It is often said "variety is the spice of life". As with many other aspects of life this can also be applied to sex and masturbation. Maybe you enjoy sex and masturbation but you are in a rut with how you masturbate. Your masturbation method can have a large effect on how your orgasm feels. Vary the method and the sexual spice appears.

First try your usual method(s) and think about how you do it: make mental notes or even write notes down (especially if you have several methods and need to try them out over time).

Then use the following suggestions, where they apply, to vary your approach. Try to follow the ideas closely but don't get too serious - sex above all should be fun!

Here are five suggestions:

* Fast Or Slow - try slower and faster

There are some very basic ideas that you may not have tried - at least not tried since you have been in that rut. One of these is to vary the speed of your normal method of stimulation and also how quickly you achieve orgasm.

Try using a different speed of stroking than usual. One time masturbate faster, another very fast and another slower or very slow. Keep to that speed for the whole session and see if you can reach orgasm without changing it. You may find you cannot get to orgasm sometimes - if so consider stopping and trying again another time. This hopefully will train you to achieve orgasm through a wider range of stimulation sensations. On the other hand if you don't want to just stop (or can't bear to!) after keeping to one speed for a while change to a speed that you know will work to get you there.

By using the techniques you learn from varying the speed, try varying the length of time you take to get to orgasm. It is likely you already have a natural variation in the time it takes depending on how in need of an orgasm you are, how relaxed you are and many other factors. So by, 'vary the time it takes', I mean make it quicker or slower than it would have been otherwise.

You probably find that by varying the speed of masturbating and the time taken to orgasm will have quite an effect on how your eventual orgasm feels.

* Lubrication - the liberated feeling

You are probably aware that masturbating when dry will make you sore and feels uncomfortable. Maybe you find you have enough natural lubrication for normal masturbation. However it is worth trying masturbating using a liberal amount of sex lubricant.

Buy a bottle of water based lubricant. Get yourself into the mood for sex, lie on something suitable and then apply a lot of lubricant. I mean a lot! Smother your crotch with the slippery stuff! Just the act of doing this will be sexy, indulgent and liberating. Continue masturbating using your normal method. It will probably feel very different and bring you to a very satisfying orgasm.

* Holding Back - the explosive orgasm.

Maybe you are a woman who once you start masturbating you go 'hell for leather' for the orgasm, touching yourself just the way you know will bring you to climax as quickly as possible.

If so try the opposite.

First get yourself going with the way (or one of the ways) you like. Then ease off concentrating on how you feel for a while. Then take yourself near to orgasm and again ease off slightly controlling your urge to go over the top. Try doing this once or twice, each time letting yourself get near to the point of no return. Then when you can hold back no longer, first force yourself to ease back slightly again and then go for it even harder than usual!

* Relaxing - for the whole body orgasm

Many women tense up more and more as they near orgasm. If you notice you do that, try the opposite. Concentrate on keeping fully relaxed as well as on the sexual feelings you are experiencing.

You may well find keeping relaxed difficult but persevere. When you do achieve a perfectly relaxed orgasm you are likely to find it goes throughout the whole of your body with waves of orgasmic sensation surging up and down from the tips of your toes to the top of your head!

* Separating the sensations - the different orgasm

Assuming you always masturbate using your fingers, if you were asked what erogenous zone you prefer to touch to achieve orgasm you will probably not be aware of the role of the sensations that your fingers themselves contribute. When you use your own fingers to masturbate, what you feel comes from both your erogenous zones and from the finger(s) you are using to touch them. Your brain merges the two sets of inputs and your sexual excitement is born from these merged sensations.

For a different experience try masturbating using thick gloves or a smooth finger sized implement. If you have never experienced this before it will feel strange not having the usual finger sensations and you could find it very sexy!

* The sex toy - a whole new world

If you haven't tried using a vibrating sex toy you may well be surprised by one.

A vibrating sex toy works on two levels.

First it introduces a different way of stimulating the erotic zones. Vibration is very different from stroking (although, of course you can also stroke with a vibrator).

Secondly it removes the finger sensations as in the above suggestion. Well, it removes the feeling through you fingers of what you would be touching, but instead you do feel the vibration of the vibrator which may be a little distracting at first. Talking of distractions it is worth using a vibrator that is relatively quiet otherwise you can also be distracted by loud buzzing and rattling noises! It is also worth having a vibrator where you can control the power/speed of vibration. There are a number of other important things to consider before buying a vibrator - see the resource box for help.

Having obtained a suitable vibrator, first try using it like you would your fingers. Many women find the vibrations take them to a powerful orgasm very quickly. Indeed there are many women who have never had an orgasm before using a vibrator.

Try using the vibrator through its range of power control - don't just go for the highest level that you can bear!

Once you are used to a vibrator try using the vibrator with some of the other techniques suggested in this article. You will find a vibrator brings yet another dimension to your orgasms.

In future articles I will cover yet more variations and techniques. I hope these ideas will enrich your sexual experience. I also hope that they will encourage you to use your own imagination to invent new ways and methods of enjoying the satisfying art of masturbation.