Former Neuroscience Nerd Turned Porn Star Reveals How Hypnosis Helped Her Explore Self-Pleasure

Adult film performer Leana Lovings says hypnosis helped her overcome religious guilt about masturbation and explore her sexuality. She also described a sensory condition that she says allows her to climax through light, non-genital touch.

Lovings, who studied biology and psychology at university before entering the adult entertainment industry, shared her account on Holly Randall Unfiltered, in an episode released on 21 October 2026.

She described using written hypnosis scripts and camming to become more comfortable with her body, saying she waited to enter mainstream adult film production until she felt confident asserting her boundaries.

Religious Upbringing and Early Fears

Lovings, who was raised in a conservative Christian household on a five-acre (two-hectare) farm in the rural south-eastern United States, said her sheltered upbringing left her afraid of masturbation and orgasm well into adulthood.

During the interview, she recounted feeling intense guilt whenever she attempted private self-pleasure, noting a porcelain cross hanging on the wall beside her bed.

'I was scared of masturbating. ... I hadn't orgasmed privately in my entire life,' Lovings told host Holly Randall, discussing the period before camming. 'I would look up at it and I would think, "Oh no, God's going to feel really bad if I do this." So I didn't. I would just feel so bad about it.'

Before pursuing adult entertainment, Lovings attended university as a double major in biology and psychology, spending college nights researching horseshoe crabs on an uninhabited island.

Hypnosis as a Gateway to Sexual Discovery

To work through her hesitation and religious shame, Lovings turned to erotic hypnosis scripts and live webcamming on Chaturbate in 2017, where she eventually accumulated more than 200,000 followers.

Lovings discussed her second sexual experience, which was also her first filmed scene.

She described hypnosis not as a loss of agency, but as a structured mental exercise that helped unlock her body and mind when she felt reluctant. 'Hypnosis is real. What it is really is just guided meditation with extra steps,' Lovings said during the interview.

She added that participants retain personal responsibility throughout the process: 'There is complete and total control, except with the underlying note that you are always in control and your mind is your responsibility, and there is always a level where you can say no to things.'

Lovings also described having a sensory processing disorder that, she said, makes her unusually sensitive to light physical touch.

Transition Into Adult Entertainment

Lovings said she viewed camming and pornography as part of her personal healing process, helping her become more comfortable with her sexuality. 'I used camming and porn as a form of therapy, as a form of healing for me,' she said, explaining that she waited to enter mainstream adult film production until she felt confident asserting her boundaries.

'I only joined the industry when I felt ready that I could say no,' she added. Her first studio scene, filmed in Arizona with performer Isiah Maxwell, took place after she had explored non-penetrative BDSM rope bondage through the social network FetLife.

The podcast introduced Lovings as an adult performer whose videos have accumulated more than two billion views, although the figure was not independently verified.