Gina Ogden’s innovative ISIS survey establishes her as a leading authority on sexuality and spirituality. After years of hearing the deeply complex concerns raised by clients, she dared to pose questions that have never been asked before in a national survey. Instead of the usual “how much” and “how many,” she ventured beyond performance aspects of sex to investigate emotional feelings and spiritual meanings of women and men from all over the country.

3,810 respondents, ages 18-86, and from 22 religious faiths, revealed extraordinary information about love, intimacy and commitment, nurturing, empathy, and communication, safety and abuse, ecstasy, spirituality, religion, culture—and much more.

The ISIS study took ten years for Gina Ogden to complete—a journey that earned her visiting scholarships and many speaking engagements. The story of the methodology is in her peerreviewed paper published by the Wellesley Centers for Research on Women.

The ISIS story is not finished, however. It continues in her books, The Heart and Soul of Sex and The Return of Desire, and in the ISIS workshops she conducts from coast to coast.

Results of the ISIS study challenge sexual norms that no longer serve us in the 21st century. They offer scientific evidence to affirm what many women have been experiencing, or longing for: intense emotional contact and a sense that erotic satisfaction includes much more than intercourse or even orgasm—it may also include compassion, altruism, vision, and even mystical grace.

Sexual response is multidimensional, including body, mind, heart, and spirit. —Suggests that sexual experience goes beyond physical performance to include how we think and feel, and what sex means in our lives—a finding that concurs with the latest brain research.

Desire and satisfaction reside in a sense of “right relationship.” —Suggests that the basis of true eroticism is “right relationship”—with ourselves, our partners, and with a higher power, and about taking responsibility for our own sexual happiness—a finding that is consistent with the most empowering psychological and religious thinking.

Sexual satisfaction increases with age. —Suggests that sex does not have to go downhill after menopause, it can reach new heights. Respondents over 50 report more eye contact, laughter, sharing, and less angst about religious and societal issues—a finding that challenges medical and pharmaceutical biases.

Integrating sexuality and spirituality can heal wounds and open “doors to the universe.” —Suggests that broadening our sexual horizons can help us transcend guilt, shame, and “good-girls-don’t” messages, encourage sexual safety, and promote sacred union— a finding that corresponds with the law of attraction about enhancing health, healing, and drawing positive energy into our lives.

Click here to download the ISIS Survey.