Reclaiming Catholic Intimacy

Ever heard the phrase "It's just not supposed to be this hard!" Maybe you've said it yourself.

Well when it comes to your sanctification, it actually probably is supposed to be that hard. Holiness is hard, really hard.

We're talking about how holiness is hard in relation to married life.

A lot of the time engaged and married couples have a lack of understanding that marriage is for the other person and for sanctification, it's not for you and your happiness. The goal of marriage is to get you to human flourishing, but it's not through easy, it's through hard. When things start getting hard in your marriage, that's when you know you're actually on the right track.

Here's some things that are hard in marriage, that actually aren't supposed to be easy:

-NFP

-Sex

-Abstinence

-Kids

-Pregnancy

-Finances

In this episode we're going to be discussing that while life is hard, and holiness is through hardship, we're not just called to sit back and let the hard make us miserable. We should be actively engaging in the hardness and asking ourselves: how can I grow in holiness in this time? Work like it all depends on you, but pray like it depends on God.

Interested in checking out the episode we mentioned about marriage being a battleground? A Letter from St. Valentine to Married Couples | Episode 104

Interested in checking out the Tighten Your Tinkler signature program? Click Here

Use the code CHARTING50 to get $50 off.

Check out Episode 70 with Jenn: Your Pelvic Floor is not a Magical Unicorn

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Ready to stop avoiding sex and actually enjoy it? Join the waitlist for Want it and Enjoy it now and join the next round!

Did we mention a book on this week's episode? Click here for our recommended books!

Reach out at instagram.com/ellenholloway_/ or email us at [email protected]

In this episode we are talking about scheduling sex--pros and cons, when it works and when it doesn't.

Scheduling sex is a tool in the arsenal of ways to improve your sexual relationship. But here's the thing, scheduling does not work for every couple. Maybe it works for both of you, neither of you, or maybe it works for one spouse and not the other.

For example,

Here's a pro for scheduling sex: We give priority to things that are on the schedule. Are you prioritizing sex? If scheduling sex allows you to anticipate it, then scheduling might work great for you!

But here's an example on the other side: sometimes life is unpredictable. Flexibility is so important; you need to have that flexibility. When scheduling sex becomes a pressure to have sex even if you have a really hard day, it could set you up for disappointment and duty sex (which is never a good thing).

When it comes to scheduling sex, it's not going to work for everybody. There are a lot of different ways to go about scheduling sex and that's what we're talking about in this week's episode. Give it a listen, and maybe give it a try!

Interested in checking out the Tighten Your Tinkler signature program? Click Here Use the code CHARTING50 to get $50 off.

Check out Episode 70 with Jenn: Your Pelvic Floor is not a Magical Unicorn

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Ready to stop avoiding sex and actually enjoy it? Join the waitlist for Want it and Enjoy it now and join the next round!

Did we mention a book on this week's episode? Click here for our recommended books!

Reach out at instagram.com/ellenholloway_/ or email us at [email protected]

Ellen and Kathleen are back with another Charting Toward Intimacy episode. This week, we are talking about foreplay. What is foreplay?

We have two basic categories for you Anticipatory Foreplay and Escalatory Foreplay

Anticipatory Foreplay is simply things that make you anticipate sex at some point in the future. Anticipatory is more emotional in nature, but can still be physical.

Escalatory Foreplay is things that lead to arousal and then sex. Escalatory is more physical in nature, but can still be emotional.

Anticipatory Foreplay can last a day or two or a week. Escalatory is more immediately leading to sex within the next few minutes or hour (ish), it's different for every couple.

Interested in checking out the Tighten Your Tinkler signature program? Click Here Use the code CHARTING50 to get $50 off.

Check out Episode 70 with Jenn: Your Pelvic Floor is not a Magical Unicorn

___________________________________

Ready to stop avoiding sex and actually enjoy it? Join the waitlist for Want it and Enjoy it now and join the next round!

Did we mention a book on this week's episode? Click here for our recommended books!

Reach out at instagram.com/ellenholloway_/ or email us at [email protected]

Have you ever felt like it's impossible to actually desire sex or to get turned on? Like the pot that doesn't boil until you walk away from it, you might be like us and not get turned on if you're thinking too much about it. It's not until you walk away, or focus on something else that your desire pokes its head out and looks around.

We'll talk strategy and tips for getting your own pot to boil!

Interested in checking out the Tighten Your Tinkler signature program? Click Here Use the code CHARTING50 to get $50 off.

Check out Episode 70 with Jenn: Your Pelvic Floor is not a Magical Unicorn

___________________________________

Ready to stop avoiding sex and actually enjoy it? Join the waitlist for Want it and Enjoy it now and join the next round!

Did we mention a book on this week's episode? Click here for our recommended books!

Reach out at instagram.com/ellenholloway_/ or email us at [email protected]

God is the model of intimate sexual communication...excuse me, what?!?

In this episode we're discussing how because our marriages are an image of the relationship God wants to have with us, the ways that God communicates with his people in the Old Testament is a model for us of how we should be communicating in our most intimate relationships. Namely, God is EXTREMELY specific, and you should be too!

We'll give you some tips, our own experience, and some more background on this concept.

Interested in checking out the Tighten Your Tinkler signature program? Click Here Use the code CHARTING50 to get $50 off.

Check out Episode 70 with Jenn: Your Pelvic Floor is not a Magical Unicorn

___________________________________

Ready to stop avoiding sex and actually enjoy it? Join the waitlist for Want it and Enjoy it now and join the next round!

Did we mention a book on this week's episode? Click here for our recommended books!

Reach out at instagram.com/ellenholloway_/ or email us at [email protected]

Kind of like the question of the chicken or the egg, which comes first physical or emotional intimacy? Well there are two basic camps that people typically fall into: (1) those who desire physical intimacy in order to feel emotionally close or (2) those who need to feel emotionally intimate before they are ready to be physically intimate.

Here's the fun part, a lot of times, couples are matched up where one spouse is one of those categories and the other spouse is the opposite!

This week we're breaking down what these categories are and giving you some tips to work on both your physical and your emotional intimacy.

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Ready to stop avoiding sex and actually enjoy it? Join the waitlist for Want it and Enjoy it now and join the next round!

Did we mention a book on this week's episode? Click here for our recommended books!

Reach out at instagram.com/ellenholloway_/ or email us at [email protected]

Teena is a product designed for teens and preteens to get them excited about cycle tracking and help them understand what is going on in their cycle. I'm really excited to share this completely honest review with you. Teena did provide me one of their devices for free to check it out, but my review is completely my own. 

Head over to Instagram to enter the giveaway! 

Want to purchase a Teena for your teen? Get $20 off here.

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Ready to stop avoiding sex and actually enjoy it? Join the waitlist for Want it and Enjoy it now and join the next round!

Did we mention a book on this week's episode? Click here for our recommended books!

Reach out at instagram.com/ellenholloway_/ or email us at [email protected]

We'd like to present the term "Responsible Parenthood" as the new word we start using when we are describing what Catholic married couples do when they discern children, use NFP, and really just live out their lives as married couples, regardless of fertility status.

The term NFP falls short when we have discussions about what Catholic married couples are called to. NFP, after all, is just a tool. Responsible Parenthood, according to St. Pope Paul VI is a way of life that all married couples are called to live.

Read along in Humanae Vitae with us.

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Ready to stop avoiding sex and actually enjoy it? Join the waitlist for Want it and Enjoy it now and join the next round!

Did we mention a book on this week's episode? Click here for our recommended books!

Reach out at instagram.com/ellenholloway_/ or email us at [email protected]

NFP Basics is an add-on marriage preparation module that any marriage prep/pre-cana program can easily implement into their program. NFP Basics covers the theology behind why the church teaches NFP for family planning and why the church has a prohibition on contraception and fertility treatments like IVF. Then the program covers basic fertility science and gives an overview of most of the major methods available to couples to track the woman's cycle and plan their family.

In this episode, Ellen is on to tell you a little more about the program and her experience implementing this in a number of dioceses in California.

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Ready to stop avoiding sex and actually enjoy it? Join the waitlist for Want it and Enjoy it now and join the next round!

Did we mention a book on this week's episode? Click here for our recommended books!

Reach out at instagram.com/ellenholloway_/ or email us at [email protected]

Do you still struggle with reconciling that sex is good and holy? It's so common for us to think of sex as something bad or dirty, but it's not, I repeat NOT bad and dirty. Sex is good, it's better than good, it's HOLY.

If you're wondering what we meant by unity cross, click here! Sorry that Googling "unity cross" doesn't actually give you what we meant!

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Ready to stop avoiding sex and actually enjoy it? Join the waitlist for Want it and Enjoy it now and join the next round!

Did we mention a book on this week's episode? Click here for our recommended books!

Reach out at instagram.com/ellenholloway_/ or email us at [email protected]