my breath often during the brainspotting session so I shared with her that I also find myself unintentionally holding my breath during masturbatory orgasm. She alluded to autoerotic asphyxiation. (I should point out that she is working on her sex therapy certification.) Although I can be kinky, I wanted to dispel any concern that may suggest I am sexually deviant. After researching autoerotic asphyxiation, it came as a relief to know that unintentional or involuntary asphyxiation falls outside the parameters of this particular paraphilia. Last week kzoopair elicited feedback in his blog Come one, cum all to put into words what an orgasm feels like. You should go read the responses. There were many interesting replies. For me, orgasm often feels almost like an out of body experience: euphoric, lightheaded and similar to warm wave building from deep inside my vagina that radiates outward. When you orgasm are you mindful of your breathing? Do you find yourself (voluntarily or involuntarily) holding your breath? Although controversial, have you ever dabbled with breath play with a partner or while masturbating? References Roberts, Chris (30 January 2012). Lost English: Words And Phrases That Have Vanished From Our Language. Michael O'Mara Books. p. 66. "Erotic Asphyxiation". Lust Magazine. 1997. John Curra (2000). The Relativity of Deviance. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc. p. 111. ISBN 0-7619-0778-5. George D. Shuman (2007). Last Breath: A Sherry Moore Novel. Simon & Schuster. p. 80. ISBN 1-4165-3491-1. Uva, J. L. (1995). "Review: Autoerotic asphyxiation in the United States". Journal of Forensic Sciences 40 (4): 574–581. |
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Yes, i have noticed that with my ex partner, that every time she was about to have an orgasm, a few seconds before she came and during the process of orgasm she always held her breath....I always had it in theory that because of the fluids building up and needs to be pushed out of the body, the easiest way to push is when holding your breath...i believe the same theory could go for us men while we ejaculate, we unintentionally hold our breath during ejaculation....i've read a lot of articles for men that basically says by controlling your breathing helps you last longer so i can see some relevance of those articles and the holding your breath during orgasm that was mentioned here
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There have been times that I've had a post-orgasm headache from holding my breath. I can't speak for anyone else but I don't think it's in any way related to autoerotic asphyxiation for me, it seems more biological in nature. But then again, maybe that's where the fetish stems from after all. I found out last year that an acquaintance of mine, who I'd lost contact with after his messy divorce, died as a result of autoerotic asphyxiation.
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Interesting, informative and inspiring...
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I've discovered the last few years that I have a tendency to hold my breath when I'm very close and in the midst of orgasm. There have been a number of times when I've had a headache after sex and wondered why. I started paying more attention (well, as much as I could considering I was a bit distracted with the sex part!) and realized I was holding my breath. Considering I'm asthmatic, it's not a good thing. It's also not something I seem to be able to control. My opinion on intentional breath play for sexual pleasure? Not something people should do. Ranks right down there with some of the other dangerous play like cutting, needles, etc. Pagan  Hmmmm....I know I left that wand around here somewhere!
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It was me. I wanted to know how people would describe their orgasms. I haven't practiced any kind of breath play. I wouldn't call what you do as kinky. And it certainly isn't dangerous. If you hold your breath to the point of passing out, you just start breathing again. I do like your description of how an orgasm feels to you. I learned a lot from that post, and from this one, too. Become a member now and get a free tote bag.
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As I understand it there are people who play breathe games with their partners. This probably where things go wrong and account for the deaths. I don think holding your breathe for 20 seconds put you in an y danger.. Click Here To Read A Hot Erotic Story: When A Woman Meets A Stranger Part 1 of 4
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I often draw a deep breath during at the moment of climax and let it out during ejaculation. It feels great.  My featured post this week: Pulling Fantasy Sex Out of My Ass.
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Thanks, Myelin. I wasn't fishing for attribution, only pointing out my interest in it, but I'm pleased that you gave it. I was genuinely interested in how people would describe it, what they actually feel. Not necessarily a poetic response, and not simply clinical either. I was having trouble articulating it myself, and it occurred to me that I'm blogging on the perfect site to just ask the question in a post and see what people had to say. It was instructive and fun! I also saw that I'm not the only one who had some difficulty with it. Your own post is intriguing, about breath and orgasm. It immediately made me think of controlled breathing In meditation. In another post I mentioned Zen and the Yabyum meditation sessions that monks would do, with concubines kept for just that purpose. On the one hand, the idea of women being "kept" for such a purpose is very off-putting, to say it mildly. But the idea of tantric sex, of meditation and sex combined, is a fascinating one. It's even more interesting if it becomes a session aimed at the enlightenment of BOTH sexes as equal participants. Become a member now and get a free tote bag.
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Could it be that breath-holding is a response to an emotionally excited state, not necessarily orgasm? I haven't noticed it during orgasms myself, although I might very well be doing it. I have noticed it when people are stressed or in a potentially life-threatening situation, and most recently during a dental exam/cleaning (no cavities, yay). I did bodywork for a number of years and my pet peeve was when one of my students would tell a client to "relax," which could have the opposite effect. Instead, I would have them ask the client to "breathe". Although you are not breathing for half a minute, I am pretty sure that the oxygen content of the blood remains fairly high. I am wondering if the headaches some are experiencing are more from tension than hypoxia. I highly encourage screaming to ensure adequate oxygenation during orgasm. 
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4/27/2016 11:43 am |
wow
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