Rediscover Your Needs: A Guide To Pleasure

Amanda Testa

Thank you so much for having me. Dr. Betsy, I always love the amazing work that you do as well. Thank you. This is such an important conversation.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

I like your topic here because this topic is the workout we do not talk about. Holistic tools for overcoming sexual dysfunction. I am ready to take notes on this one. First of all, how did you get involved in the sexual wellness field?

Amanda Testa

Yes, this is a great question. Why are people always like that? What inspired you to do this? It is very unique, and honestly, I think much of it came from my own experience because when I remember, it was a snowy March morning. My daughter was around a year old, and I remember waking up this one morning and just having that first cry. Immediately I was getting myself up, kicking toys out of the way, and going to the bathroom. I was just exhausted. I looked at myself in the mirror, and I was. I do not even recognize this person looking back at me. I do not want this to be my life. 

Because I had not been diagnosed with any postpartum depression, there might have been a little bit. But I was also doing all the things that I thought were right. I was eating well. I was taking care of myself. I was involved in the community. I thought this would work out for moms. I was doing all these things, but I was just feeling so disconnected from myself. I made a little vow to myself in that moment that I would just follow the breadcrumbs, whatever it took to help me find that spark, that aliveness in me again. 

I went down a lot of different paths. One of the things that I happened to see, was an ad I do not even remember how I found it online. It was about spicing things up in the bedroom, and anyone who is a new mom might remember that this is a challenging time in a relationship. There Is so much transition going on. I was. Well, that certainly cannot hurt. Let us give this a whirl. I came to find out it was very little about spicing things up in the bedroom, which was of course a side effect, but it was all about connecting with my own body and my sexuality and learning—I mean, learning more about my body. 

These are things I was shocked to learn. I was in my early 30s at the time. I am a well-educated woman with a college degree and a lot of postgraduate education. How do I not know these things about my own body? At that moment, after the end of this, I was just thinking, This needs to be sung from the rooftops. Okay, everybody—every woman out there needs to know this. Every woman needs to know this because it is life-changing information. Since then, it has been my path to help women realize there are lots of things you can do. We just have not been taught them and that is the problem. 

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

I agree because I was talking to another speaker the other day, and we are sent off in our lives to figure out sex and everything else. We are in classes; we are being taught, but sex is so hidden. Then you are expected to just all of a sudden be with a partner and know exactly what you are doing, and it all works out. Then when it does not, there is a lot of guilt and shame; there is something wrong with me. But I think a lot of times you just do not know. We have not been taught these things.

Amanda Testa

Yes. There are three aspects I should look at because the first is the physical aspect. You always want to make sure that there is nothing physically wrong because sometimes there can be. It is ruling that out. Oftentimes, it is emotional. There can be so many layers, as you mentioned: the shame, the guilt, past hurts, all kinds of stuff can be wrapped up in our sexuality as well as, I think, weaving into a little bit of a spiritual component too because that is about connection and being able to enjoy deeper levels of intimacy and connection with the person that you love or the people you are in relationship with. 

I feel, and that is why I think there is so much about it that we are disempowered from understanding, what you understand. But for those listening, I think a lot of times, even if you think back to sex education, it is very lacking in many areas. Many states do not even require scientifically based sexual education. We start not knowing anything, and then we try to piece together our information from movies, porn, or all these things that are not giving us good information. It is no wonder that when we get together and we have never learned relational skills, problems arise.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

I was thinking, I mean, they just cut the sex out of our curriculum in our town. I mean, that is a good point. They are teaching you the basics of sex education. Here is the egg; here is the sperm. This is what happens. Nobody is teaching. How do you build a better relationship? How do you build a better relationship with yourself? 

Amanda Testa

They are certainly not teaching that much about it, humans need, on average, 45 minutes to be engorged, stimulated, and have their blood flow and tissues erect so that they can enjoy the experience as well. You learn about an erection in the male body, the penis body, but not that we have the same amount of erectile tissue as men. It is just arranged differently. These things are mind-boggling to me.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

But what in the world have you learned over the years of doing this as a profession?

Amanda Testa

I would say, number one is that you are not alone if you struggle because one in three women reports sexual pain, and that is very common, but it is not normal. I think the problem is that it is very taboo in our culture, specifically here in the U.S., to talk about it. There is a lot of fear. There is. I can go down a rabbit hole of all the things that can be keeping you back. But we can have these breaks holding us back, and they can stem from all kinds of things, whether it be a lack of education or maybe you have been in a long-term partnership and you have just gone along with things, not enjoying it, but have never felt comfortable speaking up. 

Now you are. Well, I have been faking an orgasm for 10 years. How am I going to go about telling them that I have never known what they were or the way we were coming together in this situation? There is also a lot of, I think, miseducation and not even understanding. There are things you can do and practices that you can do. You just go to the gym and work out. We could do the same thing for our sexual health. We just do not often know how to do it or even think to do it. But it is a huge part of our overall health and wellness, as well. Our sexual health is a huge indicator of our overall health. I think that is one thing I see: a lack of education, a lack of skills, and a lot of shame and fear about seeking support.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

What are the things that we should be doing to keep our fire going and keep our sexual health in tip-top shape?

Amanda Testa

Well, I love this, and this is why I call it the workout we do not talk about because, again, there is a lot of shame and taboo around it. But I love to think about sensual self-care as a form of self-nourishment. As a very essential part of the nutrients that you need. Because our sexual energy is our lifeforce energy, our aliveness, and people come to it in all kinds of different ways. But I sometimes think you can shortcut the system a little bit by going straight to the source, which is your own body. Learning the things that make you feel good. This does not have to necessarily be. Oftentimes, when we think of self-pleasure, we immediately go to genital stimulation or something, which is a great part of it. I do not love the term masturbation because it is rooted in defacing with one’s hand, which is not what you are doing when you lovingly treat your body. Sensual self-care to me is this process of creating time and space to nourish your sexual well-being and your pleasure. 

For me, what does that look like? I love to teach people about this because I think it can be transformative. After all, when you think about how you come to your own body and how you treat yourself, it is an overarching thing. Are you hiding with a vibrator for 2 minutes and hoping no one comes in, feeling a lot of shame and feeling, I just want to get this release, which is fine. But I think when you can come to it, I am going to treat my body with the love and respect it deserves and that I want to give it. Granted, this can take some layers because oftentimes there are a lot of self-esteem issues, self-body issues, and all these things. 

But I think we can create a space for ourselves where we take 20 minutes a few times a week and 30 minutes a few times a week. I love an hour. I know not everyone has that, but with that time, the intention is that you are devoted to taking care of your body. Maybe that looks like today I am feeling I just want to, maybe get some skin-friendly oil and give myself a nice sensual massage and let my hands rub together, or maybe I am just going to enjoy listening to a nice piece of music, but it is setting the stage that you are going to take this time to give your body what it needs and listen. As you do that, you are going to explore. Part of this is learning your anatomy and your sexual anatomy. 

I think a lot of us have not been taught beyond, there is the little tip of the clitoris. But as we all know, there is way more beneath the surface. I am taking the time to learn your anatomy and then play with it. How does this work on my body again? If there are things that come up because there’s always resistance and there’s, this feels wrong, and I feel guilty doing this. Why am I doing this? But what will help you overcome that is remembering what is important to you here. At the end of the day, I find that what drives me and my values is connection. It is a connection to yourself. When you are connected to yourself, it is so much easier to connect to your partner sexually. It is so much easier to be a responsive parent. It is so much easier to show up in your community the way you are needed. When you can take that time to connect with yourself and give your body what it needs, notice that shifts daily. Some days, it might just be a gentle, sensual pleasure. Sometimes you might be fiery and sexy and want to play in that realm, letting yourself learn. Okay, what are the different flavors of my sexuality? How do I want to express those, and how do I want to receive what I need there? That is what I am talking about. I am curious to share this. 

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

This is so great. There are so many points that you have made that I am, and that is amazing. I love the word that you brought up, play. I think so often sex becomes a destination that has to get to the finish line, and people forget that this is supposed to be a playful event with either yourself or with a partner.

Amanda Testa

I love that playfulness too. I often hear that from my clients. I am remembering that this is the adult form of play, which it is. We put so much stress on it. I think, too, that these holistic ways to shift your sexuality or your sex life from something that feels mundane and boring to something magical, fun, and playful are opening up the spectrum of what is allowed. We think, Here is what is allowed in sex. I get to make me moan, and I get to have a sultry look. I need to look pretty. My body needs to be in a certain position. I need to wear the lingerie, which is all a bunch of BS. 

What needs to happen is that you need to be in tune with what your body wants and needs, which, again, can sometimes take. You might need extra support from that sometimes, but it is. It is leaning in and knowing, maybe I am going to cry, maybe I am going to laugh, maybe I am going to make weird faces and make crazy noises. Because when we can allow the full expression of our true depths of sexuality, that is what often happens. You are going to make crazy faces; you are going to make noises, and that is to be celebrated. We do not learn that, though. Our partners do not learn that. 

We have to create a playroom, a playground, so to speak, where you can just play together and learn, and we can be silly together. This is supposed to be fun. This is supposed to be a learning environment, too. That is the other thing, too, from both parties. Oftentimes, there is a lot of shame because, Well, I am not pleasing my partner or I feel embarrassed. I do not know what to do. I should know what to do. But I think when you can come to it from that playful place, what if we learn something new? I mean, my husband and I are always taking new classes and things. 

Even just recently, we did an online program, and we laughed so hard because that is part of the fun of it. It is a joke sometimes. Let us do a dry run of this extra dry run of this exercise. We wear our clothes and just play around, and it is so funny because a lot of it is. Maybe learn some different techniques or movements. But more than that, I think more deeply than that, just learning to use the simple things that are at your fingertips. Learning to let yourself breathe. Oftentimes, we tend to tense up and hold our breath. 

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

Yes.

Amanda Testa

Especially when letting go of the goal. Just let yourself enjoy the experience. Let go of the goal of having an orgasm, and just be together and have fun. Try to breathe, let yourself relax, and enjoy the experience. Let yourself make sounds. and is so important because that’s a huge connection to our expression. Even if you feel you have got a house full of kids or you can make a lot of noise, you can give an energetic noise with maybe the sound level of a woman. I always like to say that. Maybe you are; for example, if you are mad, you want to scream, and you are in an office full of people, you cannot scream. But maybe you go to the bathroom and silently scream with a ton of energy. The same thing you can do when you are having sex is sound. The other thing is having an intention. Often,  we do not have any intention about things. We do. But I think when you can create an intention, maybe that is why I just want to connect with my partner. I want to feel loved. I want to embody the love I have for you. I want to explore something new. Or what if this is the best sex we’ve ever had? 

I love that question. When you go to it, because you get stuck in your head, oh, this is always going to happen and this is going to hurt, and I am going to, we are going to get a fight. I am just not even going to go there. But when you start to take this time for yourself to create these sacred self-care rituals—the workout that you do not talk about—then you can start to learn, What does my body need? What is it saying yes to something? How long does it take to turn me on? What are the things that are closing me up and making me feel, No? What is it making me feel, Yes? Then you can learn that. Learn what makes you feel good in a safe environment where you do not feel any pressure from your partner, which can sometimes help alleviate a lot of the pain too, because there are lots of massage techniques that you can learn and things that you can work with to release stuck pain and energy. I do a lot of somatic trauma resolution in my work. A lot of what I teach women is some tools that you can do at home on your own to work with your body that can help release some stuck stuff. 

Oftentimes, again, if you have to have deep trauma or things like that, it is always important to work with someone just so they can help. Make sure that you are giving yourself the tools that you need to support yourself. But I do feel there’s so much you can do on your own. So I love teaching people how to do it and the steps. That is the other part, and then the intention, and then making the time for yourself to do it.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

I think I also when you make when a couple makes time and I am going to say, for example, me and my husband and, I will use that example in where we verbalize that the goal is not going to be penetrative sex. Let us just go spend some time exploring each other’s bodies, but without taking away the actual intercourse. Because sometimes for me in particular, and I do not know if you have seen this in your clients when their goal is actual penetrative intercourse, sometimes that will stress me out to the point where I will shut down and I will be, No. I do not even want to get going because I do not. 

I have been even though this is what I have treated forever with patients. I am one of those people who have pelvic pain or recurrent urinary tract infections. If you look at me the wrong way, these are things I treat not only my practice but myself have gone through and have been fighting for years. 

Amanda Testa

Yes. 

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

I find that once you take that off the table, sometimes it ends up going that way, but it is more enjoyable because you do not have that pressure on it. This is how it is going to end.

Amanda Testa

Yes, I love that so much because I think that is such a huge stressor and it takes you out of the present moment, which is what you need to be in to enjoy your body. Sometimes you do not enjoy your body. Sometimes there is pain, and there are things that need to be addressed. But oftentimes when you can just lovingly be with your body, maybe where you feel the pain, just breathe into that spot, be with it, maybe you need to cry, maybe you need to scream, maybe you need to, just hold yourself and just let yourself know, Yes, I am here and I will hold this and I can hold myself. Sometimes it takes a long time to do that. We always want the healing to be this. But honestly, we can only go as fast as the slowest part of us is willing to go, which people do not love hearing. But that is the truth of the matter. If you override that slow part, you are not going to get to where you want to be. You are going to push too hard, and you are going to find yourself going five steps backward in one step forward. That is why we want to honor the slowness that it might take. That can look like we are taking penetrative sex off the table.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

Almost a comparison, to comparing it to the gym. You are not going to go bench press. I know there are going to be guys listening who are going to bench press a lot more, but I am not going to bench press 150 pounds if I have never done it before. I am going to work up gradually to get to that point, and then it is always work, and then you reach whatever that goal is, and now you go to the next goal.

Amanda Testa

Yes, it is taking it piece by piece and also honoring your body. If you have an injury, you are not going to go. If you have injured your knee, you are not going to go. Try to run five miles. You’re going to do some gentle P.T. You are going to do some other things to strengthen different parts of your body. The same thing with our sexuality in our pelvic floor muscles and all of those things. I think the other thing, too, is oftentimes what stops people: the guilt, the shame, all of that. If I may, I would like to offer just a quick salute or just a quick idea of some of the things you can do there, and what I think is helpful. 

Oftentimes we have not taken the time to reflect on what might be going on. What I often say is, if you have resistance to self-pleasure or sex, anything that is maybe just taking some time and thinking back, what were the stories that you learned about sex coming along? What did you learn about your body? What did you learn about your period? What did you learn about erections? What did you learn coming along? What were the messages that you received, and were they positive? Were they negative? Did they support you? Did they not? Taking time, what are all the things that you are ashamed of? What have you learned? 

Then coming back from an adult space, from who you are today and looking back on those stories and thinking, is this serving me and learning, doing some education, Well, what is true about sex? What is true about my body? What is true about what we are capable of? I think sometimes just re-educating ourselves can go a long way toward helping with some of the shame. That too can be a process, but it is so helpful to take that time to reflect and recreate a new story for yourself. I wanted to share that piece.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

I think that is so important because I can, as you were saying, say that I am sitting here and going. Yes, I can think back on all of the messages I received growing up about sex, and then everyone’s story is going to be different. But in particular, I think about how it was wrong until you got married, and all of a sudden, Boom, it is okay. That was that. That was, well, now what?

Amanda Testa

There is so much shame and secrecy around a lot of it, too, especially self-pleasure for everyone. Because I know and you think about whatever we wire, whatever we do, we were in. Especially when we are in a sexual state, our neurochemistry is very susceptible to rewiring. This is a beautiful thing because we can do a lot of work in these states of arousal. But if you think about all the times you have been in that state, maybe were specifically thinking about porn use, maybe you are hunched over a computer in shame, just went out real quick and moved about your day. 

If you think about coming to sex that way for years and years, of course, you might struggle with not being able to have an erection, or maybe premature ejaculation, or all the other things you have to think about when you come to your sexuality and come to it from a more intentional place. I think that is so key because we do not think about that. But when you can slow down and think, how do I want to treat my body? If my body was with the most exquisite lover, how would they treat my body and let that be you? Let yourself be your most exquisite lover.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

That is so empowering when you put it that way, too. I think that sometimes it is an issue that people do feel unempowered or not empowered in the bedroom.

Amanda Testa

I think sometimes people just have to be willing to be there for one another. Be willing to be there for your partner if they struggle; be willing to just hold them in their vulnerability and love them through it. Because I think that is such a key thing. I have had clients, well, I just want my husband to just cup my vulva and just hold that position for an hour, then ask them to and has, and then under that and inspiring that power that partner to be with her because that is what she wants: to feel safe and to know that you can just witness her and be there and hold that loving, nonjudgmental, loving, and experience for each other that is so healing. Then you build these deeper levels of trust that permeate every area of your relationship. It is huge.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

Going back to when you were talking about playing together, especially when you have been in a long relationship. The longer the relationship, I find that you get there, you fall into this, and you just start doing everything, not just because everything in your life, you just start doing it the same way every single day. It is from the movie Groundhog Day. You are just getting up and going through the motions. 

I have a funny story. I remember having a patient woman. She was 85 years old. As everybody that came into the office, I asked, Do you have any issues with sex and pain? We went through the whole list, and the woman said, Yes, I have penis sex, and I said, Well, did her on the initial penetration of her deep penetration, and she just looked at me and she said, No, my husband is so fat that when he gets on top of me, he crushes me and it hurts. Then I looked at her, and I was like, Wait a minute, that is an easy fix. Have you tried other positions? Have you? She just looked at me, and she said, Honey, I am 85 years old. I cannot get into that kinky stuff now. I got to know that this was a story that she had told herself because this is what she was taught. That missionary position was the only way that you had sex, and anything else was out of the norm, which is not true. I mean, that is why we can get into all these different positions and celebrate our bodies. But it was, having to teach her, that there are other ways, and it is not bad or it is not kinkier.

Amanda Testa

I think that is a part of it, too. What are the things holding you back? They are asking, What are the stories, and are they serving you? I will say you are never too old, because I love the story. One of my mentors, I loved how she shared that with a client, who was in her 90s. When she first started doing this work and started having orgasms for the first time in her entire life and was so happy. Then she was, and she had three or four lovers in her 90s. I say this because we are also taught this unrealistic story that after a certain age, you lose your desire and are not able to have good sex. 

That is not true. It is anything; use it or lose it, which is why the workout we do not talk about is so important as well. Because when you continue to use your body, when you continue to have orgasms, when you continue to take care of your vulva and your sexual organs, and even if you do not have the organs, you can still tap into the energy of that space. It does not matter if you do not have the organs anymore. The point is that when you create this sensual self-care, you have time to take care of your body and have the intention of focusing on your sexuality. 

Again, that does not even necessarily mean genital touch. It can, but it does not have to. That this loving, caring thing you are giving to yourself going to pay off forever. Because once you stop that, it is anything. If you do not walk for 20 years, imagine how it is going to feel when you try to stand up and walk after lying in bed for 20 years. The same thing happens. It is so important to take care of yourself, and I just want to normalize that and make this the normal thing everyone does. I take good care of myself in all ways.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

That is why I love the lady you brought up. If you do not have certain body parts, this brings up the topic that sometimes we get too focused on genitals and that genitals equal sex. When our skin is our largest sex organ we are covered head to toe and our brain is our most important sex organ. People can have orgasms without even physical touch if they do enough to stimulate the brain or any part of the body. 

I mean, that is why they talk about erogenous zones. I bring this up because, I mean, there are tons of medical research, and even patients who are paraplegic and have no feeling, from the waist down, from the chest down, can still orgasm because it is a brain process. I know of people who have been injured from surgeries and, maybe,  have had female mutilation or have had prostate surgery and no longer can get erections. These people can still have orgasms. It is just that you may have to figure out different ways for this to happen, but it is still possible.

Amanda Testa

Exactly. I do appreciate you naming that because I have had clients with GSM, and you can see that it is working through different pathways. To say this metaphor of when you are driving a truck down a muddy road? If you do that and then it dries, they caked and ruts, and it is easy to go down those same ruts. That is what our mind and body want to do, and this is the way I have an orgasm. This is the way I am going to do it. We do it this way all the time, but there is a plethora of ways you can do it. 

When you are trying to take the car and make a new pathway, you have to go back and forth a bunch of times, and then it takes a while to build that new pathway. But this is what the practice does. It teaches you how to build these new neural pathways so that you can enjoy pleasure in a multitude of new ways. I think what you said earlier about long-term relationships—how do you invite this in?—is oftentimes, I think maybe listening to a podcast or listening to something like this and being interested in this interesting thing. I am curious what your thoughts are about that, and you can just bring it up that way or watch a fun show.  There is a lot of great stuff on Netflix now that you can watch, just so you can watch it together and spark conversations. I love How to Build a Sex Room. That is a great show. That is super fun. Sex, love, and goop—there are just so many things out there that you can ease into the conversation and through watching them. Maybe just notice how your partner reacts, or let us talk about it if it feels weird. Is this weird? Is this fun? Is this in your sleep? Let it be a conversation, and let yourself be vulnerable.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

Going back to orgasm to this has come up, and I know it has come up with my patience, and I was just talking to another speaker the other day who afterward we were talking about. People sometimes get very hung up on the orgasm and the end of the line. I hear from some women who are, but I do not think I have ever had one. I am. If you have to say, I do not think, then you probably have not. Or they are worried, or I have never had one. I might never, ever have one.  But in talking with the speakers for this summit, people are telling us, as people get into these pleasure practices, that clients are having orgasms in their 60s or 70s when they have never had them in their whole life. I am sure you have had people tell you the same thing.

Amanda Testa

Definitely. That is one of the things. I work with a lot of clients who have yet to have an orgasm. It is so amazing to see when they can, because everyone can learn to. We just often have not been taught, or we might have a lot of judgment on what it is, so we do not think that our pleasure is enough. That is why I am a huge fan of these sensual self-care pleasure practices because, I think, it does not take that much time to learn, but when you just continue to show up for yourself in that way, you can learn a lot, your body can learn a lot, and it can unleash so much pleasure. I mean, I am blown away. 

I just think about myself now. 12 years ago, when I first started doing this work, it was night and day, and my husband and I had the most incredible connection. I mean, I am so grateful for it, but it is because we invest time in it, we take time to learn new things, and we practice what we preach. I am always doing my practices, and he does his practices so that we can come together. It is incredible. We have both overcome a lot of things. I have been through a lot of things and trauma in my life. I say this because I just want you to know it is possible for everyone. You do not have to go to Bali for a two-week country retreat. You can, but you certainly do not even need to. You can do it in your own home. You can do it yourself. It is accessible. We just have to be present with ourselves.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

This is something I would like to do. Even as a gynecologist and teaching people about this, I also have a lot of misconceptions. I thought it was something you just naturally figured out. Just like many of us, I stumbled for many years, and then even once I got married, I just thought, Okay, well, this is going to be amazing—our marriage and it is going to be—when we first started dating and is now looking back, I realize, No, it is you are always learning, always growing. Then if you just sit back and, unfortunately, I think too many times we watch the movies and people are sitting there one minute and next thing, they are all over each other. If those are the only images that we have of sex, there were many times early in the marriage that I would sit there and be, Okay, where is that spontaneity? I think spontaneity does exist. But at the same time, especially the longer you are in a long-term relationship, marriage, or even at the beginning, planning time, learning, and continuing to work towards that connection is where it is and does not ever stop.

Amanda Testa

Because it is what they are thinking about, there is this book called The Slight Edge. You might have heard of it. I forget who the author is, but it is. Things are easy to do and easy not to do. If you think about it, things are easy to do and easy not to do. It is easy to grab a bottle of soda or a glass of water. It is easy to maybe go on a 20-minute walk with your dog or just let them run around the backyard. It is easy to see your partner having a hard time. You are enjoying something you are doing. It is easier just to keep doing what you are doing versus going and pausing and going and sitting with them and being present. Sometimes we have to do the thing that is easy to do, but we do not necessarily want to do it at the moment to receive the long-term benefit. 

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

Yes, this has been amazing. I love it. Is there anything I have not asked you about that you want us to know about?

Amanda Testa

I do not know. I feel these are great questions. I think the only thing I just want to share is that I think this is cool and you might be familiar with this person. I am not sure. Dr. Nicole Proulx

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

Mm.

Amanda Testa

She conducted a study to see whether or not clinical clitoral orgasms could reduce physical and mental pain and also produce mystical experiences. One of the things that were interesting in her research was that comparing this to, for example, a dose of psilocybin, which is magic mushrooms, they say one in five people report. That is one of the most significant experiences of their lives. But she found that with clitoral orgasms, they overwhelmingly outperformed the mushrooms. This being this,

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

This idea is so.

Amanda Testa

True. The clitoris produced mystical experiences 62% of the time. I think this is important because there is just so much healing and potential for our pleasure. That is why I want to name it because it is a very healing thing, and we do not often realize that it changes our neurochemistry. It has so many positive benefits. When it is challenging or if it feels impossible, I just encourage you to reach out and get support. Congratulations to you for just listening to this summit, because there is so much wisdom here, there are solutions, and there is hope. I just want you to know that.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

I love that. That is amazing. Where can people find out more information about you?

Amanda Testa

You can find me on my website. It is AmandaTesta.com. I also have a podcast called Find Your Feminine Fire, and I also teach classes on How to have a central self-care practice. I do this workout which we do not talk about, you can find out more about that as well. If you go to AmandaTesta.com/TPF as in The Pleasure Foundation. That is where I teach others lovely tools.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for taking the time. This has been an amazing conversation.

Amanda Testa

Thank you so much, Dr. Betsy. I so enjoy talking with you and all this wisdom that you are sharing. Thank you so much.

Betsy Greenleaf, DO, FACOOG (Distinguished)

I always learn so much from you, too. This has been wonderful. 

Everybody, make sure you stick around because we have some more great sessions coming up.