I'm joined by two therapists from my practice, Zac Fine and Marijke Roberts, for the second episode of our monthly series exploring how to restore sacred connection in long-term relationships.👉 Book online sessions with Zac or Marijke: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/

When intimacy becomes mechanical or disappears entirely, couples lose more than just sex, they lose sacred space together. We discuss how to move beyond "getting the deed done" and rediscover intimacy as a profound, connected experience that honours both partners.

👉 Book a session with Zac: https://laurahow.com/therapists-zac-fine/

👉 Book a session with Marijke: https://laurahow.com/therapists-marijke-roberts/

In this episode, we discuss:

✔️ Why sacred intimacy matters more than mechanical sex

✔️ Creating liminal space—ritual moments outside everyday life

✔️ Moving from "I want sex" to "I want connection with you"

✔️ Simple practices: eye contact, attuned breathing, mindful touch

✔️ The "Kings and Queens" exercise for asking and receiving

✔️ How porn culture has replaced sacred sexuality with performance

✔️ Responsive desire and why women often need different pathways to arousal

✔️ Attachment wounds that block intimacy and how to heal them

✔️ Turning conflict into curiosity when one partner withdraws

✔️ Why recovery is slow, human-paced work, not a quick fix

We'll be recording this podcast monthly, and we'd love to hear from you.

👉 Leave your questions in the comments for the next episode.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🔔 Subscribe for monthly conversations about:

Sacred intimacy, sexless marriages, creating connection, responsive desire, attachment healing, and rediscovering meaningful sex in long-term relationships.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🧠 Need support? Work with me or one of the therapists on my team:

https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

💎 More ways to connect and grow:

💠 Therapists — Work with me: https://laurahow.com/work-for-me/

💠 Join my newsletter: https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/

💠 Support my work: https://laurahow.com/support/

📲 Follow me:

Instagram → / laurahow

Facebook → / laurahowcounsellor

Twitter (X) → / laurahow

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

⌚️ Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction: Welcome to Love and Cherish Podcast

0:23 - Why Men Want Enthusiastic Partners: The Deep Need to Feel Wanted

1:57 - Creating Sacred Spaces for Intimacy: Moving Beyond Mechanical Sex

6:22 - Practical Connection Exercises: Eye Contact, Breathing, and Touch

10:48 - Learning to Listen to Your Body Instead of External Advice

13:56 - Kings and Queens Exercise: Taking Turns Asking for What You Want

16:32 - Getting Curious About Resistance: Why Intimacy Feels Hard

19:29 - Personal Story: Understanding Shame and Childhood Wounds in Relationships

24:26 - Attachment Theory and Healing: Moving Toward Secure Relationships

26:05 - Closing Thoughts: Embracing the Slow Process of Growth

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

📌 Hashtags:

#SacredIntimacy #SexlessMarriage #IntimacyInMarriage #MakingLove #ResponsiveDesire #LiminalSpace #AttachmentHealing #MarriageTherapy #LoveAndCherishPodcast #ConnectionOverSex #MindfulIntimacy