Sex is delicious. When all the components that lead up to that final act come together like a sumptuous expensive gourmet meal, we fall in love with the world over and over again in that one moment. But have you ever wondered what exactly happens within our bodies as we drive ourselves to an orgasmic state? Have you ever wondered why it happens?
In the film Limitless, the protagonist takes some weird pill, (probably a strong dopamine enhancement with some other weird shit) and suddenly his consciousness has access to millions of bits of information and he can now solve wicked problems instantly whilst seeing the bigger picture of life. Pretty cool film but what happens in our body is even cooler. You know what they say, fact is stranger than fiction.
Our bodies are constantly and relentlessly regenerating the energy field that surrounds us. Yeah, that heat that comes off your body is pure energy and it pans out way beyond your body and entangles with other people and environments. That’s why when you walk into a new home, you can instantly detect a vibe. The important thing to know is that your energy field is imbedded with more than four billion bits of cool and important information. Everyday, we walk around with this information field but we are only conscious of 2000 bits of information. Only two thousands I hear you say. Yep only two thousand and that is basically being aware of your environment, your senses, your bodily functions and communication. Let’s park that thought for a moment and move back to the acts of sex.
Arousal, gosh, I love that word… it just makes me feel… tingly. When we become sexually aroused, neurochemicals in our bodies start to change. One of the ‘big six’ of the important neurotransmitters begins to flood the brain with a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is responsible for attraction, pleasure, arousal, desire and motivation amongst other functions. It help us pinpoint and drive towards a pleasure-seeking goal. It is also thought to be associated with addiction – more about sex and addiction in another article. Now, bear with me… at the point of arousal, the brain starts a process called neurogenesis, in other words, our brains are creating new neural pathways which connect to new information, which in turn creates new thought patterns. Yeah we become smarter! As we begin to learn what makes us sexually tick, and we are driven to discover even more, in comes the mighty oxytocin, another important neurotransmitter. Oxytocin is released in abundance and is thought to be responsible for the feelings of attachment and bonding. Those post coital hugs, smooching and truth serum like conversations are the works of oxytocin.
Dopamine and Oxytocin are so intoxicating that we literally want to experience that feeling again and again. But here’s the best part, remember our energy fields that our bulging with billions of bits of information? And remember one of the effects of Dopamine is to create new neural pathways that actually take on new information and learn? Well, you are not just picking up and learning new information from your own field, you are literally picking up new information from the person you are with. Together, you irrevocably change each other, literally! Now that you know that, how do you maximise your personal growth or protect yourself from the people you choose to sleep with. Ponder that!