The ancient Taoists believed that a man’s “life essence” is tied to his semen, and that when he ejaculates—or “spills his seed”—he loses his masculine strength.

They believed a man’s level of strength and motivation was directly related to how much semen he saved up. And they aren’t the only ones who felt this way about ejaculating. The French described sexual orgasm as “La petite mort,” or the little death.

Napoleon Hill taught the idea of “Sex Transmutation” in his famous book “Think and Grow Rich.” He believed that some of the richest men in history saved up their sex energy and transformed it into drive for monetary gain.

Many famous boxers and football coaches also promote refraining from sex in order to save up their “man juice” before a big match or game.

While calling ejaculation “a little death” is a bit extreme, there could possibly be some truth to the relationship between saving up sperm and gaining strength. One study has shown that men who refrain from ejaculating for a few days experience an increase in testosterone levels.

Regardless of studies and ancient wisdom, I believe refraining from orgasm for too long can not only lead to us feeling excessively stressed and unbalanced, but can rob us of one of the greatest pleasures and joys possible in this life.

After an ejaculation, and for up to a day or two later (depending on the length of our refractory period), we may lack motivation. While the drive to be productive is still there, it’s not that “burning desire” that is present with a day or more of refraining. We may have less physical stamina, less mental fortitude and a feeling of laziness or even sleepiness.

Each ejaculation contains somewhere between 200 and 500 million sperm—millions of teeny potential lives, being ejected from our body—so it’s understandable why this process drains so much from us. At the same time, though, we experience the positive benefits of feeling more at peace and less overly-competitive. So it’s all about balance.

This is where my irrational, yet unshakable, feeling that ejaculating somehow affects the world around me comes into play.

While not a die-hard believer in the Law of Attraction, I do believe there is something out there; a higher power that brings us blessings at times and keeps us in a sort of waiting period at other times.

I feel when we are at our best—healthy, positive, happy, well-rested—the best things happen to us, and when we are angry, down or in another agitated state, favorable events happen less often. I believe it’s more than just, “Oh, we’re in a bad mood, so we only see the bad,” and vice versa. I believe our mind and thoughts dictate the world around us, to a certain degree at least.

For instance, I work in an area where sales come into play at times. Some days are good, some days are average and some days are just downright bad. I can’t help but feel a somewhat strange effect that ejaculation has on my luck, or “power to attract,” high sales or positive events that can lead to a future sale.

More often than not, the day following an ejaculation, is somewhat stagnant, while my days seem to be much more forward moving when I’ve saved up. I get that this can be a difficult thing to prove one way or another, but the effect feels real to me, nonetheless.

And to be fair, I believe this same outcome can occur when we are sick or haven’t slept well. There are also certain factors that can positively effect our level of attraction for positive events, including meditation, socializing, getting a full night’s sleep and exercising.

So the question is, how often should we ejaculate to keep the proper balance?

I’ve found that ejaculating two to three times a week works best. Some men have shorter refractory periods and if that’s the case, you can increase the number. Ejaculation is essential for our minds, well-being, stress reduction, sleep and it’s even a great preventative measure against prostate cancer. Not to mention, it feels damn good!

I do recommend refraining from ejaculation for at least a day before any event that requires mental or physical strength. You’ll see a drastic difference in drive, motivation and performance.

But if you’re single and dating, your wife is craving it or you have a night to get lucky, please…throw these crazy rules out the window!

Author: David Carreta

Editor: Nicole Cameron

Image: James Garcia/Unsplash