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"If you&amp;amp;#8217;re not happy with your sex life, it&amp;amp;#8217;s time to take matters into your own hands. Nothing is as disappointing as seeing someone promising and then finding out he&amp;#x27;s bad in bed. But here&amp;#x27;s the good news: It&amp;amp;#8217;s most likely not that you&amp;amp;#8217;re with a bad lover&amp;amp;#8212;just that you don&amp;amp;#8217;t know enough about your own body to have the kind of sex you dream about with him. The good news: There is an easy fix. It&amp;amp;#8217;s called masturbation. Not just the same-old run-of-the-mill way you&amp;amp;#8217;ve been touching yourself since you first discovered that you could. I&amp;amp;#8217;m talking about getting to know your body on a deeper level&amp;amp;mdash;and the amazing capacity it has for pleasure and orgasm. You probably haven&amp;#x27;t explored in a while, right? Well, once you learn more about your body, you can better communicate to your partner what you need or require to have incredible sex. So many women have the attitude that &amp;amp;#8220;Someday my prince will &amp;amp;#8220;come&amp;amp;#8221;, and know exactly what to do. But your prince is not going to ride up on a white horse, much less dismount and then mount you exactly the way you secretly hope for. You have to show him how to push all your buttons the right way. Here&amp;#x27;s your homework: 1. Mirror image: Have you ever really looked at yourself? Been curious about what happens when your body get aroused? This is the first step toward better sex. If you don&amp;amp;#8217;t know what&amp;amp;#8217;s going on down there, how will anyone else? Find a comfortable position on your bed and hold up a mirror to take a good close look. Pay attention to where you touch yourself and which areas feel the best. Do certain touches make your body respond in different ways? Are some places more sensitive than others? Does it feel better to rub, or do you prefer gentle circles? Pay close attention to how you feel with each touch. Use a mirror so you&amp;amp;#8217;ll know exactly what&amp;amp;#8217;s going on with your body and find some new spots that excite you. 2. Explore: Just because the clitoris is where the party is at doesn&amp;amp;#8217;t mean you won&amp;amp;#8217;t find pleasure by gently caressing other parts of your body. We have so many erogenous zones but tend to stick to the tried and true. Use your fingertips to stroke your thighs, stomach, breasts, or anywhere that feel good. Glide your hands over your entire body searching for hot spots that bring you the most erotic pleasure. Plus, the next time you&amp;amp;#8217;re with a partner, you can let him know what you learned. That slight pinches to your nipples rock your world or grazing his fingertips over your inner thighs will send you to the moon. 3. Kegel exercises: Kegel exercises are the perfect way to work out your sexual muscles and help you achieve faster or more intense orgasms. Kegel muscles are what contract during climax, so Kegel exercises work them out and make them stronger. Many people don&amp;amp;#8217;t remember to do the exercises even though they can be performed anywhere. Try checking out the Kegel Camp App, which has a daily reminder so you&amp;amp;#8217;ll have banging PC muscles in no time. You can also check out some of these great Kegel products for an extra workout. 4. Slip and slide: Invest in some water-based lubricant, which will make it easier to get warmed up and find your hot spots. Especially if you&amp;amp;#8217;re using a vibrator or even your fingers, the lubricant will help you slide more easily to find your erogenous zones for maximum pleasure. Women are more likely to reach orgasm when they add a lube into the mix. Same goes for using lube during sex&amp;amp;#8212;even if you&amp;amp;#8217;re already wet, it will add that extra oomph to bring you to orgasm. 5. Mutual masturbation: Once you&amp;amp;#8217;ve tried new techniques during your solo play, invite your partner to join in. Just as the mirror helps you get to know yourself, mutual masturbation is the ultimate teaching tool. It&amp;amp;#8217;s a great way for lovers to show each other the moves that drive them wild. And watching each other in the throes of pleasure will further stoke desire, encouraging you to turn solo adventures into more gratifying partner exploration. Don&amp;amp;#8217;t blame me if all this immediately leads to hot sex&amp;amp;mdash;you&amp;amp;#8217;ve been warned. Emily Morse is a sexologist, host of the Sex With Emily podcast, and cofounder of Emily &amp;amp; Tony. She has a doctorate in human sexuality and is the author of Hot Sex: Over 200 Things You Can Try Tonight and a weekly cohost of the nationally syndicated radio show Loveline With Dr. Drew Pinsky. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2014/07/masturbation-better-sex>