Are you ready for sex?

Whatever your sexuality we all experience anxieties about sex and deciding whether you are ready to have sex is a huge decision that only you can make.

Sex can be a risky business so there’s no rush – wait until it feels right for you so that you can enjoy it.  Remember everyone is ready at different times don’t feel pressured by what your friends might be telling you.  Even if you’ve had a sexual relationship with previous partners, don’t feel that you have to every time you start a new relationship. 

You might decide that want to stay single for a while and not have sex. This can give you time and space to explore your own thoughts, feelings and desires.  Alternatively you might be in a new relationship and decide you don’t want to have sex for a while. This can give you time to get to know each other and could mean better sex with fewer regrets when you decide to try.

Even if you’ve been together for a while choosing not to have sex can give both partners the time and space to develop the relationship and themselves in other ways.

If you think you are ready to have sex talk to your partner – discuss safe sex, picking the right time and what you both want the experience to be like. If you haven’t had sex before no one is going to expect you to know what to do. But if you feel comfortable with your partner and trust them you can talk openly and honestly about these things. Even if you say yes to start with and then change your mind part way through – that’s OK – no one has the right to make you do something you are not happy doing.