“The first time it happened to me I was in Sharon Gannon’s class at Jivamukti, and I was in forward bend,” says Kelly Morris, a yoga instructor with a cult following at the Shala Yoga House in New York City. “I was breathing and concentrating and suddenly, ‘Whoa!'”
At first, Morris was flustered and anxious that others in the class might have witnessed her, mid-yogasm. While most people who practice yoga don’t attend class with the intention of reaching the Big O, sometimes they get more than they signed up for.
Rumors of the elusive yoga orgasm have circulated for years, but recently, teachers and students have begun discussing the phenomenon more openly. Sex researchers are also honing in on the subject: “It’s another way that a woman can bring herself to orgasm without touching herself,” says sexologist Dr. Jeffre TallTrees.
There are other non-sexual activities that are said to induce orgasms, such as ecstatic birth, a trend that picked up steam several years ago and culminated in the 2007 documentary, Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret. Across the country, it seems more and more women are discovering yoga’s “best-kept secret.”