Welcome to The Weekend Sexperiment! Each Friday, I alternate between The Weekend Sexperiment and Reader’s Request Fridays. In TWS posts, I offer a simple sex therapy homework assignment to try out over the weekend. Some experiments are geared towards couples, but others are suitable for single folks. As always, please feel free to contact me if you have a certain topic you’d like to see covered. If you’re interested in more Sexperiments, call (415) 658-5738 or visit my Appointments page to schedule a Sexploration Session.

Did you know that May is National Masturbation Month? To celebrate this amazing holiday, your Weekend Sexperiment is to try two new masturbation techniques.

Many of us get stuck in ruts when it comes to masturbation. We figure out what it takes to get ourselves off and we stick with that. It’s a shame, because there are an endless number of ways to bring yourself pleasure and reach orgasm.

Here’s your strategy for picking your two techniques: first, read through the entire list.

As you read each item, take a second to genuinely consider that suggestion. Visualize yourself trying it out.

Then go back through the list and select the option that sounds the most appealing to you. What I also want you to do is pick one option that sounds a little strange or off-putting to you. Don’t do anything that genuinely makes you feel uncomfortable, but see if you can nudge yourself out of your comfort zone a bit. Try something you never would have thought of on your own.

Here are a few options for women:

• Try a diagonal stroke. Imagine that there’s a clock over your clitoris, with the 12 closer to your anus, and the 6 closer to your belly button. Stroke from 1 to 7 if you’re a righty, or 11 to 5 if you’re a lefty.
• Use one finger to run circles around your clitoris, without touching it directly.
• Draw the cursive alphabet across your clitoris.
• Try rubbing your clitoris with one finger, two fingers, three fingers, four fingers, and your entire hand.
• Using two fingers, place one on each side of your clitoris. Rub up and down. You can also try side to side.
• Direct streams of water onto your clitoris. You can position yourself in the bathtub under a shower or the spout, or use a handheld showerhead.

 

Some choices for men:

• Try a tighter or looser grip than normal.
• Move your hand in a twisting motion as you go up and down on your shaft.
• Stimulate only the head of your penis.
• Interlock your fingers and slide both hands up and down your penis.
• Flip your grip. If you usually have your pinky finger pointing down, rotate your hand so your pinky faces up.
• Tug on your balls as you masturbate.

 

These techniques will work for both men and women:

• As you’re masturbating, try tightening up your muscles. Separately, try tightening your toes, fingers, and abs. Then try tightening all of them at once.
• Try tightening and holding your PC muscles as you masturbate. Try pulsing your muscles repeatedly. You can also try tightening and holding them for 10 seconds at a time.
• Prolong your orgasm as long as you can stand it. Get yourself to the brink of orgasm, then back down.
• Watch yourself masturbate in front of a mirror.
• Masturbate in a different position than you normally do.
• Try holding your breath for short periods of time as you touch yourself.

 

Happy Sexperimenting!