"In the span of a few seconds, your body reaches peak tension relief. Your brain starts firing in all corners. A surge of feel-good hormones, like oxytocin and do-pamine, floods your bloodstream. Headaches and pains might vanish, your immune system may get a boost, and you could experience better sleep. No, this isn’t a luxury wellness treatment: It’s what happens to your body when you orgasm. 

The Kama Sutra, written around AD 3, was a guide for holistic well-being that focused on sexual pleasure as a piece of the larger puzzle. During the sexual revolution in the 1960s and ’70s, women were encouraged to explore their sexuality. But in the modern-day wellness sphere, sexual pleasure—in some ways the ultimate health hack—has left the chat. Stem cell infusions, cryotherapy, tech-forward tracking, biohacking, cold plunges—it’s all pretty sexless. At even the most opulent and comprehensive wellness retreats, sexual wellness is rarely on the agenda. 

“It’s fascinating to watch the way that people talk about wellness overall, but somehow sexual wellness never enters the conversation, or doesn’t enter it fully,” says Donna Oriowo, PhD, a sex and relationship therapist. The number of American adults having weekly sex has fallen to a 34-year low, according to an analysis of survey data from the Institute for Family Studies, which the pro-natalist think tank calls “the sex recession.” 

...Brands are taking note. There’s Dame, a woman-owned sexual wellness brand that offers sex toys, serums, and more housed in sleek, colorful vessels. Vyrao, a fragrance brand, recently released two perfumes that aim to explore pleasure through scent. Halle Berry—who made waves last year when she revealed that a doctor misdiagnosed her perimenopause symptoms as herpes—has launched Respin Health, a wellness platform that sells products designed for menopausal and perimenopausal women. You don’t need a partner to get in on the trend."

Full article in ELLE November 2025 Issue.