How the summer season affects our bodies and our desires
By Puissante et Ysé
Puissante x Ysé
How the summer season affects our bodies and our desires
There’s something strange that happens when the temperature rises. Something we can’t quite explain, but which we recognise amongst ourselves as women. Summer does something to our bodies. To our desires. To the way we feel in our own skin.
It’s not just a question of sunshine or the temperature on the thermometer. It’s more subtle than that, and much deeper.
WHAT THE HEAT AWAKENS
Summer always arrives with its promises. Outdoor cafés open, clothes become lighter, and the light lingers a little longer. At the same time, something within us changes. A tension we didn’t realise we were carrying, a suit of armour we shed along with our jumpers.
The heat has this strange ability to bring us back into our bodies. Not in the way we imagine it, but rather in the raw sensation: skin that breathes, that sweats, bare feet, the breeze on our legs… Summer grounds us in the present in a way that winter doesn’t really allow.
It is this grounding, this return to the body, that reawakens dormant desires within us. A curiosity about ourselves that we hadn’t taken the time to nurture. Sometimes, a newfound sensitivity. Sometimes, a desire to be touched differently, or to touch ourselves in a different way!
THE PARADOX OF EXPOSURE
Yet summer is also a season of contradictions. It is the time of year when we reveal more of ourselves and when we perhaps judge ourselves the most. Bodies emerging from winter do not always look as we had imagined or hoped. A swimsuit or a light dress can be enough to bring all our vulnerability to the surface.
There is a silent imperative that lurks every summer: to be ready. To be desirable according to a very narrow, highly codified standard that bears little resemblance to the reality of bodies.
And whilst we grapple with these expectations (the exposure, the gaze of others, the way we see ourselves) we sometimes forget what really matters.
To listen more gently to what our bodies are feeling, to what they long for.
WHAT SCIENCE SAYS
It is no coincidence that desire fluctuates with the seasons. Light levels have a direct impact on our production of serotonin and melatonin: the hormones that regulate our mood and energy levels. As the light increases, not only does our ability to open up to others improve, but so does our need to (re)connect with ourselves.
As for heat, it causes dilation: of blood vessels and pores, but also of our perceptions. It also slows us down, and it is this permission we grant ourselves that creates a space to feel things that everyday life doesn’t always allow.
Several studies suggest that sexual desire tends to intensify in summer, particularly among many women: because the conditions are right for taking a step back and listening to ourselves more closely. Thanks to the holidays, when stress levels drop, it is finally possible to become more aware of our own desires.
TRULY BEING AT ONE WITH YOUR BODY
So what are we to make of all this?
Perhaps just start by being more mindful. Observe how summer affects your mood and your desires, stepping away from patterns of thought that demand immediate results.
Summer is a season that invites you to slow down, to feel your body without fighting against it, to listen to your desires and learn to embrace them more fully, to explore: alone or with a partner.
At Puissante, and at Ysé, we see intimacy as a form of freedom, an opportunity to reconnect with yourself. To learn to inhabit your body with ever-increasing kindness, and far less shame.
WHEN TWO WORLDS MEET
This summer, Ysé and Puissante have joined forces around a theme close to everyone’s hearts: our relationship with our bodies at a time when desire is awakening, and the permission we give ourselves to listen to our bodies.
To be free to be bold.
From this collaboration comes a limited-edition sex toy: the Mini Coco Ysé x Puissante. A vibrator designed by Puissante, styled by Ysé, and perfect for slipping into your summer suitcase.
Because a sex toy, like a pretty piece of lace, is an object that accompanies us, allowing us to reclaim our desire at our own pace.
Discover the limited-edition Mini Coco Ysé x Puissante: available online on the Puissante and Ysé websites, right here.
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