You have probably heard about the supposed health benefits of sleeping naked: improved circulation, better skin, and a heightened sense of well-being.

But did you know sleeping naked has other benefits that are sexual in nature?

What’s more, making sleeping naked a habit with your partner provides you with not only the benefits you get when sleeping solo, but it can even catapult your intimacy levels to heights you never thought possible.

How so, I hear you ask? Well, read on to find out.

1. Being nude together is just damn hot, period

Nothing beats the sexy feeling of cuddling up close with your partner fully nude.

The warmth radiating from each other’s bodies, the skin-to-skin contact; it all screams sensuality like nothing else. It’s definitely not the same as cuddling fully clothed.

Being nude distinctively implies sexuality. It’s a lot easier to get frisky when the artificial barrier of clothing is out of the way.

Plus, seeing your partner prance around the bedroom naked is visually alluring, much more than seeing them stubble around in ill-fitting pajamas.

2. It will elevate your connection

Besides making it easier and more likely for you to engage in sex, sleeping naked has been shown to improve bonding between couples.

Humans are naturally touchy-feely creatures. Touch is such a powerful tool that children who lack touch in their formative years grow up with significant negative consequences to their development and well-being.

Numerous studies, including this one published in the National Library of Medicine, show that skin-to-skin contact releases oxytocin, colloquially referred to as the “love hormone.”

Essentially, by not sleeping nude, you are probably doing yourself and your relationship a disservice.

3. Your genitals will thank you for it

This is not a direct sexual benefit, the benefits are more indirect, but it’s still important enough to include it as a benefit.

Genital health matters. There is no debating that.

For women, ditching restrictive bedwear for the buff means better airflow and less clothing friction to your neither regions. This, in turn, promotes natural lubrication, something needed for satisfying sex, as well as a reduced risk of yeast infection.

For men, the testicles require a cool temperature compared to the rest of your body to produce healthy sperm. Wearing underwear or clothing can not only increase the scrotum temperature leading to less than stellar sperm, but tight underwear can also figuratively “choke” your balls by compressing the delicate tissues and blood vessels around that area. This can lead to discomfort, pain, and even damage to the testicles over time.

Oh, and never mind that genitals that are left to breathe just smell better no matter your gender.

4. Boost your testosterone levels

Researchers from the University of Chicago found it took sleeping only 5 hours per day for one week to see testosterone levels fall 10 to 15 percent. Considering testosterone is responsible for maintaining libido, good mood, energy levels, and potent erections, any lowering beyond what happens naturally with age is never a good thing.

Sleeping in your birthday suit can offset some of these problems by helping your body reach optimum temperature allowing for longer quality sleep.

5. Reduces anxiety and helps you relax

Earlier, I briefly mentioned that mood is correlated with sleep, or lack of it.

And the same goes for stress and anxiety. Though to be fair, the scientific research on this particular issue is still limited and not conclusive.

But based on the countless conversations I have had, including my own experiences; sleeping naked next to your lover after hustling and bustling all day is the epitome of relaxation. It’s near impossible to feel anxious and stressed when engaging in some skinship with your partner.

6. Elevate self-esteem

It’s often said; the best type of love is the love you have for yourself.

I’m going to go a bit further and say that love should also include bodily love.

You see, if you want higher quality sex, and more frequent orgasms, particularly if you are a woman, you need to have confidence not only in yourself but in how you look and move, flaws and all.

One way of gaining this confidence is by getting comfortable with your body, no filters, no makeup, just you the way you are.

And the easiest way to get comfortable in your skin is to spend more time with it — literally.

There is no magic pill to having a better body image. It’s as simple as spending as much time seeing yourself naked.

Sleeping naked does take getting used to

I will admit sleeping naked does take some getting used to, especially if you have never done it before.

It certainly doesn’t help that nudity is not something readily promoted within popular culture, as it is anything sexual…chalk this one off to our hard-to-shake puritanical past.

That being said, just because sleeping nude feels alien doesn’t mean it’s not worth giving a try.

You can take baby steps, removing individual pieces of clothing and seeing how it feels. The more comfortable you get, the more you can remove. Before you know it, you will be sleeping in the buff and reaping all the benefits that come along with it.