smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile

Healthy Sex


What is Healthy Sexuality?

Healthy sexuality is more than just having sex. It’s about communicating, accepting and giving love and affection; it’s about exercising your sexual rights; and it’s about discussing your feelings and values.
Healthy sexuality involves feeling positively about our sexuality. Healthy sexuality is positive and enriches our lives. It allows us to enjoy and control our sexual and reproductive behavior without guilt, fear, shame, or disease. Sexual expression is a form of communication through which we give and receive pleasure and emotion. It has a wide range of possibilities – from sharing activities, feelings, thoughts, warm touches or hugs, to physical intimacy. It is expressed both individually and in relationships throughout life.

It’s also about physical and emotional needs, pleasure and fulfillment and self-image and respect.
Like your body and your feelings, your sexuality belongs to YOU.
Sexual health is an important part of overall health and well being. Sexual health is more than just freedom from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Sexual health also includes healthy relationships, self esteem, intimacy, pleasure and feeling good about one’s decisions. Sexual health is a basic human right. It is of importance across the lifespan, regardless of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, race, ethnicity, language or culture.
Sexual energy is a powerful, very natural force in our lives.

But like any natural force we encounter — be it wind, sun, rain, or our own laughter — our sexual energy has the potential to be channeled and experienced in either destructive or life-affirming ways.
Healthy sex involves the conscious, positive expression of our sexual energy in ways that enhance self-esteem, physical health, and emotional relationship. It is mutually beneficial and harms no one.

The World Health Organization defines sexual health as:
• A state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being related to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity; and
• A positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence.
Our sexuality is part of our personality. Sexuality includes thoughts, feelings, behaviors, attitudes, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, body image and relationships.
Adolescent sexual feelings are very powerful and teens will struggle to deal with them.

It is important to remember that experimentation is a NORMAL part of adolescence. This is a time when teens ‘try on’ adult roles and behaviors. Much to the dismay of parents, these behaviors may include experimentation with alcohol, drugs, smoking, and sex. Remember, though peers strongly influence social behavior, your teenagers are taking note of what you have to say about these topics.

Women Over 35 Embrace Healthy Sexuality
Survey Shows Most Women Aged 35 to 49 Want to Maintain a Healthy Sex Life
Sept. 23, 2009 — Thank Carrie Bradshaw and her friends on Sex and the City or the women from Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives, because when it comes to sex, women over 35 seem to be having all the fun.
A new online survey of 500 women aged 35 to 49 showed that 76% of women are interested in maintaining a healthy sex life and almost 50% say they initiate sex with their partner. What’s more, 35% say sex — like wine — gets better with age, and half of the women surveyed said that they have sex once a week or more. The new survey was sponsored by Teva Women’s Health, the manufacturer of the Para Gard Intrauterine Copper Contraceptive.
Myths abound about sex and women of a certain age, she says. “They are thought to just have vanilla sex, be too busy for sex, or not pursue their partners, but women aged 35 and older are interested.

Why the sexual surge?
This sexual surge occurs when women hit 35 because they feel more connected to their partner, “She knows her partner’s body better and he knows hers,” she says. “She is more secure and has new found respect for her body especially if she has given birth.” Or maybe they find themselves suddenly single. “Some women may be experiencing a sexual rejuvenation because they are re-entering the dating pool after getting out of a bad relationship,” Fulbright says.
Whatever the reason, keeping the spark alive is important for all relationships, she says. “Make sure you set a regular sex date, but it should not be routine. Avoid the same old, same old.”
Keeping things spicy is a 24-hour job. “Kiss your partner before work and before bed, and make little gestures like sending sexy emails to let your partner know you still desire them.”
The new survey found that a majority of women think they are fertile into their early 50s, yet 25% of these women don’t see the need for using birth control. “This is a complete disconnect,” she says.Brasner points out that 51% of pregnancies among women in their 40s are unplanned. “That is second only to teens,” she says.


No comments:

Post a Comment