If you are feeling unhappy with the way you use Internet pornography and are finding it difficult to gain control of your usage, here is the fifth of Porn Recovery UK’s tips to help.

Being in touch with your body and your feeling mechanisms is really important. As an addiction to pornography increases, some people become aware that they feel less sensitive in their body. ‘Feelings’ can become minimised and centred on genital satisfaction alone. For other people the process has happened so gradually that it is almost unnoticed until pointed out to them. As you are working on resensitising your mind to its own internal conversations about sex, why not also start to work on your body as well?

When working on the physical body, different people find very different things pleasurable. Thankfully, though, this part of the process is really quite easy to work out for yourself. Allowing yourself to feel things can be done many times a day and in many different ways – for example, allowing yourself to focus on the warmth in your hands from holding a cup of hot tea can feel great, as can having a warm bath or allowing the shower water to stimulate your chin or back often feel comforting. Then there might be the pleasure of allowing yourself to feel the sensation of stroking a pet, or hugging a friend or partner. If that feels difficult, then stroking some nice material would do. People also like the sensation of cool and cold things on their body, in their hands or mouth. You can experiment in so many ways with touch and feeling sensations. Slowly dropping a chain or necklace on your arm; feeling clean sheets; nice warm socks or cool flip flops after your feet have become hot in shoes all day … Go on, experiment and know what good you are doing yourself.

Click to read all our tips for porn recovery