Joyful Love

Difficult conversations are part of marriage. And it can be uncomfortable to start one. Your nervous system goes on overload. You feel tense, stressed, and like you want to RUN! This is why we often avoid hard talks and simply hold in our feelings and let them fester. But If you hold in your frustration or confusion, it'll come out eventually … often with passive-aggressive anger. Let's change that! In this episode, you'll learn how to get comfortable with uncomfortable conversations. You'll reach solutions to your marriage problems more quickly - while you stay connected! Tune in and learn:

• How to be aware of your emotions in the moment and remain present with your partner.

• Why you don't have to be right!

• How To listen to your partner's perspective so YOU can be heard too.

• 4 Steps to help difficult conversations flow and reach better solutions

Listen now and have better conversations tonight! For more information go to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

Communication with two different people who live all of life together can get tricky at times. Our decisions affect each other. And the way we talk to each other matters. Often we're married to someone who is opposite from us in communication styles. One can be an internal processor, where they need time and space on their own to think about decisions. And the other can be more external. The external processor needs to verbally express their thoughts and opinions. If we don't understand these different needs, it's easy to take offense at your partners communication style. How do you not feel ignored when your partner is quiet? How do you not feel bombarded when your partner expresses all of their stress out loud? If you've ever been confused by how you or your partner respond and communicate, tune in to this episode. You'll learn the difference between the two communication styles and how to use them for the good of your relationship instead of against it. You'll learn to hold space for each other's hearts and to trust that you and your partner are on the same team. You're kicking the ball to the same goal ... even if you have a different route of getting there! If you'd like more information or to get on my newsletter, go to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

If you're married to a difficult partner, you don't have to live a life of frustration and confusion. There's a better way to approach your relationship that doesn't include suffering and discontentment. You may need to adjust your expectations or you may need to set some powerful boundaries. In today's episode you'll learn: * To own your decision to stay married or complete the relationship * To step into your power and love from your strengths. * To see and value your partner's perspective * To focus on what you can control * To be present with the good in your partner and your relationship * How to set a boundary if needed. And you'll learn 5 Questions to ask yourself to get you unstuck! Only YOU can decide if you want to stay in your marriage or not .... but if you choose to stay married to someone who is extra challenging ... get the help you need ... starting with this episode. For Full Show notes, go to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/category/podcast/

In this episode, we delve into the essence of building a beautiful friendship with your partner. The best marriages are friends first. Even if you started off hot-n-heavy and forgot to build a deep friendship, it's never too late! With intention and an open heart, you can foster a connected friendship to be the foundation of a strong, healthy marriage. In this episode, you'll learn five skills that every good friendship needs and how to incorporate them into your relationship. It's time to cultivate a bond with your partner that goes beyond romance and truly embodies deep friendship. BFFs For Life! Let's do this! For More info and a free class on better connection, go to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

It's time to get a new bestie. Yourself! Just as we cultivate and cherish friendships with others, nurturing a positive relationship with oneself is equally important. We women need to do a better job of: 👉 Accepting ourselves, 👉 Having compassion on ourselves when we mess up 👉 And Having our own back in this one, beautiful life. When you treat yourself with the same kindness and support as you would a dear friend, you'll navigate life's challenges with a deep trust that you've got what it takes - whatever life brings. If you need encouragement to TREAT YOURSELF BETTER today, don't miss this episode!

For full show notes and more information click here: https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

It's a beautiful thing to want to make your marriage better. It's good to say, "There's a better way to relate with each other than what we've been doing." But trying to be perfect can hold you back from growth. Because perfectionism compares. It's discouraging. It shames and blames. So how do we continue growing, while accepting that we are not perfect - and neither are our partners? How do we challenge ourselves to continue growing in love and also see the beauty in our imperfect selves? Tune in today as we discuss how to drop perfectionism and embrace growing into our ideal marriages (and selves!). For full show notes and more information, go to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/category/podcast/

All humans want the same thing - to be HEARD and SEEN. And when a marriage begins to feel disconnected, you don't have to look too deep to realize that one or both partners are not feeling heard and seen. Our relationships often begin this way - where we know that our partner is truly seeing our deepest beauty. They're supportive of our heart's desires. And it's a shared experience. Your spouse feels like you see and appreciate their good too. Damn, those early days feel good, don't they? Listening and responding to each other's hearts is why we fell in love in the first place. But after a few years of marriage, kids, careers, home repairs, aging parents, bills, and retirement plans … and so much more … It's SO hard to slow down to hear and see our partners. I was talking to Cris about this the other day. Since he's an actor, I was curious … How - as an actor - does he tune everything out on stage and in front of cameras - to LISTEN and RESPOND to the other characters? So asked him what his process was - to genuinely listen. And we recorded the conversation! Here's what you'll learn in this episode:

• A simple process to listen to others when they're talking

• How to look deeper than the words they're saying.

• Why saying the "right thing" back should not be your focus.

• How to listen to your partner's heart and encourage their passions

• How listening is a practice that we'll be improving for a lifetime, but it's so worth it!

Today's conversation takes place on our back porch, along with the birds and crickets! Join us! And then take the challenge to listen and respond to your partner this week!

For more information, visit: https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/category/podcast/

Are date nights a regular occurrence for you and your partner? If not, it's time to prioritize it. But what would you even do - dinner and a movie? I LOVE dinner and a movie. But I also like to spice it up sometimes and think outside the box. In today's episode, I share with you several ideas to take your dates to the next level and welcome in more joy and fun as a couple. I also share what it was like to stop drinking alcohol and to relearn how to relax and connect without wine. Listen to today's episode to hear how to bring fun to your dates - whether you're alcohol-free or not!

In this Episode, you'll hear:

• My 2-year journey of giving up alcohol and how it affected date nights

• The 27-year-old Date Night Book that got Cris and I through our first year of dating and beyond.

• The importance of having regular dates with your partner.

For more Information on my work, come visit me at rachaelcunningham.com

Holy Moly! We need some fun in our lives! Sometimes life can get so busy and hectic that we forget to feed our soul's desire for freedom and fun. And that's when life becomes boring and stagnant - even though you feel like you're moving at lightning speed all day. When life stays the same and you feel bored, your brain tries to fix the problem by convincing you that false pleasures that are negative for you are actually fun … like overeating, over-drinking and over-spending. And for like 2 seconds, you do feel pleasure. But since it doesn't last - and since these things don't add to your life in a positive way, once again, you're left feeling like life is such a drag. If this sounds like you, you need some fun. Listen to today's episode to hear the case for slowing down, enjoying what you've got, and welcoming new adventures in your life. Your soul is craving some fun! Listen to it. In this Episode, you'll learn:

• How Being present opens the doors for more enjoyment out of life.

• Why our soul craves Fun and how to listen to it.

• How To metaphorically shake up the snow globe

• Why it's not helpful to blame your partner for your boring life

• How cultivating an attitude of gratitude for life as it is can spark creativity and pleasure

For more information, visit: https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/podcast/ep_89/

In this episode, I'll show you how to have a family vacation that is full of fun, connection, and peace as you create incredible memories with your family. And it starts with accepting that it doesn't have to be perfect! You'll learn why vacations are important and how to cultivate precisely what you need out of it. Can we be honest here? Vacations can be exhausting. Going on adventures and trying to relax with family doesn't always meet our expectations. Sometimes we can even feel more disconnected and wiped out after our time to 'relax'. So I'm going to share some strategies that I had to use last month while on Vacation with my family. I went from feeling the internal chaos bubbling up to taking back control over creating the vacation we needed. Today you'll learn:

• How embracing the 50/50 of life (on vacations) will help you have more peace
• The Three things you want to cultivate on a vacation
• How to communicate about your vacation wants and needs ahead of time
• How to recover after a vacation fight
• How to understand the dynamics between your partner and your inlaws.
• How to prioritize relaxation when you have teens ... or young kids.

What I'm sharing today works! Tune in to hear how I implemented it on our trip to Hawaii last month! For more information, visit https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/