Angles

If you can't reach it, the answer is a different position. It is never more force.

Your hips change the angle of everything inside them. Move them, and a spot that was awkward becomes obvious.

On your back, knees up

The default, and the one to start with.

Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat and wide. Pull your knees toward your chest to tilt your pelvis and shorten the distance.

Good for: control, seeing what you're doing, staying relaxed. Awkward for: reaching, if you're tall or not very flexible.

On your side, knees drawn up

Lie on one side and curl your knees up toward your chest.

This is the position most guys settle into for long sessions, because you can hold it for an hour without any part of you getting tired. Reaching around from behind is easier than reaching down from the front.

Good for: long sessions, relaxation, not needing to hold anything up. Awkward for: seeing what you're doing, which stops mattering quickly.

On all fours

Knees and elbows, back slightly arched.

Gravity opens things up and the angle to the front wall gets shallower, which some guys find makes the spot much easier to reach.

Good for: access and angle. Awkward for: staying relaxed. It's an active position and your arms get tired, which works against everything Level 2 taught you.

Squatting or sitting

Squatting on your heels, or sitting on the edge of a chair leaning back.

Shortest distance of all. Also the hardest to relax in and the hardest to hold. Most useful as a quick way to locate things rather than somewhere to spend twenty minutes.

What changes when you move

You're changing three things:

• Distance. Curling up brings everything closer.
• Angle. Tilting your pelvis changes where "forward" points.
• Muscle tension. Positions that need effort keep your pelvic floor switched on, which is the opposite of what you want.

That last one is why the comfortable positions usually beat the clever ones. Access is worth nothing if you're tense.

The rule that ties it together

The adjustment nobody tells you about

Picking a position is the coarse control. There's a fine control on top of it, and it's the one that turns out to matter.

So once you're settled: wiggle. Rock your hips a couple of centimetres. Roll a little further onto one side. Tilt the pelvis and come back. Small, slow, and give each one a few seconds before you judge it.

You're not searching for the spot any more — you already know roughly where it is. You're hunting for the angle at which what's inside you happens to be resting against it. That's a matter of millimetres, and it's different on a different day.

Try them in one session

Don't pick a favourite from reading. Spend one session cycling through, two or three minutes each, and pay attention to which one lets you forget you're holding a position at all.

That's your position. It's usually not the one that gives the best access.