JAIYA - Red Hot Touch: A head-to-toe handbook for mind-blowing orgasms

The human hand is so beautifully formed, its actions are so powerful, so free and yet so delicate that there is no thought of its complexity as an instrument; we use it as we draw our breath, unconsciously.

SIR CHARLES BELL, The Hand, Its Mechanism and

Vital Endowments, As Evincing Design (1840)

I f you were asked which part of your body was your most powerful asset in bed, how would you answerafter you stopped blushing, of course? Maybe youd admit that your tongue knows some pretty tantalizing tricks, or deem your derrire as your most attention-getting gift. Who knows, maybe your beautifully groomed, extraordinarily endowed privates never fail to impress. Whatever your response, well bet we know of one area of your anatomy that wouldnt immediately cross your mind: your hands. Sure, hands may be essential for undoing buttons, unzipping zippers, and occasionally squeezing the goods, but beyond that, what do your hands truly have to offer?

Well, allow us to fill you in.

Hands are the most nimble instruments on the human body. They can do all sorts of amazing things, from playing a soul-stirring piano concerto to performing open-heart surgery. Without hands, the Sistine Chapel would have never been painted. The statue of David? Just a ho-hum hunk of marble. And you could forget about cheering on Roger Clemens as he strikes out another batter with his incredible fastball. Given all the things our hands have accomplished and still do to this day, they should be pulling off some equally dazzling feats of dexterity in bed as well as out.

And yet, for some reason, once we lay our hands on each other, its as if we devolve millions of years, resorting to moves that are almost Cro-Magnon in their simplicity. We grab, we grope, we paw our way around. If were lucky enough to get ahold of someones privates, we oafishly pump up and down like were on a pogo stick, or (if its a woman) wiggle our finger a little. Thats hardly what wed call sophisticated, and its a crying shame, since in terms of potential, hands can do much, much more. Limiting ourselves in this way is like seeing Albert Einstein work as an accountant, or Pavarotti deejay karaoke parties. Contrary to popular opinion, your hands canand shouldprovide amazing, earth-moving, angels-singing experiences that is, if anyone knew what to do with them.

Thats where we come in.

As certified sexological bodyworkers, weve been trained to teach people how to rub each other the right way from head to toe and everywhere in between. Genital massage encompasses a large part of our curriculum, and our students are always surprised (and happy!) to find out that there are more than fifty ways to stroke, squeeze, and please someone south of the border. Throw in the techniques we teach students on how to stimulate other areas of the anatomy from the earlobes to the toes, and all told, our students come away with more than 150 new manual moves, from Little Earthquake (which creates great below-the-belt buzz) to the Twist n Shout (so named because it will have him hollering for more).

If you had no idea that your hands could make the human body hit a high note in so many ways, thats only because youre not used to seeing your hands as the virtuosos they truly are. To help open your eyes to all the pleasurable possibilities that are within your grasp, here are a few things to keep in mind.

And you thought it was all in the fingertips? Your palms, knuckles, nails, and even the webbing between your fingers all possess their own unique talents and texture. That means on any given night, youve got a full-on buffet of sensory selections to pick from. You could start with some stress-melting rippling on the shoulders, graze your nails down the back or chest, undulate your palm in the wave on the lower abdomen, throw in a playful slap or pinch on the posterior need we go on? Our point is, use your hands well, and sex will never feel the same way twice.

While we think its a no-brainer that better manual skills will come in handy during foreplay, what many people dont realize is that these techniqueseven genital massagecan be done during intercourse, too. All it takes is a little reaching and/or clever positioning to be joined at the hip and have your mitts down there simultaneously. And the effects can be incredibly climacticespecially for women, two-thirds of whom dont regularly reach orgasm through intercourse. The reason? A lack of stimulation to their main hot spot, the clitoris. Were not saying Big Os are the be-all and end-all of sexual ecstasy, but for those women who would like to reach peaks more often, lending a helping hand during intercourse can help improve the odds immensely.

Oral sex can deliver some pretty sublime sensations, but as anyone who has ever licked his way to lockjaw knows, tongue muscles can tire. Meanwhile, fellatio fans face the problem that the average penis is five to six inches long, while the mouth is only two to three inches deep, past which the gag reflex usually kicks in. But just because were saddled with these physiological shortcomings doesnt mean you just have to suck it up and suffer. Where the mouth and tongue fall short, your hands can easily pick up the slack. By mixing in a few manual moves between licks, you can allow your tongue to take breaks, or you can use your hands to cover more territory than your tongue could ever hope to reach on its own. During oral sex on a man, you can use your hand in conjunction with your mouth to create the illusion that youre taking him all in without it becoming a pain in the neck (literally). In fact, your hands are so adept at mimicking the sensations your mouth delivers that chances are, those on the receiving end wont even be able to tell where your mouth ends and your hands begin. And frankly, they wont care.

We have all had those days where we feel so overworked and exhausted that by the time we trudge to bed, it would take a crane to lift us into position for lovemaking. Maybe thats why one study by the National Opinion Research Center found that on average, one-third of Americans get it on only a few times a year, or not at all. But if, in theory, you would like to connect with the person lying catatonic next to you but just cant scrounge up the energy, consider hand jobs your low-impact, high-payoff alternative. No one has to climb on top and work up a sweat, or crouch below and head bob or tongue wiggle away. No, the only thing youll need to move is your hands. Even just one of them is fine. With such an easy yet satisfying option at your disposal, those nights when you would usually roll over and say, Not tonight, honey, might start looking up.

If sex is such a natural phenomenon, how come there are so many books on how to?BETTE MIDLER

Your hands are pretty nifty, but they dont run on autopilot. They need some guidance from that air traffic control center aboveaka your brain. After all, your hands dont just