How Married Couples Can Enhance Intimacy

Marital intimacy, according to long-time relationship experts, refers to the closeness of a person’s relationship with his/her spouse. Intimacy covers a lot of aspects, from emotional to, spiritual, intellectual, sexual intimacy and other forms. Intimacy is actually an end-goal of married couples; however, it should rather be a healthy add-on which strengthens the bond between married couples.

Below are a number of suggestions on how to enhance intimacy between married couples.

The Different Forms Of Intimacy

Males and females have different interpretations on the meaning of intimacy. According to most relationship counselors and experts, women are generally more emotional, while men consider sexual intimacy more important than the emotional stuff. Below is a short list of a few of the most popular forms of intimacy:

Spiritual & Recreational Intimacy:

Spiritual intimacy involves sharing and nurturing religious beliefs, as well as observing and attending religious practices, church services or simply praying together. Once couples achieve spiritual intimacy, they get more united in their spiritual attitudes and goals. For recreational Intimacy, couples both share and enjoy participating in their favorite sporting and recreational activities. Married couples could run or jog together, or play tennis and golf, as well as enjoy doing simple stuff like watching their favorite TV show, or preparing a meal together.

Emotional & Intellectual Intimacy:

Intellectual intimacy refers to the sharing of ideas and thoughts, and enjoying a common intellectual pursuit. Emotional Intimacy refers to the closeness generated through the sharing of feelings and emotions. According to relationship counselors, women show more interest in dealing with emotions, as men are generally discouraged by society to feel or show emotions. According to guidance counselors, one of the keys to full emotional awareness is by paying more attention to the individual's feelings, and learning how to identify them.

Sexual Intimacy:

Considered as one of the most crucial contributors towards a healthy marriage, sexual intimacy requires that both partners are fully satisfied, and enjoy having sex more often. Happy couples also fully agree on their definitions of sexual satisfaction, and will generally have fewer worries about their sex lives, as compared to couples who are unsatisfied with their sex lives.

The Benefits Of Intimacy

Intimacy offers a lot of benefits to married couples. First, happily- married couples tend to be healthier, and live longer lives. Second, more intimate couples also have a better financial standing, and their children also tend to be emotionally and academically stronger than other kids who are in troubled marriages. Couples with enhanced intimacy also have more improved mental health.

Intimacy can actually ease depression, and improve a person’s brain function. To enhance intimacy among couples, the two should learn to build a sense of security and mutual trust, show more tenderness and acceptance, and ensure that they open the lines of communication to allow for a more sincere and less-stressful sharing of thoughts, or discussion of issues. And whenever couples argue or fight, they should also make a commitment to change their hurtful behavior, and quickly mend fences after a dispute.