Habits for Your Happily Ever After: Relationship Communication Advice

Today I interview my sister, Katie Elliott , about her marriage. Katie and her husband, Jimmy Lavita, were co-artistic creators of 3rd Law Dance until his death in 2017. Katie continues to direct the company now on her own. Together they built an artistic life where “new ideas are generated through the push and pull in movement, emotion, and ideas that create dynamic working relationships.” Today...

Looking for a good date night option? Consider a date that includes water. Water dates have rebooted my marriage multiple times. Water is calming. Water is invigorating. And water invites each of you to show up and notice what is real. In this episode: We’ll talk about the three roles in your relationship: Partner , Lover , and Friend and how they are each impacted by the water I’ll tell you a sto...

How do two people go from meeting in a Dairy Queen as teenagers, to cultivating a connection so deep that their marriage can withstand a major life change? Today we get to hear from my niece and nephew, Chris and Megan Tidd. They are childhood sweethearts, and they’ve been together 23  years. During those years, they’ve raised two wonderful children and, in addition to careers as engineer and...

Is it difficult for you to feel loved? To feel truly and deeply loved? Today we explore what happens to your relationship when it’s hard to love yourself. I’ll tell you about the deep hole of loneliness I carried from childhood well into adulthood How you can begin—or continue—to feel worthy of love And how worthiness—and what I call The Love Well—is the key ingredient to allowing you to receive t...

When you have a conflict with your partner, do you react to what they're saying rather than respond ? In this episode, you’ll meet Mary Beth Luedtke , a licensed professional counselor candidate practicing in Grand Junction, Colorado. She is also a dear friend. Mary Beth is here to talk about how our emotional intelligence impacts our relationships: You’ll learn about the “forbidden” emotions of o...

To give you something quick to listen to, we created this bonus of Mariah’s affirmation alphabet. Enjoy. Connect to Improve Your Relationship Communication Visit the show notes here. Please subscribe to my newsletter here.    Follow me on Instagram. Reach me at 970-210-4480 Connect with my guest Visit Byron and Mariah's website here.

In this bonus episode, I talk with Mariah Edgington about how to receive or allow loving opportunities to reach your heart: You'll hear how in order to receive love, you need to first feel worthy of love You'll hear how Mariah's past affected her ability to receive love And you'll get a practice to use to help you affirm your worthiness Connect to Improve Your Relationship Communication Visit the...

In this episode, I interview the speaking duo of Byron and Mariah Edgington . They met when Mariah was an ICU nurse and Byron was an emergency services flight helicopter pilot. You’ll hear how, even with the best of intentions, Byron hurt his wife’s feelings for years Why Mariah’s neurodiversity diagnosis is deepening their connection to each other And how they expanded their love when Mariah care...

Last week I gave you an example of Tyler and Alia and the three things from their marriage meeting. We did that workshop style so you could start and stop the recording while you and your sweetheart have your own Planning session. Today we’ll do the same thing, but we’ll concentrate on Reviewing the previous week. You’ll see the importance of time to review the plan you made, not so you find fault...

Last week we discussed why and how a marriage meeting can help your relationship. Today I’ll walk you through a typical marriage meeting to help you prepare for yours: I'll explain the Plan-Do-Review template that will help you navigate the nitty gritty details that, if untended, cause conflict Then you’ll see why discussing a Plan at the beginning of the week fends off conflicts before they have...

Why is a marriage meeting to handle the details of life better for your relationship than a date night? Because the niggling details of life--like whose turn it is to clean the bathroom or who's in charge of dinner--cause tiny resentments when they're unclear. Resentment kills sexual chemistry. A marriage meeting is the place for you to regularly and predictably make the invisible details of life...

Are there some aspects of your marriage that aren't what you expect? Today we talk to science writer, Christie Aschwanden , about uncertainty. I recently listened to her podcast from Scientific American titled Uncertain, and I was struck by the parallels in science and relationships. We’ll discuss the unknown perceptions we have that color the way we see the world and how those unknown perceptions...

As Taylor Swift warns us, we can sit on the sidelines of our life believing the bumps and the breakers, the hurdles and the haters, or we can shake it off. There’s strong science behind this. Animals shake to alter their state: so shake off stress, sleepiness, or discomfort. It will work for you too. Follow along with my 60-second shakedown and calm the stress caused by your relationship hurdles....

How do we cultivate resilience? Today we’ll explore 3 simple steps you can employ whenever you’ve encountered one of life’s bumps and you need to dust yourself off and start over: You’ll hear about the importance of shaking it off: literally You’ll get a 4-minute date night idea to recharge your battery so you can begin again We’ll talk about the power of beginning again. And again. And again. Bec...

Do you want more pleasure in your life and your relationship? Today we talk to Courtney Fae Long . Courtney is a leading-edge sexuality educator who teaches couples and individuals how to make magic in the bedroom. In this episode, Courtney walks us through the journey that it takes to transform from a caterpillar into a butterfly when it comes to receiving pleasure: We'll look at 3 types of sensu...

Do you need to have a heart connection with your partner to get turned on? Or does physical intimacy help you from that connection? In this bonus episode, Courtney Fae Long offers more ways you can experience loving physical connection. You'll hear Courtney's deeper discussion about this week's habit for your happily ever after,  and you'll hear her answers to my rapid fire relationship quest...

What if protecting your marriage is actually causing deeper relationship problems? Your marriage is important to you. You want to ensure that what you’ve built with your partner will last. But fear for your marriage will do more harm than good to your relationship. In this episode, we’ll talk about why protecting your relationship is killing your chemistry: We’ll examine why you (or maybe your par...

Are you sick of having the "What's for dinner?" argument every night? My guest today is Jenna Lee Rude , the founder of the app Raised on Plants . She's here to offer practical tips to stop dinner-time disagreements and help you feel good about what you feed your family. You'll hear how: Meal prep doesn't have to be overwhelming. Prep quick-grab foods when you have time so that busy week nights ar...

Have you ever felt so tired you didn't know what you needed? Today, we’ll break down rest into 3 categories so you know how to treat yourself when you’re exhausted. Because not every kind of tired is the same: You’ll discover how exhaustion is wounding your relationship and why it’s critical to your happily ever after to learn how to give yourself the rest you need. You’ll understand why your drea...

Feeling pleasure allows you to grow as a human being. We all are taught how growing pains make us stronger. But we rarely talk about how growing pleasures make us stronger. My guest is the romance novelist Grace Woods , author of the trilogy: To Be Continued... This is a steamy book with some great sex scenes, but I was even more compelled by the character's journey. In this episode, we talk about...

"What is a happy marriage?" is not the only question you should ask. Is your goal to have a happy marriage? Today we're going to address the age-old question of "What makes a happy marriage?" by exploring the deeper truth of marriage: You'll hear why this might actually be the wrong question to ask I'll introduce you to a book and a podcast that examine this subject from a different point of view...

Have you thought about what it will take to let go of your shame? To finally own your story? It's not an easy thing to do. It takes time and consideration. That's why psychotherapist, author, speaker, and media contributor Dr. Zoe Shaw is joining me for another episode to talk more about shame. In this episode, you'll get suggestions for mitigating the power of shame in your primary relationship:...

Shame is heavy. Don't let it weigh you down. Is your shame heavy? Does it sit on your shoulders and make you feel small? Today my guest is psychotherapist, author, speaker, and media contributor Dr. Zoe Shaw . She is a relationship expert who specializes in the subject of complex shame and codependency. In this episode you'll hear: How the shame you felt as a child impacts your adult relationships...

Strengthen your relationship when you apologize better. Is it hard for you to apologize to your partner? Is your partner apology-challenged? Your relationship communication will improve when your "sorry" becomes more effective. Today we'll look at how to apologize better: We’ll look at 3 types of lousy apologies so we can spot the bad habits We’ll clean those up with 4 specific steps to make your...

3 Magic words to awaken the dream in your relationship. Does it matter how you talk to your sweetheart? Have you ever felt nagged? Or maybe you did the nagging and wished you could take your words back? Today we explore questions that damn your relationship from the get go vs questions that awaken the dream for your relationship. We’ll discuss the difference between an agenda and an invitation You...