Health
How to Master Amazon Sex Position, According to a Sex Therapist
The Amazon sex position is a fairly new sex position and a serious internet sensation—for good reason. This athletic, woman-dominating stance has a lot to offer among fun and different sex positions.
It gets its name from the mythical women-only warrior tribe, the Amazons, from ancient Greece. The Amazons are featured in many epic poems and stories, known for their battle skills, strength, courage, and beauty—oh, and for living on an island without any men. The Amazons have popped up again in recent pop culture, due to the Wonder Woman movie, the heroine of which (Diana Prince) is from the Amazon tribe.
With this history in mind, the Amazon sex position was born. It’s empowering and emboldening, making it one of the best sex positions for women.
What Is the Amazon Sex Position?
Amazon sex position looks like a mix of cowgirl/rider and missionary sex positions. The vulva-owner rides the penetrative partner—like in cowgirl position—only the giver’s legs are pulled up toward their chest.
Be warned, this position requires some serious flexibility, mobility, and balance. But if you’re ready to give the Amazon sex position a whirl, this is everything you need to know.
How to Do the Amazon Sex Position
Katie Buckleitner
- The penetrative partner lies on their back and bends their knees 90 degrees to table top position, to start. Ideally, they’ll draw their knees all the way to their chest—similar to happy baby pose in yoga—but this isn’t necessary for the position to work.
- The receiver straddles the giver, aligning the genitals and holding the penetrative partner’s lower legs or knees. This will aid in their balance and support, but also lessen the giver’s fatigue from holding their legs up.
- The receiver gently lowers themselves onto the giver’s penis or dildo, moving slowly at first. Once in position, the receiver can bounce up and down, using their legs for leverage, or gyrate with full control over speed and depth of penetration.
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Modifications to Make Amazon Position More Enjoyable
You can certainly add a whole host of sex toys for men and sex toys for women to the Amazon sex position—just be sure you have the balancing part down pat before you add something like cock rings.
1. Add a Wand Vibrator
Courtesy Image
This is a great position for sex toys. We’d suggest a wand vibrator, as the long base makes it easier for the rider to use on themselves—providing much-needed clitoral stimulation. Doxy Extra Powerful Wand Massager is an excellent choice for this. The cast aluminum head has a cushioned cover for greater comfort and tactile buttons to switch between settings and speeds. Just note this needs to be plugged into an outlet while in use.
2. Try a Couples’ Vibrator or Cock Ring
Courtesy Images
You can also incorporate a couples’ vibrator, which is designed to be worn during penetrative sex. We-Vibe Sync 2 and Dame Eva are excellent couples’ toys that get the job done. You can also try a vibrating cock-ring like Fun Factory Nos C-Ring.
3. Use a Good-Quality Lube
Courtesy Images
Lastly, be sure to get a high-quality lubricant to enhance comfort and overall pleasure. A water-based lubricant is always the best choice, especially if you’re using silicone sex toys, as a silicone lube can break down the toy over time. Some great choices are Good Clean Love Almost Naked Lube, a water- and aloe-based lube that’s gynecologist-recommended and safe for use with silicone toys; and Lovehoney Water-Based Lube, which is compatible with all sex toys, as well as latex and polyurethane condoms.
Best Amazon Position Sex Variations
Top Cat
Illustration by Katie Buckleitner
Why It’s Great
This is a slight variation to the Amazon sex position in that the receiving partner doesn’t straddle the giver. Instead, they kneel on the inside of their partner’s legs. This is great if the receiving partner has limited hip flexibility. After all, who needs to be that acrobatic when the same power dynamics can be achieved with greater ease?
How to Do It
- The penetrative partner lies on their back and bends their knees 90 degrees to table top position, to start.
- The receiving partner kneels in between their legs, rather than straddling them with their knees outside the giver’s hips.
- The partner on top can lean forward on their hands for support or lie flat against their partner’s chest. The partner on bottom can wrap their legs around the receiver’s low back (this can help take the strain off the hip flexors).
Pro Tip
The vulva-owner can slide up and down their partner’s body to better stimulate the clitoris, much like they would while doing the coital alignment technique.
Reverse Amazon Sex Position
Illustration by Katie Buckleitner
Why It’s Great
Some people lose their inhibitions when they’re not making direct eye contact with their partner. This variation still puts the vulva-owner in control, but removes their sightlines.
How to Do It
- The penetrative partner lies on their back and bends their knees 90 degrees to table top position, to start.
- The vulva-owner slowly squats over their partner’s dildo or penis, facing away, and either balances on their feet (harder) or knees (easier).
- Once settled, the vulva-owner can rest their hands on either side of their partner’s hips or stimulate their clitoris.
Pro Tip
How you decide to move in this position is entirely up to you, but we suggest a gentle bouncing motion or rocking back and forth.
Squatting Cowgirl
Illustration by Katie Buckleitner
Why It’s Great
Squatting cowgirl allows the receiver to keep the dom energy alive without having to do any sexual heavy-lifting. This position makes bouncing up and down pretty easy, as they have the full power of their legs.
How to Do It
- The penetrative partner lies on their back and extends their legs in the air, to start.
- The vulva-owner, squats over the giver, facing them, lowering onto their penis or dildo, planting the soles of their feet next to their partner’s waist. Both partners can hold onto each other for support.
- Think of this like a yogi squat—only with penetration. Bounce up and down, but be mindful not to hurt the penis-owner.
Pro Tip
If the vulva-owner starts to get the dreaded quad burn, swap to classic cowgirl. Because this requires a lot of hamstring flexibility for the giver, be sure to stretch first.
Related: 10 Things Every Woman Wishes You Did During Sex
Amazon Position Sex Benefits
- Amazon sex position encourages for direct eye contact, making it both hot and intimate.
- It allows the vulva-owner to access their clitoris quite easily, as their hands are free. The rider may also be able to generate some contact friction on the clitoris while riding, but this will depend on each person’s anatomy.
- Possibly the most exciting benefit of Amazon sex position is the power play it offers. The vulva-owner is in the dominant position, which can really flip cultural scripts. There’s something deeply hot about being dominated by your female or femme partner. Engaging in power play is a fun way to spice up the eroticism in the bedroom and be a better lover. It’s not just that the Amazon is a new and athletic position, it also offers you and your partner alternative roles in the bedroom.
- Speaking of the athleticism involved, we also rate this position for its visual appeal. Sometimes it’s fun to try some sexual acrobatics.
- Lastly, if you or your partner experience pain or discomfort during penetration, this position can be a lifesaver. Due to the position of the penis-owner’s body, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to penetrate super deeply, which can help with pain.
Potential Downsides of Amazon Sex Position
- One big downside of Amazon sex position is it’s relatively advanced and hard to do. Since this position requires the penetrating partner to bring their thighs all the way to their chest, it can cause hip discomfort. For the person being penetrated, they may find it difficult to move up and down (or back and forth) while trying to keep their partner’s legs in place. You’re also going to need some serious core strength to rock this one.
- Another setback? This position is a designated LDP (long dick position). Because the penis/dildo needs to reach past the inserting partner’s thighs, length is crucial. It can become quite challenging, if not impossible, if the penis or dildo lacks the length to reach. While size certainly doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of amazing sex, different positions are better suited for different anatomies.
Luckily, with our helpful toys and variations, you can customize this position to work for you.
Related: 10 Tips to Give Her the Best Oral Sex
Why You Should Trust Me
I’ve been in the sexuality space as an educator, writer, and therapist for over a decade. When it comes to the topic of sexual health and wellness, there’s basically nothing I haven’t written about and researched.
I’m a COSRT-registered, certified sex and relationship psychotherapist specializing in Gender Sexuality and Relationship Diversity (GSRD). I’m also an accredited GSRD therapist with Pink Therapy. I currently work for The Therapy Yard, a psychosexual and relationships clinic in London, England.
On top of my clinic work, I’m also an author. My first book, All The F*cking Mistakes, was released by St. Martin’s Press in 2020 and it’s about embracing your sexy self and living your best life.
My work regularly appears in many publications including Cosmo, Glamour, Men’s Health, and Refinery29.
Part 2—Mental Health Crises Are Putting Everyone At Risk
This is the second part of a multi-part series on “The Future of Men’s Mental Health.” I have been concerned about men’s mental health since I was five years old and my mid-life father took an overdose of sleeping pills after he had become increasingly depressed when he couldn’t support his family doing what he loved. In Part 1 of this series, “Men and Mental Health, What Are We Missing?”, I detailed recent research showing the problems that have been neglected up until now.
In a previous series of articles, “Healer Heal Thyself: Why Health Care Professionals Are Becoming Stressed, Depressed, and Suicidal,” I describe the challenging realities facing health-care professionals as well as those who seek them out for health support and healing. In Part 1, I noted:
“Health care workers compared with non-healthcare workers have greater risks for mental health problems and long-term work absences due to mental disorders, and are at increased risk of suicide, compared with workers in other fields.”
“Our results extend earlier research from outside the United States that health care workers compared with non-healthcare workers have greater risks for mental health problems and long-term work absences due to mental disorders,” said Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, professor of Epidemiology at Columbia Public Health and professor of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. “The importance of increased suicide risk of health care support workers is underscored by their growth from nearly 4 million in 2008 to 6.6 million in 2021.”
Pamela Wible, M.D., is a family physician, author, and expert in physician suicide prevention. In her book, Physician Suicide Letters Answered, she says, “I’ve been a doctor for twenty years. I’ve not lost a single patient to suicide. I’ve lost only colleagues, friends, lovers–ALL male physicians–to suicide.”
Males are not the only ones who die by suicide, but we are much more likely to die. Dr. Wible details the reasons that so many doctors and other healthcare professionals die by suicide including the following:
- Doctoring is more than a job; it’s a calling, an identity.
- With so much need, we often put the needs of others ahead of our own.
- Most practitioners become burned out, overworked, or exhausted.
- Workaholics are admired in medicine and other healthcare professions.
- Caring for sick people can make us sick if we don’t take care of ourselves.
- Seeing too much pain and not enough joy is unhealthy.
- We don’t take very good care of themselves or each other.
- We don’t acknowledge the reality that we are at high risk of overwork, overwhelm, breakdown, and self-harm.
These issues are not only prevalent in males, but there are sex differences that we need to understand and address. According to Marianne J. Legato, MD, Founder of the Partnership for Gender Specific Medicine,
“Until now, we’ve acted as though men and women were essentially identical except for the differences in their reproductive function. In fact, information we’ve been gathering over the past ten years tells us that this is anything but true, and that everywhere we look, the two sexes are startingly and unexpectedly different not only in their normal function but in the ways they experience illness.”
In Part 2 of the series, I talk about the future of gender-specific healthcare and describe my interview with Dr. Legato, who told me,
“The premature death of men is the most important—and neglected—health issue of our time.”
I also described my interview with Richard V. Reeves, author of, Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It and founder of American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM). Reeves says,
“It became clear to me that the problems of boys and men are structural in nature, rather than individual; but are rarely treated as such. The problem with men is typically framed as a problem of men. It is men who must be fixed, one man or boy at a time. This individualist approach is wrong.”
In Part 3, I discuss the unique times we are living in today where rapid change of modern life have created a unique set of mental health problems that must be solved on a systemic as well as a personal level. The futurist, Alvin Toffler called the problem Future Shock and said,
“It will not be found in Index Medicus or in any listing of psychological abnormalities. Yet, unless intelligent steps are taken to combat it, millions of human beings will find themselves increasingly disoriented, progressively incompetent to deal rationally with their environments. The malaise, mass neurosis, irrationality, and free-floating violence already apparent in contemporary life are merely a foretaste of what may lie ahead unless we come to understand and treat this disease.”
Toffler notes that Future Shock results when societies are faced with too much change in too short a time. Not only are we being overwhelmed with the rate of change in our lives, but also the overwhelming complexity of our social systems that can lead to collapse of entire civilizations. Rebecca C. Costa describes the effects of complexity in her groundbreaking book, The Watchman’s Rattle: A Radical New Theory of Collapse. The result is a critical increase in fear and anxiety, which impacts everyone.
In his book, Anxious: Using The Brain to Understand and Treat Fear and Anxiety, Joseph LeDoux, one of the world’s leading mental health experts says,
“Collectively fear and anxiety disorders are the most prevalent of all psychiatric problems in the United States, affecting about twenty percent of the population with an associated economic cost estimated to exceed $40 billion annually.”
Dr. Wendy Suzuki is a professor of neural science and psychology at the Center for Neural Science at New York University, says,
“We live in an age of anxiety. Like an omnipresent, noxious odor we’ve grown used to, anxiety has become a constant condition, a fact of life on this planet. From global pandemics to crashing economies, to intense, daily family challenges, we have plenty of justifiable reasons to feel anxious.”
The effects of all these changes are causing social and political upheavals. On April 7, 2024, The Morning Show on CBS aired a segment on the new movie, “Civil War” which follows a team of journalists who travel across the United States during a rapidly escalating Second American Civil War, that has engulfed the entire nation. It offers an unflinching look at a nation divided and violent, not in the 1860s, but today. The movie is a warning about potential things to come and like all wars, males are the main combatants.
Bringing Healers and Health-Seekers Together in Community
It is becoming increasingly clear that the separation between “healers” and “those seeking help” is an artificial divide. We are all in need of help and support in addressing mental health issues and we are all able to learn to help ourselves and others. I believe it is time to bring healers and seekers together. In a recent article, “The Future of Mental Health: Bringing Together Health Seekers and Providers,” I noted the following:
“We are living in crazy times, where the whole world seems angry, anxious, stressed, and depressed and things are getting worse. In 2018 the American Psychological Association surveyed a thousand U.S. adults about their sources and levels of anxiety. The APA found that 39% of Americans reported being more anxious than they were in 2017, and an equal amount (39%) had the same level of anxiety as the previous year. That’s nearly 80% of the population experiencing anxiety.
What are people most concerned about? The APA survey reported that:
- 68% worried about health and safety.
- 67% reported finances as their source of anxiety.
- 56% were stressed about our political system and elections.
The APA also found that 63% of Americans felt that the future of the nation was a large source of stress. 59% checked the box that “the United States is at the lowest point they can remember in history.”
Men in the United States die by suicide, on average, at a rate four times higher than women. But the suicide rate for men is even higher in older age groups.
Clearly with statistics like these, we can no longer view “mental illness” as simply a problem of individuals. We are experiencing a problem of whole systems collapsing and we need to develop new systems to bring about repair. My colleague, Margaret J. Wheatley, author of the book, Who Do We Choose to Be? Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership says,
“Our task is to create Islands of Sanity, both internally and within our sphere of influence, where sanity prevails, where people can recall and practice the best human qualities of generosity, caring, creativity, and community.”
It seems both appropriate and timely that we create a health community focused on men’s mental health as an “island of sanity” that can offer support and services to heal men, as well as our families, communities, and the world.
We need a new approach for addressing men’s mental health issues. In the next parts of this series, I will address the important topic of depression and anxiety. I will examine the differences between the ways males express their dis-ease and wounds verses the way females do so. If you’d like to read more articles like these, please visit me at MenAlive.com and receive our free newsletter with new articles and tools you can use to improve your mental, emotional, and relational health.
Take a drive around certain neighborhoods in Los Angeles and you may spot as many signs advertising body scans as burger joints. Or maybe you’ve seen the ads on TV or the internet: “Protect your health! Get a body scan now!”
Are whole-body CT scans really able to do that – and what are the risks? And are DEXA scans a good way to check on your body composition?
While technologies vary, most of these high-tech checkups use computed tomography (CT) scans to examine your entire body or specific parts, such as the heart and lungs, to try to catch dangerous diseases in earlier, more curable stages.
During the 15- or 20-minute scan, you lie inside a doughnut-shaped machine as an imaging device rotates around you, transmitting radiation. The technique combines multiple X-ray images and, with the aid of a computer, produces cross-sectional views of your body. By examining the views, a doctor can look for early signs of abnormalities.
The scans aren’t cheap – whole-body scans run anywhere from $500 to $1,000 per scan and usually aren’t reimbursed by insurance. And the question of how helpful these scans really are is a matter of debate among medical experts.
Advocates promote scans as a smart part of a routine physical exam. But if you’re healthy, with no worrisome symptoms, a scan is usually not warranted, says Arl Van Moore, MD, a radiologist and clinical assistant professor of radiology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC, who is also a spokesman for the American College of Radiology (ACR).
According to the ACR’s official position, there’s not enough evidence to recommend scans for those with no symptoms or family history suggesting disease. But Van Moore sees a possible exception. “There may be a benefit to people at high risk of lung cancers, such as current smokers or those with a long history of smoking,” he says.
For healthy people, the scans may cause undue worry – for instance, by finding something that turns out to be benign. Plus, the amount of radiation exposure, especially with frequent scans, is another concern. If scans are done too often, the radiation exposure may actually increase the number of cancer cases over the long term, according to a 2004 report in the journal Radiology.
The American College of Preventive Medicine says that whole-body scans “aren’t very good at finding cancer in people without symptoms” and that the radiation you get from these scans can increase your risk of cancer.
Before scheduling a body scan, talk to your doctor about your overall health risks and how a scan may or may not help you. In particular, ask yourself:
- What’s your history? Do you have a personal or family history of lung disease, heart disease, or specific cancers?
- Did you inhale? Are you a longtime smoker?
- If so, how long? Even if you’ve quit smoking, for how many years were you an active smoker?
This is a different type of scan, called DEXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry). You might have heard of DEXA scans to check on bone density to see if you have osteoporosis or osteopenia. It uses low-level X-rays to check on your body composition, like how much body fat you have and where it is in your body.
There are various ways to measure your body fat. Experts have told WebMD in the past that DEXA scanning is a “very good technique” and “one of the most accurate methods out there.” And researchers have called it the “gold standard” for checking on body composition – specifically, for bone, fat, and muscle. But it’s not covered by insurance, unless you’re getting a DEXA scan to screen for bone density. The cost of a DEXA scan varies, starting around $75 in some cases.
Strong school-family-community partnerships bring exceptional value to children’s education. A recent book by Karen L. Mapp, a senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and four other co-collaborators synthesizes the available research to explain who benefits from these partnerships and the many advantages of family and community engagement.
Everyone Wins! The Evidence for Family-School Partnerships & Implications for Practice (Scholastic, 2022) cites various research to demonstrate how family-community-school partnerships benefit all stakeholder groups when they’re approached effectively:
- Students have higher grades, better attendance, deeper engagement in school, greater self-esteem, and higher rates of graduation and college attainment.
- Educators enjoy better job satisfaction, better success motivating students from different backgrounds, more family support, and an improved mindset about students and their families.
- Families have stronger relationships with their children and better rapport with educators. They can navigate school policies and advocate for their children more effectively.
- Schools enjoy a better climate, more support from their community, and improved staff morale—leading to better teacher retention.
- School districts and communities become better places to live and raise children. They experience fewer disciplinary problems, greater participation in afterschool programs, and more family and student involvement in decision-making.
What elements make school-family-community partnerships particularly effective? Here are five tips for how school systems can successfully promote family and community engagement in education and drive better student outcomes.
1. Successful Family Engagement Requires Intentional Leadership
Engaging with families has to be a core activity and not just an afterthought. It requires a total commitment by school and district leaders, and this commitment must include investing in the tools and training needed to help educators effectively engage with families from all backgrounds. It must be a real and intentional focus, and as Mapp says: “It’s real when I see it on your budget sheets.”
2. Teachers and Administrators Must Communicate Clearly and Consistently
To encourage family involvement in their children’s education, educators must interact with families frequently—and in many ways. For instance, teachers and administrators might engage with families in person during school drop-off and pick-up periods, set up a Family Information Board in the school’s lobby, write and distribute regular newsletters or blog posts, and/or send emails or text messages to parents.
Communicating effectively is one of the National PTA’s “National Standards for Family-School Partnerships,” which guides how schools and families should work together to support student success. Teachers and administrators should learn about and meet families’ preferred methods of communication, and families should be able to share and receive information in culturally and linguistically relevant ways.
3. Develop Healthy, Positive Relationships Based on Mutual Trust and Respect
Interactions between educators and families should be positive and reciprocal, with families feeling valued and supported. Educators can establish trust and encourage healthy, two-way communications with families by sharing information about their children’s positive behaviors and accomplishments and which skills may need work. Listen to all parents and provide opportunities for shared decision-making.
4. Be Mindful of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Welcoming all families and fostering a sense of belonging is another National PTA standard. When families engage with your school, do they feel respected, understood, and connected to the school community?
To ensure equity and inclusion, learn about the families you serve and their unique needs and challenges. Use culturally responsive engagement practices. Create opportunities for connection, especially with historically marginalized families and students. Learn about and seek to remove barriers for families to participate fully in their children’s education.
5. Help Families Support and Extend the Learning at Home
Students learn more effectively when they have opportunities at home to practice, reinforce, or extend the skills and lessons they’ve learned in school. Educators can facilitate this process by giving families specific ideas for expanding their children’s learning at home, such as by incorporating core math and literacy concepts into everyday routines.
Schools can also make instructional resources such as take-home packs, activity sets, and other materials available to families to support their children’s education.
How School Specialty® Can Help
School Specialty has more than six decades of experience in providing tools, resources, and strategies that promote successful education both in school and at home. We offer arts and crafts, early childhood, ELA, math, science, STEM/STEAM, physical education, special needs, and social emotional learning resources for families, as well as games, puzzles, and general supplies.
How do you promote family engagement in your classroom and community? Let us know in the comments!
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