Marriage can be hard.
And you don't have to be married for it to be hard.
All kinds of relationships can be hard.
But like with anything hard we can use it as a way to grow. We can accumulate knowledge, experience, skills to do hard things well. We can try and try again until we get it closer to right.
I hope that through the experience of my own research and my own marriage that I can help pass along discerned advice that will help other couples thrive within their relationships.
What happened down there? Dr. Rose Schlaff discusses some of what might be lingering for a woman after pregnancy. How our hormones can have further implications on our desire and comfort during intimacy postpartum. Honor your inner wisdom and be gentle with yourself. (Go back to Episode 5 on ways to communicate with your partner if you're experiencing discomfort or pain and set healthy expectations.) Ever wondered how to pronounce Diastasis Recti? Have you heard of this possible cause of the "mommy pooch"? I don't love that term but diastasis recti can affect our core, lower back, and pelvic floor leading to strained muscles, pain, incontinence, and pain during sex. Feeling tired? Feeling unsexy after a day of playdough and perpetual snack serving? We discuss getting creative with foreplay, connecting to each other, and connecting to ourselves in order to shift between the aspects of our lives and feel ready to connect physically.
Read MoreDr. Rose and I discuss sex through the lens of being an individual person, a partner in relationship, and as a parent. Discovering our own sexuality and what intimacy looks like to each of us. What is success for you? Orgasm? Pleasure? Connection? Rose guides us in talking to our partner about intimacy especially for those experiencing pain. She also provides a guide for our listeners to help start the conversation in a fun way. Check out the link below! We talk further about what be causing or what pain during sex might feel like, and how pelvic floor therapists can assist in endometriosis. Did you know when you watch a scary movie it's your pelvic floor that tenses first? And that 95% of people with lower back pain have some sort of pelvic floor dysfunction? And that it's also related to incontinence, in adults and both bedwetting and constipation in children? Whoa, right?
Read MoreAll relationships have disagreements. Sometimes we can talk it out, sometimes we fight. In marriage arguments can help us express what we are feeling, advocate for what we care about, and resolve unaddressed hurt. But they can also be opportunities to create safety and build trust with our partner, learn about what truly matters to them, and resolve conflict in a way that strengthens our foundations. Today we talk about one easy to implement method to help us reshape how we approach an argument in the moment of conflict. One way to tune our hearts towards love and productivity so that we can fight fair and welcome space for everything else.
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