Everyone has felt distant from their spouse from time to time.  That's a normal part of the marriage relationship.  But how do we approach one another when that distance lasts longer than we would like or longer than is healthy?

In today's episode, we will discuss some of the silly things that may cause us to become distant in the first place and what it means to really reconnect.  We take a closer look at some of specific wording in its very definition, which will then signal us how to approach reconnecting.

Don't miss the three simple ways to reconnect (with specific communication skills) you can apply right away if you find yourself in this situation!

Sometimes, in marriage, we can start to become so dependent on our spouse that we forget that we are responsible to continue to be our own person.   We each have our own thoughts, feel our own emotions, and can even experience the same situation differently.  

In honor of our nation's Independence Day, we are focusing today's episode on the concept of independence and how it relates to intimacy.   While me might easily dismiss that these two are related, the more we accept it and understand it, the more we will feel like ourselves in the relationship.

Listen in today as Nick takes the reigns in this episode as Shellie's voice is still on the mend.  He will share some important points to consider and offer some valuable communication skills to implement.  Whether you are listening to this episode near the 4th of July holiday or at any other time of the year, there will be some great reminders of how to level up the way we are thinking about our circumstances.

In today's world, it seems like men really enjoy everything about sex.  They seem to enjoy it so much that they keep coming back for more.  Time and time again, husbands keep turning to their wife to experience the pleasure that comes from sexual intimacy.

But this is not always true for the experience of the wife.  They may be having just as much sex with their husband, but they just aren't enjoying it as much!  So, they don't seem to want to return for more as often as their beloved does.  

In today's episode, we are going to dive deeper into this challenging issue by clarifying some of the details of male and female anatomy, and more specifically, the number of nerve endings that are found in the genitals.  If you think that the men have more, think again!  We will also explore what happens when the "first sex organ" is ignored and what we can do about it.  Learn what the brain needs to experience and interpret pleasure correctly. 

Emotional Desire is what we feel when we long to be intimate with our spouse.  Most of us have heard of the word libido, and this is what we are talking about.  But we are going to break this down into its smaller parts so that we can gain clarity on how to access more of it in our lives.

Far too many women think that they are either just born with a desire to be intimate or that they "just aren't like that."  One of the main reasons for that is because women are taught about desire in terms of how the men experience it, as a drive.  But women experience it more as a pull or as an invitation to get closer.  

The truth is that we all experience desire.  We all know how to go to the store and buy something that we desire.  We just haven't been taught how to apply this to our desire to be intimate.  Once you learn the equation we explain in today's episode, you can start applying it to be able to generate and access that desire within yourself in the realm of intimacy. 

Did you know that there are 5 phases that we go through when it comes to intimacy?  Most people don't know about this because we usually are only shown two phases of it when it comes to media and public education.  This leaves us without the big picture,  meaning that certain parts have left out.

In today's episode, we are going to discuss the 5 phases of intimacy so that we can regain that more complete picture of what actually makes up intimacy.  We will explain why we refer to this as "The Intimacy Trek" and why one phase leads to the next.  And rest assured, this is not about how to take things to the next level of kinky stuff.  Not at all.  The phases of The Intimacy Trek are fundamental and foundation for the most basic and mildest forms of intercourse.

So many people struggle with intimacy when some of the phases of The Intimacy Trek are skipped over or left out all together.  But there is no need for that.   Listen in and make sure that all of the phases are included in your experience.    

Have you ever wondered if sexual desire is evil?   If so, you are not alone.  Many people have wondered this, and even more so if they were raised with strong moral values.  This notion may be having an affect on how we think about the sexual side of ourself and may even have us avoiding it.

In today's episode, we are going to take a much closer look at the definition of the word "evil."  This is so that we can have clarity on what actually counts as evil.  Sometimes, our brain can be very dramatic, and can jump to assigning something under the category of being evil when it actually isn't evil at all.

Listen in as we dive into an example of a client who felt aroused when looking at some lingerie ads when wanting to purchase a bra.  We break down the definitions of evil to see if what she experienced actually qualified as evil.  There is no need to feel guilt and shame for something that is not actually evil, but rather God-given.  Listen in to find out how.

Have you ever felt like you are not too interested in what takes place in the bedroom late at night?  Have you ever felt like intimate experiences are more on the boring side instead of something exciting?

Then this is the episode for you!  When we think about being bored in the bedroom, we may think that the solution we will be given is kinky sex positions or dressing up like Princess Leia when she was Jabba the Hut's slave.   But that is not what you are going to find here.

Listen in as we discuss two out-of-the-box ideas that are not based in how men think about variety, but is based more on how women experience variety in their life and in their environment.  We are going to discuss how women's boredom and the monotony of her everyday doings can lead to boredom in the bedroom...even if it's not related to sex.  Women's variety can be totally different then men's variety.  These two ideas will have you thinking differently about how adding the element of surprise or newness can ignite natural feelings of excitement and wanting to share that excitement with your spouse. 

Have you ever thought "Why should I be the one doing all the work to improve intimacy, when my husband is the one who wants to have sex all the time?"  This is a natural question to ask ourselves when we don't know a better one to ask.  But this is also a question that leads us to inaction... waiting around for our spouse to make all the changes.

The biggest trap couples fall into with when this type of question comes into play, is that it can leave us waiting around for someone else to solve our problem, and we may be waiting around for a long, long time.  Now that will just lead to more frustration, resentment, and even less of a desire to be intimate.  Not good.

So, let's try a different approach.  Let's try asking some better questions that will actually improve the way we are thinking about our life, sparking a new type of desire and motivation within us.  Listen now to discover 4 questions that can help us think about improving intimacy differently. 

This special podcast episode is designed to give a detailed description of our Marriage Prep program called "First Night, First Year."  This program is for couples who are dating and wanting to get married, engaged couples, and can even be for couples who are already married but want a fresh start.

This program has come at the request of many past clients, who wanted us to be able to share the information and tools we were teaching them (couples who were already married) to their grown children who were about to get married... in hopes of saving them from some of the challenges they were facing themselves.

This is a proactive and preventative program and would make a fabulous bridal shower or early wedding gift!  There are two parts to the program and the first part should happen BEFORE they get married.  It's all related to everything leading up to their first night of intimacy together and some of the expectations they might have.  And the second part takes them through the entire first year of their marriage, which of course is known as the hardest year.   This is the gift that every couple needs... they just don't know it yet.  

Have you ever noticed that your marriage seems in need of a tune-up?  Sometimes, when we feel like things aren't going so well in this very special relationship, we can feel like the problems are too big to solve or that it will take far too long to  improve things.  And this will often leave us feeling hopeless, overwhelmed, and confused as to knowing where to even begin.

Well, not to worry.  We've got you.  Today we are going to talk about 3 easy and doable steps that you can start implementing right away.  None of these steps are too big or too overwhelming.  They are small steps that make a big difference.

These steps will actually challenge you to take a closer look at what you say are your priorities in life and what are actually your priorities in your everyday reality.  This will be determined when you really pay attention to what you are actually spending the minutes of your days on.  Don't get caught in the trap of just saying your marriage is a priority when in reality, little quality time is spent being together and improving it.  Listen now to start implementing these steps!