Orgasmic Trance: Exploring Expanded States of Consciousness and Pleasure

Artwork by Lisa Nelson

We inherit a singular blueprint for sexual pleasure. This model, present in biology textbooks and romantic narratives, describes arousal building toward a climactic peak, the orgasm, followed by resolution. This linear, goal-oriented journey, like scaling a mountain to plant a flag, feels like an undeniable truth. It shapes our understanding of our bodies, our intimate encounters, and what we believe is sexually possible.

But what if this blueprint describes only one type of terrain? For many people, particularly those with a clitourethrovaginal complex (CUV), the anatomical term for the integrated network often reductively called female anatomy, the landscape of arousal differs profoundly. This is not about climbing a narrow path but discovering a vast forest. Here, arousal is not a finite fuel burned for a summit. It is an open, buzzing aliveness, a self-sustaining state that deepens and expands without a predetermined end. This journey of expanded pleasure is less about reaching a conclusion and more about exploring an unfolding state of being, a potential orgasmic trance.

The Research Behind the Expanded State

This capacity for extended orgasm and generative arousal is not an anomaly. Research moving beyond male-centric models reveals consistent patterns. Studies inclusive of diverse populations, including queer women and those practising consensual nonmonogamy, frequently document longer sexual encounters where pleasure is described as waves or plateaus [1, 2]. Even observations of bonobos show that sustained, social, and non-reproductive pleasure is a natural part of life [3]. This points to a normal, beautiful spectrum of human, and indeed mammalian, capacity for what can be understood as expanded states of consciousness through pleasure.

From Pathology to Personal Reclamation

Historically, this capacity has been met with pathologisation, not curiosity. The long-standing medical debate, framing phenomena like fluid release as either a "superpower" or "coital incontinence," illustrates a system more comfortable with labels than listening [4, 5]. Similarly, the modern "pleasure imperative," which pressures people toward multiple, intense orgasms as a new performance standard, simply creates another cage [6]. True liberation lies in reclamation: moving from "Am I normal?" to "What is true for me?"

The Gateway to Non-Ordinary Consciousness

When pleasure is freed from a goal-oriented grip, it can become a gateway to non-ordinary states. This shifts the experience from purely biological to deeply experiential, even spiritual. When arousal is allowed to be a diffuse, full-body hum, a self-sustaining current rather than a tense buildup, the nervous system finds a new rhythm. The drive for release softens, creating spaciousness.

Within this spaciousness, awareness can transform in ways that echo psychedelic and mystical experiences. Time may dilate or dissolve. Sensations become panoramic and electric, less something happening to the body and more the body becoming pure sensation. The boundary between self and other, between physical form and flowing energy, can feel beautifully permeable. This orgasmic trance or energetic climax is not a more intense version of a typical orgasm. It is a qualitatively different expanded state of consciousness [7, 8]. It is a trance state accessed through sustained, unbounded pleasure, offering glimpses of unity, bliss, and radical intimacy with the life force.

A New Orientation: Practices for Exploration

Cultivating a relationship with this possibility begins with orientation, not technique.

First, shift the goal. In a private moment or with a partner, practise moving attention away from an imagined finish line. Instead, feel into the quality of arousal itself. Where is the hum, warmth, or vibration? Follow its shifts and flows like clouds drifting, without demanding a storm.

Then, explore sustenance. This often means unlearning a frantic rhythm. Explore touch that circles, resonates, and builds charge slowly, allowing energy to accumulate and circulate like a deepening tide rather than a crashing wave. Compassionate communication is essential here.

Most fundamentally, grant inner permission. Consciously release the anxiety that says pleasure is only valid in a specific shape. Your erotic landscape is unique. Its quiet meadows are as sacred as its sweeping vistas.

An Invitation to Accompanied Discovery

The invitation is to cultivate a deeper relationship with your own capacity for sensation, to learn the unique geography of your body. This exploration of expanded states is at the heart of my work as a shamanic therapist and educator.

If you feel called, whether for your own journey or to deepen your capacity for partnered intimacy, I welcome you. My workshops and one-on-one sessions offer separate containers for two paths.

For people with CUV anatomy, we explore your own expansive potential in a space centred on your direct experience.

For partners and people with penises, we focus on the art of attunement: learning the rhythms, touch, and presence that can help hold space for these states to emerge. This is about moving from performance to co-creation, a skill that transforms intimacy.

If you are ready to learn the language of your own aliveness, or to support another in discovering theirs, let us begin a conversation.

Learn more by booking an exploratory call or messaging me directly on WhatsApp.

About Me

I am a sex educator, SomatoSensual body worker, and trauma-informed relationship coach working at the intersection of embodiment, pleasure, and consciousness. My work is gender- and identity-affirming, deeply respectful of relational diversity, and rooted in both psychological understanding and lived, body-based practice. I support individuals, couples, and constellations exploring sexuality, nonmonogamy, and expanded states with careful attention to nervous system safety, consent, and integration. Alongside this, I work spiritually and energetically, drawing on tantric and shamanic lineages as embodied practices rather than abstract belief systems. My approach is slow, precise, and relational, supporting people to meet the edges of pleasure and transformation without bypassing the body, the psyche, or the human and ancestral contexts that hold them.

References

1. Garcia, J. R., Lloyd, E. A., Wallen, K., & Fisher, H. E. (2014). Variation in Orgasm Occurrence by Sexual Orientation in a Sample of U.S. Singles. Journal of Sexual Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsm.12669

2. Blair, K. L., Cappell, J., & Pukall, C. F. (2018). Not All Orgasms Were Created Equal: Differences in Frequency and Satisfaction of Orgasm Experiences by Sexual Activity in Same-Sex Versus Mixed-Sex Relationships. Journal of Sex Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2017.1303437

3. Moscovice, L. R., et al. (2019). The Cooperative Sex: Sexual Interactions Among Female Bonobos Are Linked to Increases in Oxytocin, Proximity and Coalitions. Hormones and Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104581

4. Pastor, Z. (2013). Female Ejaculation Orgasm vs. Coital Incontinence: A Systematic Review. Journal of Sexual Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsm.12166

5. Mosca, L., et al. (2022). Female Sexual Dysfunctions and Urogynecological Complaints: A Narrative Review. Medicina. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina58080981

6. Wood, R., Hirst, J., Wilson, L., & Burns-O'Connell, G. (2018). The Pleasure Imperative? Reflecting on Sexual Pleasure's Inclusion in Sex Education and Sexual Health. Sex Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2018.1468318

7. Sayin, H. Ü. (2019). Neurological Correlates and the Mechanisms of Expanded Pleasures in Women: Novel Findings on ESR. EC Neurology. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333616586_EC_NEUROLOGY_Review_Article

8. Nemati, A. L. J., & Weitkamp, K. (2020). The Female Orgasmic State and the Different Dimensions of the Female Sexual Experience: Lessons Learned from Expert Interviews. Sexual and Relationship Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681994.2020.1789089