Got Vaccinated? Get Ready for the Summer of Love!

Photo Credit: by Womanizer WOW Tech, Unsplansh

If you didn’t live through the original Summer of Love in 1967, chances are you’ve seen it in movies, documentaries, or photographs. It’s the “flower children” in long flowy dresses and flowers in their hair singing, dancing, and kissing in the park, engaging in “free love,” and living a hedonistic lifestyle and exploring new forms of sexual freedom.

While there might not ever be another Summer of Love that leaves such an indelible mark on history as the events of that summer in 1967 did, many people are speculating that this summer, the summer of 2021, might see a glimpse of those lovin’ glory days. While the Summer of Love came at the height of political and social unrest as the Vietnam War raged on, the potential new Summer of Love is also coming off, and well actually still in, a global pandemic and political and social unrest that left a lot of people in desperate need of a release.

For more than a year now since the first COVID-19 lockdowns began around March 2020, millions of Americans have been unable to hug people, shake hands, or get closer than six feet. Dating and casual sex turned to Zoom meetup-ups and phone sex, as meeting new people romantically came with just too many restrictions. But, now that more than 51 million people have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), daters are more likely to get back into the dating world in real life, face-to-face, and ready for some summer loving.

“Optimistic analysts and experts are predicting a repeat of the Roaring Twenties once lockdown is finally lifted, replete with raucous, champagne-soaked parties and Gatsby-esque levels of hedonism and excess,” reports Refinery29.

Additionally, research shows that sex occurs more frequently during summer than any other season of the year. “The sun itself can also act as a libido enhancement agent, working as an aphrodisiac like chocolate and oysters,” says Dr. Myles Spar, an integrative men’s health expert and the National Medical Director of the men’s telehealth startup Vault Health.

Vault Health recently conducted a recent survey of 1,000 men in the United States aged 30-65 to find out about their sexual, physical, and mental health as we head into the summer months and the world begins to return to a post-COVID normalcy. Among the findings were that 51% of men said that the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative effect on their overall health and sexual performance. Additionally, 61% of single men said having sex with new partners was a major incentive for them to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and the majority of men (39%) also said summer was their favorite time of year to have sex.

But don’t get too excited. Even if people might be more likely to start dating having sex with new partners this summer, you still need to be safe. That means it’s time to stock up on some condoms or other means of protection against sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies.

While the CDC hasn’t issued official recommendations of how to have safe sex after you’ve been vaccinated, Anne Liu, an infectious disease specialist at Stanford Health Care, told Vice that vaccinated people having sex with other vaccinated people should be safe. “It is very low-risk for two vaccinated individuals to have sex,” said Liu.

As for sexual encounters where one person is vaccinated and the other isn’t, Liu told Vice this: “If the person who’s unvaccinated is at low risk for severe disease and is also at low risk for exposure, then sex is probably a pretty low-risk situation.”

Here are a few of Dr. Spar’s tips for men to have better sex this summer and get their mojo back as the world returns to normal, in his own words…

1. Cut Back on Sugar. Too much of the sweet stuff can lower testosterone. It can also create resistance to leptin, a hormone essential to sexual functioning. Excessive sugar consumption reduces the production of growth hormones, which maintains libido as well as bulks up muscle mass and incinerates body fat.

2. Increase Melatonin. Otherwise known as the “sleep hormone,” melatonin may also enhance libido. To increase yours naturally, get some sunshine in the morning, keep your bedroom dark at night, go to bed at a reasonable time, drink more water, meditate, exercise, lower your stress, and sniff lavender. You can also take melatonin supplements.

3. Get More Sleep. Sleep is essential for almost every human function, and sex is no different. By getting enough shut-eye, you’re supporting a healthy testosterone level – and, by association, better sexual performance.

4. Practice Breathwork. This is extremely helpful for men who experience performance anxiety, which is a major cause of

erectile dysfunction. Roughly 57% of married men surveyed said that their partner can tell if they are stressed based on their sexual performance, and there’s a good reason for this. Chronic stress is murder on your libido, testosterone levels, and can even cause erectile dysfunction. Fight back – peacefully – by developing a breathwork practice. Consult YouTube for tons of tutorials on how to do this. Ten minutes a day of deep breathing is better than nothing.

5. Do Kegels. Pelvic floor muscle exercises aren’t just for women. Doing Kegels can improve your erection strength, orgasm quality, and ejaculation. To get started, try stopping the flow of urine when you’re peeing. Those are your pelvic floor muscles. The next time you’re just sitting around, practice that same move; hold for five seconds, then release and rest five seconds. Repeat 10 times, up to three times a day.

6. Stretch. If you want to improve your stamina for sex, then stretching should be something that you incorporate into your life daily. Because tension in the body has the potential to affect your libido, as well as make it difficult for you to fully relax—and feeling relaxed is integral to good sex—stretching is recommended for those looking to boost their sex lives. Plus, because stretching involves getting your blood and energy flowing, the practice has the potential to improve your libido and also helps with flexibility, which your partner(s) will likely appreciate

7. Spend More Time Outside. Summer months mean longer days— out from in front of your TV, computer, or cell phone — which enables more opportunities to meet someone. Vitamin D (something you get from the sun’s rays) can also help to balance out your hormone levels. In men, it increases testosterone production. Take advantage of those long, summer days, as it will be beneficial to your libido.

###