“The intention is to repeatedly bring yourself, or your partner, to the brink of an orgasm—continually building the intense sensations so that when you finally decide to climax, you will be rewarded with a mind-blowingly powerful orgasm,” relationship therapist Megan Harrison tells mindbodygreen. Practiced through masturbation, edging also gives you a greater understanding of your body and what it likes. It provides you with increased control over your own pleasure, helping you determine when and how it happens. It also keeps your mind from wandering. “Edging is a good time to practice keeping the mind completely focused on the now. Not only will this concentration and focus help make edging easier, but it will allow a person to fully enjoy the pleasurable feelings,” clinical sexologist Sunny Rodgers, ACS, tells mindbodygreen. Edging is a careful dance, moving as close as you can to climax without having your body fall off the edge to complete pleasure. Harrison recommends attempting edging at a peak stage of arousal, moving your hands or toy away right as you can see that edge forming. Right when you feel yourself on the edge of orgasm, stop doing the work it’s taking to get you there. Take the time to explore your body and see how it reacts. “I suggest practicing edging for about 5 to 10 minutes every other day. The longer a person can delay having an orgasm, the stronger the physical sensations will be when climax is reached,” says Rodgers. An excuse to pleasure yourself every day—how will you manage? With a partner, this decision comes from being deeply aware of how you both are feeling. “If you are trying out edging with your partner, be mindful of your partner’s body language and verbal communication for levels of arousal and stimulation,” says Harrison. Edging too long after your partner is ready to finish can lead to frustration, so communication is incredibly important here. If you find this happening more often than not at the beginning, push yourself to wait a little bit longer before stopping stimulation. If you wait too long, the worst thing that happens is you get a good orgasm out of it. With practice, you’ll have a better idea of just the right time to edge and how long to do it without losing your orgasm. Edging is a great way to explore and enhance your pleasure. Take your time to test out if it’s right for you, and enjoy yourself!
