The ups and downs of looking at Porn

[jaypee]

Images are powerful to the human brain. They are the basic language of the brain, the language of religious revelation, dreams, imagination--and pornography is a poweful form of imagery, one that particularly suceptible to abuse. (With its built-in attractiveness to us humans, sex itself suceptible to abuse, especially to those of us who are strongly sexed, or without a partner, celibate, or otherwise unusually subject to frustration.)

If you go to China and start snapping pictures of the locals, you will quickly learn that they don't care to be photographed.
Perhaps you yourself have resisted being photographed in certain situations--especially awkward ones that might be "frozen in time." I don't pretend to understand exactly how it works, but its been clear to me from childhood that photos can contain--or at least point the viewer towards--a person's "spirit" or ki. (Ki or chi energy is the ancient yoga term for the fluid energy in the body that is the motivating force for physical movements.) Part of what happens during normal social interactions is an exchange of ki between individuals. That can typically involve drawing out ki thru the top of the other person's head (thru the crown chakra). This can also take place during viewing photographs, including (or especially, given the intensity that can be involved) erotic images--either stills or videos.

My advice: Be able to quit, hard as that can be... just as in sex, the benefits of allowing the aroused energy to rise up thru the chakras can be very satisfying... (Just as deferring orgasm is one of the main points of ancient sex manuals)... Respect the person whose image you are viewing... Breathe his/her ki energy...

[praetoren]

trudging through a swamp one finds oneself bogged down in the muck and mire. crossing wades one deeper and deeper through the apex till finally reaching the other side. the path may be long winding and slow. but as with all journeys one eventually wades out the other side. shaking the mud and dirt off and moving on with the journey.

for me porn was like that and as i have slaked my thirst and had my fill of it, its alure has wained. i've come out the otherside of the swamp and moved on desensatized to the fasination it once held.

don't get me wrong like most men i still enjoy it but more as an ocasional treat not a whole meal. all things in moderation.

-P-

[jamison]

Same for me. I remember when I first got a broadband connection I was surfing for porn day and night for a week or two. I was late to work and sleepy all the time. Then I guess I just finally got my fill of it and it eventually lost its attraction. Now I look at it maybe once a week depending on my mood. When I come to this site, I don't consider it porn because the images here don't arouse me unless a woman is involved in some way (although the ss'ing tranny was a bit different). But maybe some people are different and never become satiated.

[aleingang69]

I, obviously, am in favor of porn, but it is not without it's potential downsides.
I think self-pleasuring with porn can train you to experience the erotic more in your thoughts than in the physical sensations you're experiencing, and that can make it more difficult to deeply connect with other people, and with yourself, sexually, increasing the likelihood of wandering off into fantasy instead of really experiencing what is happening in that moment.
Masturbation/meditation is a great antidote to this - training yourself to focus on the physical sensations and bringing yourself back to them when you wander off into fantasy - you can do this when you're with another person too.
I love porn, but I'm careful to balance it with self-focused self-pleasuring like that, and with pleasuring myself in front of a mirror which helps me to connect with my erotic self as a man. I love getting off with that sexy man in the mirror!
Al

[chpoof]

Al, a rather personal question if you don't mind: You've mentioned before about having a lover. How does he deal with your self-pleasuring? Would you say that it's helped or enhanced your sexual relationship with him...or neither?

For me, porn is something I enjoy watching for a variety of reasons, but I try to keep it in perspective. It is what it is, and as such, it's ultimately limited. The joy I experience in masturbating and in making love with my partner is much more fulfilling physically, emotionally, spiritually.... Basically I see porn as a subsitute for the real thing. And as the old song says, "Ain't nothin' like the real thing."