Mindfulness and Management of Low Desire and Vulvovaginal Pain.

Mindfulness—present-moment, nonjudgmental awareness—significantly improves sexual desire, reduces sexual pain, and lowers sex-related distress, according to systematic reviews and meta-analyses. It works by decreasing self-criticism and depression while increasing self-compassion, attention, and interoceptive awareness. Mindfulness helps individuals connect with their bodies, deepening understanding of sensations and desires, and reduces focus on negative, judgmental, and catastrophic thoughts about sex and pain. It also significantly reduces vulvovaginal pain intensity, with improvements retained a year later.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Mindfulness is defined as present-moment, nonjudgmental awareness. By reducing self-criticism, and depression, and increasing self-compassion, attention, and interoceptive awareness, mindfulness has been found across a variety of systematic reviews and meta-analyses to significantly improve sexual desire, sexual pain, and sex-related distress. It helps individuals connect with their bodies, fostering a deeper understanding of sensations and desires while reducing the focus on negative, judgmental, and catastrophic sex-related and pain-related thoughts. By teaching individuals to focus on bare sensations, mindfulness has also been found to significantly reduce vulvovaginal pain intensity with improvements retained a year later.