As a woman and an addiction specialist, I understand how mood, emotions and the changing body can affect our level of sexual desire.  Many strategies exist to preserve and enhance our sexuality as our bodies change due to menopause and aging. The practice of mindfulness is just one set of tools and practices to help us meet our needs and create new levels of peacefulness and emotional intimacy.

The practice of mindfulness starts with noticing what is happening around us in the present moment both externally and internally.  It expands our awareness allowing us to be kind and gracious to ourselves and opening our mind to enjoy life and our sexual selves.  Using mindfulness to access your sexual desire creates precious space inside us in a judgemental, non-shaming way – in order to listen to our bodies, and our emotions related to sex. We can then learn tools and internal strategies to achieve what we want and how to connect this expanded understanding to our genitals so that sexual enjoyment is possible again. Listening to our inner realities leads to changing our physical responses and our ability to communicate this to our partners.

The OB/GYN department of Cuyuna Medical Regional Center has opened a clinic for Menopause and Healthy Aging. The center offers a variety of solutions to the challenges of evolving as a woman. Mindfulness is a useful portal to explore strategies that work for you. We as a staff combine mind, body and heart strategies to the realities of the real lives of evolving women.

Pennie Carnes practices at Cuyuna Medical Regional Center as a Licensed Professional Counselor and an Addiction Therapist.