Youve got a lot of free time on your hands while social distancing . Your partner has a lot of free time on their hands, too especially if the two of you dont have kids. If youre cooped up together, why not use that extra time to get busy?

Thats the pitch psychologist and sex therapist Janet Brito is making to her clients, especially those who are stressed from reading COVID-19 update after COVID-19 update.

I have been encouraging my clients who live with their partners to limit their media intake and consider engaging in solo or partnered mindful sex activities, said Brito, who lives and works in Honolulu.

Mindful sex the kind where youre focused on experiencing pleasure and less concerned about performance or meeting an end goal (orgasming , for instance) is the perfect pandemic activity for many reasons, she said.

At its core, mindful sex is about unwinding and being in the moment with your partner, she said. With some soothing music, mindful sex during COVID could be a great solution to managing pandemic stress.

The connection between sex and feeling good psychologically and physically goes deeper than that, though. Brito and other sex-perts explain how sex can boost your mood and potentially help your immune system during lockdown.

Good sex naturally puts you in a good mood.

Ah, that afterglow. Youre generally in a better mood after sex (or solo play!) thanks to a flood of endorphins and other feel-good hormones released post-climax.

Heres how that works: Getting it on reduces levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, according to research published in The Journal of Health and Social Behavior . All the while, it stimulates the production of endorphins, which are neurochemicals that naturally trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to a morphine high .

Oxytocin, sometimes called the love hormone, is also released during sex and other intimate gestures, such as hugging or holding hands. Scientists say it strengthens social bonds in mammals.

Sex once or twice a week may fend off illness.

According to a study put out by Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, there may be a link between having sex a few times a week and a strong immune system.

The researchers found students who had sex once or twice a week had higher levels of Immunoglobulin A (IgA) , which are illness-fighting antibodies found in the mucous membranes of the lungs, sinuses, the stomach and intestines. (Theyre also found in the fluids these membranes produce: saliva, tears and blood.)

People who had sex once or twice a week had the highest levels of IgA, which helped them stave off colds. The group had 30% more IgA than the two groups who had less frequent sex and the group that had sex more than twice a week. (Apparently, doing it all the time has its drawbacks.)

Immunoglobulin basically fights against viruses and boosts your immunity, said Shannon Chavez , a psychologist and sex therapist in Los Angeles. Plus, regular sexual activity is good for your heart rate, blood pressure and circulation. These processes keep your body healthy and release toxins and pent up tension in the body.