AwakenYou in Your Marriage

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to December and all of the things! The last month of the year can be an emotional tug-of-war for many of us. Commitments on top of an already over-committed schedule, reviewing the year and the list of things you said you would achieve but didn't, family...oh and then you might as well sprinkle a bit of all the extra food over the top of everything. This week on the p...

Send us Fan Mail This week was Expert Interview week on the podcast, and this interview is extra special because it was my first interview getting a man's perspective on all things marriage. Chris Plourde is a coach, businessman, father, and husband who has worked with top athletes, celebrities, and even military special operations. He mentors men to find their authentic selves and create lea...

Send us Fan Mail Last week you learned what bids for attention are, and you learned that the way to create connection in your relationship is to turn towards your partner when you notice them tossing a bid at you. This week I share the three ways we can respond to our partner's bids, two of which might be unintentional acts that create the opposite of what we want in our marriage. Listen to t...

Send us Fan Mail Bids for connection are attempts to get someone's attention; any action intended to create a positive connection. They could be a simple smile or an out-of-place statement like "look at that dog over there!" Once you start paying attention to bids, you may be surprised to discover that your spouse is throwing bids that you might be dropping. This week's episode...

Send us Fan Mail Do you have a healthy marital emotional bank account? The balance of your marital emotional bank account tells a lot about how well you and your spouse communicate and problem solve. If communicating with your spouse seems challenging, you may want to check your account's balance. This week's AwakenYou episode will teach you all you need to know to get started. I share w...

Send us Fan Mail Self-soothing is a way to bring ourselves to feelings of betterment to move forward from any negativity or emotional pain. In our marriages, it is a way to recognize when we are slipping, or crashing, into a negative emotion, put a pause on it, and take the time to look at what is happening within ourselves. Being able to self-soothe helps us grow, better understand our patterns,...

Send us Fan Mail How well do you know about your partner? Your answer indicates your relationship's emotional intelligence. If that truth makes you feel a bit queasy, I want you to settle into a deep breath. Most couples have a surface-level knowledge of their partner, and that "getting to know you" better phase often gets overlooked after the year pass on. Knowing your partner is t...

Send us Fan Mail If you've heard of Dr. John Gottman's discovery that the six-second kiss can improve the health of your relationship but haven't implemented it, then this week's episode will get you moving out of shame and into action. If you haven't heard of the six-second kiss, then it's even better because this week is all about what this relationship tool is, why...

Send us Fan Mail I talk a lot about emotions, with good reason; it is essential to understand emotional regulation within a marital relationship and why you might not be regulating your feelings. Lisa Feldmen Barrett suggests that "those who can put emotions into words, are less likely to use negative self-regulatory strategies such as..." acting out with aggression, harmful actions to s...

Send us Fan Mail I think it is vital to continue the trend to help normalize mental health and mental illness so that people can start seeing the indicators that something might be off and feel comfortable seeking guidance from a health professional. After last week's discussion with Jessica Farmer about Navigating Your Partner's Mental Illness, I thought it would be appropriate to visit...

Send us Fan Mail This month's guest interview is with Jessica Farmer, a certified life and marriage coach who helps women who have husbands with mental illness. Helping women create confidence and connection with themselves and in their relationships, even with all the challenges that come up when there is a mental illness, is her passion. She is a mom to 4 kiddos and a puppy, loves hiking, r...

Send us Fan Mail Last week we explored the masculine way from David Deida's Intimate Communion , which helped reveal and understand all that is masculine in our partners and ourselves. This week on the podcast, I explore the feminine way to help show you that which might be the missing link in your life. Fully embracing your feminine essence is the key to feeling whole and purposeful and love...

Send us Fan Mail Masculine essence prioritizes "life direction" - it is moved primarily by his or her life mission; it is the most important thing in their lives. Whereas the feminine essence prioritizes the "intimate relationship" - it is moved by his or her emotions in an intimate relationship. This week I explore chapter 8 of David Deida's Intimate Communion , which is...

Send us Fan Mail By the time most of my clients come to me, they have stopped dreaming about their future with their partner; they feel stuck in their marriage and their lives. The foundation of their marriage has crumbled, and the map they previously used to build their relationship no longer applies to their life. Now it is necessary to reformulate the new five foundations to develop their marit...

Send us Fan Mail I still remember the day, driving out of the parking lot seeing my daughter looking out her dorm room window; the memory still brings me to tears. Days laying in her bed wondering how I would ever move forward don't seem that long ago. Looking back, I now see the grief I carried in my heart but had no idea what it was or how to deal with it. Eventually, I moved forward, but t...

Send us Fan Mail We've all done it. We've looked at what someone else has and think their life must be that much better than ours. We see another couple smiling at each other, sitting in that cute little restaurant while making up some fantasy about their romantic life while feeling sad because YOUR husband never does anything romantic. It's what we call looking at someone else&apos...

Send us Fan Mail Most of the obstacles that get in the way of achieving our happiest life and a joyfully connected marital relationship are emotional barriers, blocks in our mind that keep us from showing up in a way that gets us what we want in our life. This week's episode started titled "A Healing Journey" because removing many of our emotional barriers can be an emotional experi...

Send us Fan Mail If you and your partner aren't spending healthy time apart, then this episode is for you. If you want to spend time apart but are feeling guilty about it or, if you don't think it's healthy to spend time apart, please listen. The key to developing a vibrant relationship that will stand the test of time is developing a sense of self which can best happen when you spe...

Send us Fan Mail The concept of enemy and ally in our marriage has currently been deeply resonating because of its simplicity. When I consider different ways we all struggle in our relationships and working through them in a way that benefits us and impacts the relationship positively, using these two lenses is a quick way to decide how we want to move forward. Listen in to this week's episod...

Send us Fan Mail Martha Ayim , MA, is a master coach, level-3 trained in IFS (Internal Family Systems, an evidence-based, trauma-informed, and empowering approach that relies on a client’s intuitive wisdom to heal). She is the author of the e-book, 12 Surprising Steps to Stop Binge Eating, Starting with Your Very Next Urge , and the host of the 5-star-rated Done Bingeing Podcast . A former binge e...

Send us Fan Mail You all have heard me talk about the importance of feeling your emotions and processing emotions. In this week's episode, I take you through my process of processing emotions; I don't just explain it but take you through it so that you can do it for yourself. The only part missing is me being able to hear answers to my questions to help you better work through them. Want...

Send us Fan Mail If you feel like your marital relationship has been in shutdown longer than the COVID shutdown we have experienced, this week's episode is for you. I talk about how we get to shutdown in our marriage and how we get to where we dream of being, which for most of us, is alive. Listen in to discover how you get there, that you're not alone and how to get back on track. Visit...

Send us Fan Mail Today I am sharing a little secret on the podcast about the power of pause at this time of the year, in your life. This process will fuel you with the power you need to keep making strides towards hitting that stretch goal you intend on achieving by the end of this year without crashing and throwing them in the trash. ⁣ ⁣ If you've lost sight of the future you want in your li...

Send us Fan Mail What does style have to do with your marriage? Imagine consistently feeling locked into an emotion that makes you feel like a goddess when you're with your partner. Of course, having the outfit that matches the desired goal ups the ante, and this month's guest is all about helping you achieve that goal. Judith Gaton is a lawyer turned style coach who enables you to show...

Send us Fan Mail Lost connection in your marriage is something many of us struggle with; I certainly did. Maybe it's something you've thought has always been missing, or it's something you feel has slowly dissipated; either way, it is 100% possible to bring connection into your marriage relationship, the type of connection you want. Tune into today's episode to find out how to...