Sexual Healing: Bonobos Use Sex to De-Stress

A juvenile female bonobo engages in sexual contact with a dominant female bonobo. Photo: Zanna Clay

Bonobos have earned a reputation as a “sexy” ape. Sexual activity — in many creative forms — plays a large role in bonobo society. Sexual contacts occur often, in virtually all partner combinations and in a slew of different positions.

Bonobo society is also known to be more egalitarian and peaceful, especially compared with their close relatives, chimpanzees. However, conflicts still arise in bonobo groups. Zanna Clay and Frans de Waal of Emory University are studying how bonobos use sex after conflicts. I recently asked Zanna about watching bonobos and interpreting the role of sex in making up.

Q: How did you get interested in the role of sexual contacts in bonobos to begin with?

Clay: Bonobos are unusual among mammals in that they habitually use sexual contacts for purely social purposes, beyond their pure biological function. Observing bonobos, it becomes clear that sex can play many roles in bonobo society- especially in resolving social tension- and so I became interested in its non-reproductive role, focusing especially on how sexual contacts are used as an alternative means to resolve social conflicts. Rather than allowing a fight to escalate, it is interesting to compare, even to our own species, how bonobos employ sexual contacts to diffuse tension and restore peace.

Q: Can you describe a little how you carried out this research? What was observing the bonobos like?

Clay: I observed the bonobos across the daytime and recorded any instances of social conflicts occurring in the group. Fights among bonobos can often be very complex and confusing to follow. The most difficult ones to interpret are these mass conflicts in which there is huge emotional contagion, and everyone loses control – suddenly, there are lots of bonobos piling up on top of one another, screaming, biting, pushing, shoving. In such cases, I simply have to look on and film as best I can and try to untangle the social dynamics later from the video-clip. It’s often easy to miss stuff when it’s happening so fast, which is why video recording is so valuable for understanding these social events

Q: What sorts of reconciliation and consolation behaviors did you observe in bonobos?

Clay: Bonobos use a diverse set of behaviors to reconcile conflicts and console victims – among these are sexual contacts, such as touching of the genitals with the hands or feet, genital rubbing between two individuals, and copulations. But there were also other, more familiar behaviors, such as embracing, patting, touching and stroking. Although we did not include this in the analyses, simply sitting close by to someone after a fight may serve to reconcile or console, a topic for future research.

Q: What were the four hypotheses regarding the role of post-conflict sexual contacts that you tested?

Clay: We tested four main hypotheses regarding post-conflict sexual contacts. 1: Stress reduction, i.e. do sexual contacts alleviate stress following a fight; 2. Reproductive benefits, i.e. do individuals offer sex following fights as a means to get a reproductive benefit (in other words, to conceive); 3. Mediate food-conflicts, i.e. if sex is closely linked to feeding contexts, does sex play a special role in managing fights over food; and 4. Repairing valuable bonds, i.e. is sex especially likely to be used to restore social bonds with close friends?

Self-scratching is considered as a useful indicator of stress in primates and our observation data showed that victims receiving sexual forms of post-conflict contact had lower rates of self-scratching compared to other non-sexual behaviors, therefore supporting the hypothesis that sexual contacts may aid in alleviating stress. We did not find strong support for the other hypotheses; males were not more likely to offer sex to reproductively viable females (H2), conflicts over food were not more likely to result in sexual forms of post-conflict affiliation (H3), and friends were not more likely to use sexual contacts compared to other non-sexual forms of contacts (H4).

Q: Why do you think bonobos use sexual contacts so frequently to relieve stress?

Clay: More research on the physiology and hormonal profiles of bonobos is needed to answer this question, but it seems that the sexual physiology of bonobos is closely related to their stress alleviation. This may be have to do with the rubbing of sexual organs causing reductions in cortisol levels in the blood or causing increases in ‘bonding’ hormones such as oxytocin or vasopressin. It is still rather a mystery why bonobos have evolved to use this additional tool for stress relief in addition to more common forms such as touching or embracing. Nevertheless, although bonobos use sexual contacts especially frequently and habitually in stressful contexts, the relationship between stress and non-reproductive sexual contacts is actually quite widely observed across numerous animals, including humans of course. For example, male chimpanzees will mount one another during stressful events such as inter-group encounters with stranger chimpanzees.

Reference: 

Clay, Z. and de Waal, F. B. M. (2014). Sex and strife: post-conflict sexual contacts in bonobos. Behaviour.  doi: 10.1163/1568539X-00003155.

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The Healing Energy Of Reiki

One of my very first experiences with Reiki was after becoming a Reiki Practitioner. I had been studying Level I and then after some months I was permitted to take Level II. Things are different these days in the world of Reiki regarding how much time before and after one is permitted to take Levels I or II but if you are fortunate enough to acquire a good teacher (Master) then it does not really matter. My first personal experience was with a woman in our area who belongs to a rather prominent family. She was concerned that others not find out (particularly her family) that she was seeing a Reiki therapist. Of course and as always it is essential to keep confidential what your client requests of you.

This particular client came to me after having had a botched surgery to one of her arms. The first surgery consisted of setting a nasty break, and the second surgery required that the arm be broken again, this time by the surgeon due to the bones having grown back to together in a crooked manner after having been set improperly. The second surgery necessitated six to eight screws being imbedded into the re fractured ulna and carpal bones. This poor woman had been standing on a step ladder and lost her balance thus breaking her arm and wrist. If you are over fifty please let another younger person do the chore that you might otherwise do and then break a hip, leg or arm trying it yourself. At times I think that we forget that we have grown older and can still do what we could do years ago.

My first appointment with her was really one of getting acquainted and becoming familiar with each other. In fact we had little time for Reiki after talking about her injury and what her expectations were of what Reiki could or could not do. I was however able to get her onto the table and show her some of the hand positions both on her body and about six inches above her body. Initially she was not sure whether she wanted hands on or hands off. It was not until the second session later that week that she decided to let me place my hands on her injured area. It is vital to make sure that your clients are comfortable with what you do and how you do it.

The second appointment was at my house, her home had steps both outside and inside her residence, and it was apparent that not climbing them with my Reiki table was much easier for me. Once my client got on the table she almost immediately began to drift into a semi conscious state. This was before I even had the chance to put on some relaxing CD music. It is important to ask your client, friend or family member if they prefer to have music on or off as well as hand positions otherwise this will create an atmosphere of tension or suspicion with the client and not allowing them to relax.

I did not start on her injured area although it is sometimes best to go directly to the injured area and wait until later to use the rest of the hand positions and sometimes leaving them out altogether. Once I did get to the area of her surgical incision she tensed up and opened her eyes looking up at the ceiling. I could tell that her eyes were beginning to well up so I gently began reassuring her by engaging her in a dialogue of how my hands felt on her arm, or if she was in any discomfort. She assured me that all was well and after a few minutes she released her body tension and then just melted both emotionally and physically.

All was going well, or so I thought until she began to cry. I thought that my client was weeping due to pain or some other discomfort in her arm. When I asked her what was wrong she told me that she had not felt such warmth and relief in her arm since before she injured arm. What was happening to my client and to myself was simply amazing. I had never experienced such a dramatic event such as this with the use of Reiki, it was really something to witness. She asked me to hold my hands there for a while longer, and before either one of us knew it our time was up. After the session I helped her up and we discussed what she had experienced, how she felt and I explained to her why she had such an intense experience. She thanked me by showing the range of motion she now had back in her arm and hand and then she was gone. I have not seen her since and this was many years ago.

Many times when we get injured and our body has had time to heal even after a difficulty such as my client's we tend to shift our emotions back to these injured areas thus becoming our weak link. By doing this we create emotional and energetic blocks that psychologists call "body armor." If we are not careful we can end up with an entire suit of this body armor. Many of my clients generally have a rich experience whether it is emotional, physical or a combination of the two. Once they can release these areas of tension the body can then repair what many times we do not allow whether it is consciously or subconsciously. After such a clearing of an energy block we will feel a great sense of well being and wonderment.

Reiki is a tremendous healing tool and what is really significant is that anyone can learn to use this energetic modality in a relatively short period of time. I would never advocate the use of Reiki over seeing your family doctor regardless of illness or injury but Reiki is such a tremendous adjunct to any medicine, whether it is Western or Eastern medicine. Think about the possibilities for using Reiki if your child or grandchild were to become ill or any family member or friend. After some training you can send Reiki around the world to those you know and those you have never met without ever leaving the comfort of your home.

If you would like more information regarding Reiki classes and their Levels please contact Curtis Williams either by phone (805-234-7615), or e-mail (curtis@astrologyreiki.com).

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Transcending the Law of Attraction - Healing Your Physical Body With the Divine

Let's face it; no matter how good of shape you are or aren't in at times you more than likely sense that you aren't feeling your best physically.

But at the same time, it is in moments like these that you can use as an opportunity to lovingly visualize that your body is infused divine light. You can gratefully begin to imagine that divine light is blessing your bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments, as you know they are helping to support you and allow you the freedom of movement.

To further reinforce this fact, continue to silently visualize that divine light blessing the intricate systems that digest your food, circulate oxygen in your blood, provide you with protection, and in fact even allow you to see these words and all your other senses.

For this reason you relax your whole body from your head to your toes as you begin to consciously realize once again that your body is continuously supporting, renewing and repairing itself in truly amazing ways.

Are you beginning to see how your body is the creation of God's perfect idea?

And as this begins to happen you can give thanks for your body's health and wholeness as it supports you on your journey.

As these thoughts sink deep into your subconscious, your body responds with energy and vitality as you fill your mind with thoughts of gratitude and blessing for all that you have in health and wholeness.

In a moment I'll tell you that if you are seriously interested in being able to love your body with a sense of gratitude and appreciation that let's your body heal in so many different ways then meditating on a daily basis is something that you will want to consider.

However, before I tell you this, you should also know that people who meditate on a daily basis notice that they suddenly have a tendency towards feeling more energy and vitality than they did before they began meditating on a daily basis.

In any event, if you are seriously interested in being able to love your body with a sense of gratitude and appreciation so that your body can heal itself with energy and vitality then you will want to begin to meditate on a daily basis so that you can connect with and experience that divine light that is within you.

What's more, you will be glad to know that the practice of Yoga Nidra is one of the most powerful guided meditation techniques on the planet that will have you connecting with that divine light within you more and more each day.

Thaddeus Ferguson has dedicated himself to the cause of helping people heal themselves first in order to help heal the world during this amazing time of transformation.

The practice of Meditation and/or Yoga Nidra is just one of the many powerful tools that you can use in order to help Heal You First.

Discover many of the Benefits of Meditation Now!

Join Thaddeus in a state of Being LOVE at http://www.yogibiglove.com/ Now!

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