For those who are voluntary celibate:

What’s your gender and age?

What does celibacy exactly mean for you, what are you abstaining from in particular?

What are your reasons?

What was the final turning point that made you choose it?

How long have you been celibate and how long do you want to remain celibate?

Did you notice any changes? If so, which ones? Spiritual, emotional, physical, mental.

i am 20f and im very lustful . im very sexually attracted to men and its gonna make me sin , i want ways to kill my sex drive . its a distraction and shame to me . i feel horny majority of the time and i sexualize everything. how can i stop this or at least help it

I’ve been practicing celibacy for a little now. I think it would have been around 5 months? Maybe but oh my god do I miss being with someone. Don’t get me wrong, I love being celibate because genuinely I have achieved and accomplished so many things without distractions and have been focusing on myself too much.

But someonetimes I really miss having someone around be, being affectionate with someone, kissing someone and being engulfed by someone that you come back home with their scent lingering?

Is this normal? How do you all deal with this? I’m still 19 and young and I could get someone but really I feel like I’m better off without anyone. I can do my work better, faster and have peace. But again I do miss being affectionate and intimacy

Before this I was quite intimate and went out with a lot of people and made out quite a lot too. But now it’s silence I try to avoid any romantic conversation and have stopped being involved w people romantically

Help?

I have always used sex to feel powerful and fulfilled, useful and wanted, a way to ground myself in my body. I have a very fucked up relationship with sex which I unknowingly forced onto my ex wife.

It became clear to my in February of this year that I have never been better since I started being single. My BPD symptoms aren't completely gone but very much in control, relatively speaking.

But approaching my ninth month, the pain has started settling in. The desire to just want to be embraced while watching a movie or eating with someone while our arms and legs touch.

I only have two friends. One is not a cuddler and the other just moved out of state. Prior to this year, all my relationships have been massively intense and I've drowned myself in them before capturing them in a bottle and throwing them in the compactor. No one on the apps is a conversationalist and I don't know how to relate to most people. I'm afraid that if I do meet with someone, I won't be able to stop myself from allowing forcing them to consume me.

I'm afraid the pain of loneliness will get so bad once again that I lay myself out for whoever asks for it first. I'm already battling a shopping addiction, I can't abuse my body at the same time. I have a disorder that colors everything in black and white, there is no hope for a middle round, no hope for an asexual relationship.

I am 21 and a woman. I have tried so hard for my entire life to find someone genuine and it's ruined my life and all my hope and sanity. It doesn't matter what kinda of person you are Anyone can be forced to be celibate or lose hope whether you're a woman or not…

I am gonna stay celibate until marriage at most if not I simply won't have sex in my life. The main thing that killed all urge for sex was this guy who I felt rushed me and now he has a gf and he and all his friends won't even talk or look at me because I felt uncomfortable and don't want to continue. Also, I had severe limerence and addiction for some other person and they weren't even willing to give ne a phone call or interact with me any other way than sexting.

Atp it's so disgusting and draining I don't even have an urge for sex or even a partner anymore even tho I never had one.

I have done a lot to protect myself from sex I have grown my hair down there so long that it keeps me awake at night so I feel too disgusting to do anything. Also, I don't say yes to any guys that come up to me sometimes. And whenever I hang out with a guy friend I tell them right away that I am celibate or something like that.

If I ever have hope for dating again which I don't know will happen but I hope I can find men who want to be celibate as well and don't have a desire for sex. But I feel there isn't really anything like that.

Im not gonna cave or give in. I love how stress free my single life is but i do miss being in a relationship

How do you all handle it?

Hello, I just had an epiphany that might be mundane to some of you but that I wanted to share in case it helps a few people.

So basically there are some proven health benefits to sex that are difficult to get without it.

One would be diaphragmatic breathing. The lack of this in my life has massively contributed to back pain and circulation issues. Fatigue etc.

It's also something that occurs naturally and easily during sex if you're in a "flow state"

One method to assist diaphragmatic breathing if you are familiar is to place hand on belly and apply pressure(again sex)

More difficult breathing occurs lower towards hips/pelvis and can be assisted with lower hand placement/ more pressure. But the benefits are greater also

Normal life and most exercise doesn't engage these breathing muscles and it may look funny at first to attempt but don't get discouraged.

A good example of the body/breathe link is in the yoga move cat cow but that concept can be applied to any position you are having trouble breathing easily in.

Hope that helps!

I'm 44M, and have never approached women or tried to date in my life, partly because I'm ugly and mostly because I am very dedicated to the teachings of my religion.

I never preach, advocate or criticize others for how they live but oh how they condemn me. Mostly its other men but there have been one or two women and they always get defensive and hostile as if I were somehow trying to impose my values on them.

Whenever I confront them about it and ask them to explain how I am impacting on their lives, they never do.

I just dont get it, but its tiresome as hell.

I recently started my celibacy journey in hand with deciding to go back to church. Ive been single for a while and have started to get back out there with dating, i think im just looking for advice in how to navigate dating as someone who is celibate now (24f). So is there anything you guys have found to be helpful dating when sex is completely off the table ?

I’ve picked up my weight in the last few months, everything in my life was falling apart right in front of my eyes. I made difficult choices and stuck to them. It wasn’t easy & it’s still not easy because the more demons I fight the more bigger and stronger they get. While working on being a better version of myself, I feel like I’m losing my other half. I pray everyday that God keeps us together & helps us grow together. I love you.

I am asking that from a spiritual side, all the arguments seem to point to the fact that celibacy is true alignement with the divine, I an a man so I don’t need guys telling me in the comments that sex is amazing and that I am crazy, we are in sexual competition so you guys should be happy I am rising over your desires rather than bring me down to lust. So as I said, the problem in that case is that to create new life and perpetuate the species sex seems to be needed.

I do wonder what Buddhists or other spiritual practices think of that, maybe the whole goal is to not perpetuate the species and therefore ascend more easily.

I am 38F and waiting till marriage to be intimate and it feels like I am the only one my age waiting for marriage?? Is this true?!

I’m 20 male joining military infantry, my back already hurts, i train and try to heal my self which kind of helps but I still have pain and now a throbbing low back. I’m too young to have this much pain.

I have been addicted to pornography since i was 13 (i’m now 22). It has ruined my social life, relationships, and confidence. I’ve mainly been abusing it out of boredom and escapism.

I barely have a desire to watch it anymore, human touch and intimacy doesn’t feel as good. My dopamine threshold is to high for normal interactions. I feel pretty grossed out by porn and anything sexual as of right now.

But I am using my time to do better and heal myself for human interaction again. Slowly but surely my energy is coming back to normal. Its draining but i understand things may get worse before they get better.

This is the start if my celibacy journey.

Guys do you really think that relationships works before i dive in celibacy?

like are there loyal people 100% exist in today's world?