Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work

by Steven Kotler

With an entertainer’s’ flair for the theatrical, Nicole paused, swiveled on a stilettoed black boot, and punched her hand in the air like a rock guitarist. The audience began calling out words to describe their own experience. “Tingling in my groin,” one woman announced. “Heat,” said another. “Tumescence,” blurted a software engineer. On the OneTaste website, they describe their central practice as OMing,15 short for “orgasmic meditation,” and we’d just witnessed a mainstage demonstration by the masters. A tightly circumscribed, almost ritualized practice, OMing involves stroking the upper left quadrant of a woman’s clitoris for exactly fifteen minutes without attachment to outcome or expectation of reciprocity. Their goal is to create a “turned on” woman—one who is neurochemically saturated, physically open, and emotionally empowered.