One woman claims to have achieved the Holy Grail of mind power: after "tantric training", she can apparently achieve orgasm without any genital stimulation – meaning she can quite literally think herself into completion. Sound too good to be true? A new case report published in the journal Sexual Medicine purports to verify her claims, showing increased hormones associated with an orgasm after the experience. It is worth noting that the second author of the study is in fact the subject, a woman named Karolin Tsarski, who sells online courses based on women learning to “awaken and establish a deeper connection with their sexual energy, feminine essence, and deep yoni wisdom”. As a result, she sought out an expert in the field to validate her claims, although her position as an author and involvement in data analysis adds the potential for bias. There is also a video (that makes for some relatively NSFW watching – you have been warned) of the whole study process. Typically brought about by genital stimulation, an orgasm involves excitation of neural pathways that results in a flood of hormones and a state of euphoria. Some women claim to be able to control both the onset and duration of an orgasm through tantric training, but actual evidence of this is limited. However, there is extensive evidence of people orgasming in a range of scenarios where they wouldn’t expect it – either in sleep, exercise, or while simply viewing images. This suggests there is some sort of "top-down" control of orgasms that scientists do not yet fully understand. In this case study, Tsarski developed the ability to induce an orgasm without genital stimulation, and multiple biological metrics were used to try and understand just how she does it. Taking blood samples from before, during, and after a spontaneously-induced orgasm, levels of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, free testosterone, and prolactin in her blood were compared to note any changes. This was also carried out during a period where she just read a book as a control. Prolactin in particular is an effective marker for orgasm quality – an increase in prolactin suggests an orgasm similar to those brought on by genital stimulation. After a 5-minute spontaneous orgasm, the levels of prolactin in the woman’s blood rose by 25 percent, while a 10-minute orgasm made the levels rise by 48 percent. The other hormones did not show a similar pattern, though luteinizing hormone did increase during the 5-minute session. These results suggest that Tsarski can induce an orgasm state using just her mind and tantric training, suggesting that while most orgasms are brought about in a "bottom-up" fashion, it could be possible to draw on fantasy to induce an almost identical state without the need for genital stimulation. The actual mechanisms in play remain a complex dance between the brain and the nervous system that is yet to be fully understood, but years of training (at least according to Tsarski) in yoga and tantra may allow for a state of mind that can control an orgasm state – though it does sound like one method is certainly easier than the other. Source
