A Kegel Tutorial
Now more than ever women are seeking a long and fulfilling active sexual life. It is known that childbirth and natural aging can weaken the vaginal or Kegel muscles, situated at the pelvic floor, causing incontinence and a loss of pleasurable feelings, even orgasm. In the early 1940's Dr. Arnold Kegel first helped women overcome urinary incontinence through pelvic floor exercises with a feedback instrument called the Perineometer. After several months, some of his clients reported having orgasms for the first time. It became clear that not only does the exercising and toning of these vaginal muscles help prevent urinary incontinence and tone the muscles after child birth, they also may lead to greater pleasure during sexual intercourse. The most effective way to build up a muscle is by weight resistance training. This involves exercising the muscle against a resistance. [Using a well designed vaginal exerciser can] provide a safe and pleasurable way to maintain your vaginal muscle tone before and after child-birth as well as after menopause.
How to find your Kegel muscle:
It is very easy to locate the Kegel muscle, also known as the pubococcygeus, or the PC muscle. One way is to abruptly stop and start the flow of urine. Another way is to insert a finger inside the vagina and squeeze your muscles. When you feel pressure around your finger, you are using the correct muscle.
Exercising the Kegel muscle:
Lie down on your back with one or more pillows under your head and bend your knees with both feet flat on the floor. Relax everything except your vaginal muscle. At first you may find yourself tightening the surrounding muscles in your stomach, thighs, and buttocks. For best results practice isolating and then tightening just the PC muscle. Lift up, do not bear down. Insert [your vaginal exerciser](you may want to lubricate it for easy insertion) placing it just inside the vaginal opening. Take a deep breath and then totally relax the vaginal muscles as you exhale then squeeze and release the PC muscle around the inserted [exerciser]. Take another deep breath and exhale relaxing the vagina as you slowly insert the [exerciser] another inch. Again squeeze and release the PC muscle several times. Continue this process until full penetration has been achieved. For the first two weeks, exercise with the [exerciser] for 10 minutes daily, then just every other day for 5 minutes to keep and steadily increase strength.
Reprinted with permission from the makers of the Natural Contours’ vaginal exerciser, the Energie.