The Better Sex Through Mindfulness Workbook: A Guide to Cultivating Desire

by Lori A. Brotto, Jennifer Gunter (Foreword)

AS SEEN IN “THE PRINCIPLES OF PLEASURE” ON NETFLIX PRAISE FOR BETTER SEX THROUGH MINDFULNESS : “A book full of wisdom, permission, kindness, and hope.”—EMILY NAGOSKI, author of Come as You Are and Burnout • “A masterpiece and masterclass in female sexuality.”—IAN KERNER, New York Times -bestselling author of She Comes First The practical workbook for readers of the acclaimed Better Sex Through learn how to apply the groundbreaking research and cultivate desire in everyday life. In her trailblazing book Better Sex Through Mindfulness, clinical psychologist Dr. Lori Brotto revealed how mindfulness can be used to treat sexual difficulties such as lack of desire, pain, and trauma. An instant favorite among sex therapists and clinicians as well as readers, the book featured a foreword by Emily Nagoski and was recommended by Dan Savage and by Dr. Jen Gunter in The New York Times .In this functional workbook, readers can apply Dr. Brotto’s award-winning research in a simple, structured setting for optimal results. Designed primarily for women, with instructions and inquiries for developing a mindfulness practice with or without a sexual partner, this guidebook also includes information relevant to men and gender diverse people. Dr. Brotto infuses her workbook with compassion and hope, inspiring gentleness and curiosity on this path towards more fulfilling and pleasurable sex for all.

Genres: Sexuality, Health, Self Help, Nonfiction

271 pages, Paperback

Published October 18, 2022

About the author

Dr. Lori Brotto is a Professor in the UBC Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and a Registered Psychologist in Vancouver, Canada. She is the Executive Director of the Women's Health Research Institute of BC located at BC Women's Hospital. Dr. Brotto holds a Canada Research Chair in Women's Sexual Health. She is the director of the UBC Sexual Health Laboratory where research primarily focuses on developing and testing psychological and mindfulness-based interventions for women with sexual desire and arousal difficulties and women with chronic genital pain. Dr. Brotto is an Associate Editor for the Archives of Sexual Behavior, has 150 peer-reviewed publications, is the Sexual Health expert writer for the Globe and Mail, and is frequently featured in the media on topics related to sexuality.

Reviews

[Talon Calloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great guide to mindfulness itself, as it goes over all the challenges that might come up that make us think we're not doing mindfulness "correctly."

I read this instead of the first "Better Sex Through Mindfulness" book because this book walks you through the exercises. The original book mainly talks about the research and activities but doesn't guide you through them. Author also provides recordings on her website if you don't want to read through the meditation. I found it very helpful to follow the exercises through audio to help me really stay present and go at a slow intentional pace. After doing three exercises by following the recording, I did the rest of the exercises just by reading and guiding myself through the meditation.

I would definitely say the book Come As You Are plus this one helped me heal my sexuality after trauma. I only felt pain and fear before. Come As You Are normalized my feelings and helped me understand them. And this book helped me reintroduce sensations to my body in a safe way so that I could judge my pain less and so I could feel a range of feelings again. By easing back into neutral feelings, and being more observant of negative feelings, it made it possible to enjoy positive feelings again. I gained a lot just from doing the first two mindfulness activities, and the two meditations in the middle where you are mindful of negative thoughts and mindful of unpleasant sensations.

The chapter on aversion and attachment are also important to understand the root philosophy of mindfulnses as buddhist monks would teach it. Attachment and aversion are really difficult for an American mind to deal with, so this book helps after each meditation. After it explains the meditation, it addresses challenges and struggles and gives examples of how others reacted to the meditation. So it helps you really understand that every meditation is different and valuable without it needing to be a certain way or be more. Which is why I say this book is a great book to understand mindfulness itself since it helps directly with letting go of judgment.

[tatiana · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a real disappointment. Skimmed when I realized that the focus was immensely narrow and rudimentary.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very practical if not a bit repetitive.