A relationship’s beginning stages involve getting to know one another. Working out the kinks and falling in love with each other’s quirks is a fun and exciting time. As you embark on the rest of your lives together, that quality time can fall by the wayside as you get comfortable and deal with all the challenges life has to offer.
Don’t let life get in the way of your bond! Make time for each other and find ways to connect and strengthen your relationship. Here are some ways you can improve your bond with your spouse.
1. Cook Together
Cooking can bring you closer together, whether you prepare daily meals or take a class to learn new things. Go on a picnic with your finished product, or get up early for breakfast to sneak in some alone time without the kids. Cooking together can enhance your relationship with your spouse by providing opportunities to problem-solve, connect and compromise. It can boost your communication skills and help you work together.
2. Plan a Getaway
Go on a road trip to rekindle the spark or keep it alive. Reconnect in the car — chat or jam out to some of your favorite hits you may not have heard in a while. Play your wedding song and see how much intensity it can bring to the surface.
Songs can elicit strong emotions and evoke memories that reignite the flame between you and your partner. Schedule a quick getaway for the weekend or plan an extended vacation for some much-needed rest and relaxation with your loved one.
3. Act as a Team
Your partner is your teammate in this roller coaster we call life. Sharing responsibilities can provide balance and stability amid the chaos and strengthen your bond as a couple. Share the chores, the kids’ schedules, cooking and other obligations. When one of you is struggling, the other picks up the slack and vice versa. Sharing responsibilities means there is less chance of someone feeling overwhelmed or like their partner is slacking.
4. Open Lines of Communication
Open lines of communication are essential in a marriage so you stay on the same page. Sometimes all your conversations are about your children, and personal struggles can be put on the back burner and forgotten.
This can lead to unconscious resentment or feelings of loneliness or neglect that come with consequences. Your kids are important, but so are you and your emotions. Take the time to assess your partner’s feelings and keep everything on the table as much as possible so nothing slips through the cracks.
5. Set Goals Together
A unique way to bond with your partner is to set goals together. Whether they are individual or personal, sitting down together to devise a blueprint on how you plan to achieve them can be fulfilling and rewarding for your relationship. What do you want for your future, individually or as a couple?
You can merge your ideas and form new goals that fit your journey as a couple. Wanting different things can lead to clashes and strife in your relationship. Don’t hold back — discuss what you both want and learn to compromise so you are happy with the result and can work toward your ambitions together.
6. Use Subtle Gestures
The small things can keep your spark alive, like holding each other’s hands, hugging for six seconds and gazing into each other’s eyes. Be the calmness your spouse needs by supporting them in ways no one else can.
Learn your partner’s love language and honor it. Your love language might be acts of service, so you appreciate it when your spouse helps clean the house or brings you coffee. They might value physical touch more than anything, so reciprocate with how they respond to love, not how you want to receive it.
7. Get Physical
Getting physical with your partner can increase your bond and help you connect on another level. Touch can foster many emotional benefits. Even hugging and hand-holding can lower stress hormones and convey appreciation and closeness to your partner. Intimacy helps you feel acceptance, understanding and care that can impact your overall health and relationship.
8. Synchronize Your Bedtimes
If your schedules allow it, try to go to bed at the same time as your spouse. This can increase your connection with your partner, even if you read while your partner watches Netflix. Unwinding together can be a commitment, but it’s worth making. You can touch while you relax separately but together or talk or get intimate with one another. The options are endless.
Bonding with your significant other doesn’t have to be time-consuming or forced. Finding natural ways to reconnect and keep your relationship strong can set you up for success and enhance your happily ever afters.
Tell us how you strengthen your bond with your spouse in the comments!
About Cora Gold
Cora Gold has a passion for living a happy, healthy life and sharing inspiration with other women and moms to do the same. Cora is the Editor-in-Chief of women’s lifestyle magazine, Revivalist, and she can be found on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.
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