This year has been rough on all of us and the holiday season already looks a lot different from what we might be used to. There will be no cookie swaps, no latke parties, no communal bowls of eggnog, and no gathering around a piano belting out seasonal songs. It would be understandable for anyone to want to crawl under the covers and bah-humbug it until 2020 is just over already. But maybe instead, we should spread holiday cheer and help this year go out with a bang (pun entirely intended) by giving the gift of good orgasms to our nearest and dearest.

As the pandemic drags on and we face a scary winter ahead of us, it’s easy to feel that the sexual part of us has left the building. But sex, whether it’s with a partner or with yourself, can reduce stress and anxiety and boost your confidence—all things that would make weathering the rest of this pandemic easier.

In case you didn’t hear the news, there’s a new type of hormonal birth control available. You’re probably aware of the ring—a flexible ring that you insert into your vagina that releases hormones. You leave it in for three weeks (21 days), then take it out and leave it out for a week (7 days). That’s usually when you get a period-like withdrawal bleed.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are reluctant to get in-person health care, for fear of being exposed to the virus or unknowingly spreading it to others. As a result, an increasing number of health care providers are offering telehealth options or are offering more services via their existing telehealth setups than they were before.