Are you thinking of a daring activity to spice up a stagnant love life and reignite the passion between the sheets?
Store the blindfold and edible underwear in a safe place. An afternoon in an escape room could be just the ticket to get couples without intimacy back in the mood.
At least, that’s what sex coach Michaela d’Artois from Los Angeles says.
For the uninitiated, an escape room is an immersive game where a group of people are locked in a room and must work together to solve a series of puzzles in a limited time frame to find a hidden key and ‘escape’.
And according to d’Artois, starting a relationship with your significant other could be the key to reigniting passion.
According to Los Angeles-based sex coach Michaela d’Artois, an escape room could be a good way to get couples lacking intimacy back in the mood
D’Artois, who runs her private intimacy coaching practice Inner Eros in California, said working together could be the antidote to a sex drought.
“When couples solve problems together, it gives them skills to overcome the trials they will face in their relationship,” she told the Financial times.
Experts have suggested that doing an escape room can improve communication skills, help couples cope with stress together and celebrate each other’s successes.
Described by some as ‘the ultimate test of relationship compatibility’, the intensive activity could also help build trust and dependency on each other.
D’Artois, who describes her work as helping “people reconnect with the eroticism and romance of their own lives,” also had a few suggestions for when not enough sex was anymore a one-sided problem, including keeping up a diary and sketches.
By doing this, a person can advocate for themselves to their partner about what they might want or seek in terms of sex.
Her comments come amid concerns about a global sex crisis – or more accurately, the lack of a sex crisis.
A survey last year found that more than a quarter (27 percent) of Brits are now having less sex than before.
What’s more, one in six (15 percent) admit they haven’t been this playful all year.
According to a Royal College of Occupational Therapists survey of 2,000 adults earlier this year, men and women typically romp 46 times a year – once every eight days.
But some have amorous activities much less often, with a tenth reporting having sex less than once a year.
Britain is not alone in suffering a sexodus.
Surveys in America have shown that the number of Californians between the ages of 18 and 30 without a sexual partner reached a ten-year high last year: 38 percent.
And while not all sex is for reproductive purposes, a number of commentators, including celebrities such as Elon Musk, have expressed concern about declining birth rates, especially in developed countries such as Europe.
Even France, a country so famous for its lovers that a kiss is named after it, is embroiled in the crisis.
It prompted President Emmanuel Macron to announce a series of measures earlier this year to tackle a ‘plague’ of infertility in the country.
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However, when it comes to the amount of sex we should be having, d’Artois is clear that the right amount is exactly what a couple mutually wants.
She said one of the crucial aspects of determining what this should be is for each person in a relationship to determine how important sex is to them individually.
From there, d’Artois described the process as “a journey” until both parties are satisfied.
“If we can create a dynamic where the partner who has less desire for sex has more reason or more incentive, they can find their way to eroticism more quickly,” she said.
And this isn’t necessarily limited to sexual acts, but can be as simple as holding each other and breathing together, or a sensual massage, she added.
Sex, and intimacy in general, has been linked to a range of health benefits, including improving the condition of your heart, reducing stress and even improving mental health.
Research, recently highlighted by MailOnline, shows that nationally only 55 percent of Brits reported having sex at least once a week – 59 percent of men and 51 percent of women.
Nationally, 55 percent of Britons report having sex at least once a week; this rises to 59 percent of men and falls to 51 percent of women
Londoners were well above the national average, with 67 percent reporting having an amorous encounter at least once a week.
This was followed by people in the North West (57 percent) and loved ones in the East Midlands (56 percent).
Northern Ireland was at the other end of the spectrum, with less than half (44 percent) of people reporting having sex every week.
This was followed by Wales and the East of England, where residents came in second to last at just 49 percent.
However, the survey also found that Brits suspect many more of us are having sex than is actually the case.
Respondents were asked what proportion of Britons they thought had sex at least once a week, and the average was 81 percent, 26 percentage points higher than the reality.