Vertical Positions
The dual cultivation methods described in the HT books advocate bringing sexual energy up, in order to refine and share the subtle experience with your partner. Some positions are much better suited to this than others.
Going Subtle with Vertical Positions: Yab Yum, and Variations.
Several positions facilitate upward energy movement; most of them are vertical. The energies of (and the strands between) heaven and earth run vertically. When you align your body vertically, you benefit from the boost of the interactions between heaven and earth; that is, sexual energy shifts to the upper centers easily. Most meditations, including standing forms (of course), are done vertically. It’s helpful to adapt the positions you use in your solo meditation practices to positions in the bedroom.
"Yab yum" is the classic position for dual cultivation. This is the position that is prominently pictured (but not talked about much) in the "Cultivating Female Sexual Energy" book (pgs. 257, 261, 271, 274-5, 278-9), and which is commonly seen in Tibetan thankas (spiritual paintings) and statues. "Yab yum" is a Tibetan phrase literally meaning "father mother". It's the créme-de-la-créme of tantric positions.
Both partners sit vertically, facing each other, with the woman’s legs wrapped around the man’s waist. It's easiest for the man if he's sitting on the edge of the bed, with his feet on the floor.
The gates of meditation open easily for both partners in this position, and as the energy tends to shift up the chakras in a shared way, the position facilitates lots of subtle zings and zangs between the two of you; it's a rich and intimate way to share levels of consciousness. As I've mentioned in other essays, balancing through exchange is important; yab yum facilitates spontaneous exchange, simply through the position.
Variations of yab yum also tend to work well. The man standing, with the woman still wrapped around him, triggers strong connections to earth energy. Another variation has the man standing low in a position similar to "embracing the tree", with the woman lying back on the bed.
Shifting to Vertical, Fun Trick
Here's a fun trick that takes advantage of the fact that energy tends to build in the lower centers while in horizontal positions, and shifts upwards more easily in yab yum:
Engage in a horizontal position during the initial stages of love making, and let the energy build in the lower centers. Then, move into yab yum. Often the energy built up in the sexual center will kind of explode upwards for both partners as you shift into vertical alignment.
Difficult Positions
Some positions are inherently more difficult for semen retention.
Horizontal positions tilt you out of the heaven-earth flow, and so make re-location of sexual energy more difficult.
Positions that strongly emphasize lower chakra activity, with minimized upper shared activity, again, tend to be much more difficult for re-locating sexual energy to the upper centers.
Different positions have different moods. Some positions strongly emphasize the polarity of male power and female receptivity. The male / female libidos really get strongly activated... which is totally fun, but, - again - makes it more difficult to re-locate sexual energy to upper centers. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that most male-superior positions don't stimulate a woman's clitoris and g-spot sufficiently for her to easily climax. Given that most women take longer to climax in the first place, add a position that doesn't facilitate her climax, yet intensely brings out the male / female sexual-animal natures... and the HT strategy of drawing energy to the upper centers really breaks down.
Different situations call for different tactics. Other strategies for semen retention come into play: a number of essays on this website talk about alchemically balancing sexual energy in the lower tan tien, without having to move it to the upper centers.
Much of the solution is just to be aware of these sorts of dynamics, so that you'll be in a much better position to do whatever it is that you want to do.
Positions that Facilitate Her Orgasm
Most of this essay has been about positions that facilitate meditative sex. Another very important topic is, "which positions facilitate strong orgasm for a woman?". Most man-on-top positions are somewhat problematic in that they provide stimulation mainly to the cervix, through deep strong thrusting, but generally neglect the g-spot and clitoris, whose added stimulation prompt a woman's orgasm with a fraction of the effort.
The standard solution to this is to have the woman on top, where she has access to useful angles, and can direct the pressures. In yab yum, the man can spread his legs somewhat, allowing the woman access to rock her clitoris against the man's pubis. Additionally, the partners can each lean slightly back, which lends greater pressure to her g-spot (and less pressure to the most sensitive underside of the tip of the penis), and brings the penis deeper, closer to her cervix. Dr. Lin calls this "3-point excitation" (clitoris, g-spot, cervix), which greatly facilitates a woman's orgasm.
(from
"Healing Love through the Tao, Cultivating Female Sexual Energy", pg.
261)
Dr. Lin
Much of Dr. Lin's work is strongly oriented toward bringing full orgasmic satisfaction to a woman. He details many positions - and useful adjustments - in relation to the most orgasmicly sensitive areas of a woman (cervix, clitoris, g-spot), which he calls the woman's three "trigger zones". He shows that, during intercourse, men usually focus stimulation on the most sensitive areas of the penis, while neglecting a woman's most sensitive areas - and he provides effective ways to reverse that situation. He proposes methods to bring the woman to orgasm early (and strongly), and then enjoy sharing for extended times afterward. He also provides very effective sexual qi gong, both for men and women, as well as a host of other information. Reference: Lin's Links.
The Multi-Orgasmic Man, by Mantak Chia and Douglas Abrams Arava, provides additional useful information for positional work with "the sword and shield".
WARNING: Though some parts are useful, TMOM should not be considered a comprehensive source: It's missing many key sexual points that Dr. Lin provides, as well as key safety-related alchemical points found in this website and elsewhere. Particularly its lack of emphasis, clarity, and details regarding unaroused practices and resolution into stillness makes TMOM's general approach to semen retention, in the long run, a near-guarantee for failure and injury.
Conclusion
This essay has illustrated the usefulness of vertical positions for easier semen retention, for sharing sexual energy in the upper centers, as well as adjustments to bring on strong lower-originated orgasms for the woman. Some of the dynamics of other positions have been touched upon.
Re-directing sexual energy upward is wonderful when that's where you want the energy to go. It's no surprise that sex is also enjoyed in the lower centers. Familiarity with the dynamics of various positions, and methods of alchemy, can assist us to bring resonant joy to the full spectrum of our being... without forcing any one position, or method, beyond its natural emphasis.