Discover the Health Benefits of Love
February is the month of love! Exploring the bond you share with your spouse or partner can help you build a stronger, more loving relationship. A fulfilling relationship also improves many aspects of health and can even lead to a longer life!
According to research, over 70% percent of adults are in a romantic relationship, and 61% report that their partner is their best friend. Couples in satisfying relationships report using proactive behaviors like working together to address problems, spending quality time together, practicing forgiveness, showing acts of kindness to each other, and seeking ways to strengthen their relationship.
Couples in healthy relationships statistically have lower blood pressure, reduced stress levels, improved sleep, a stronger immune system, and better digestion. Feelings of support, connection, and enjoyment can significantly improve emotional well-being by lowering stress, depression, and anxiety, and increasing feelings of joy, contentment, and connection. These numerous benefits protect your overall health and help both you and your loved one live longer, happier, and more satisfying lives.
How do you find a stronger connection with your partner to maximize these benefits? Exploring your relationship can encourage stronger communication, kindness, and connection in day-to-day life.
Examine how you think and feel about your relationship.
Healthy relationships are based on trust, authenticity, understanding, honesty, and acceptance. Each human brings their own unique personality and experiences to a relationship. Effective communication is essential to building a healthy relationship, growing together, and growing as individuals. This leads to the positive feelings of companionship, support, feedback, encouragement, and insight.
A troubled relationship may include poor communication patterns, avoidance, fighting, or feeling distant. Signs of toxicity in a relationship include fatigue, impatience, overwhelm, fear, anxiety, and depression. Feeling alone and disconnected is also common in rocky relationships. This assessment can help you decide if there are any concerns in your relationship: psychologytoday.com/us/tests/relationships/relationship-attachment-style-test.
Prioritize your own physical and mental health.
Many people take care of others but don’t make time to take care of themselves. Taking care of your body, even in small ways, will build healthier habits over time. Daily self-care practices like eating nourishing foods, staying hydrated, getting enough rest, moving more, and managing stress in positive ways all help you feel better and find balance in life.
Break health goals into small, sustainable changes such as drinking more water, eating more fruits and vegetables, going to bed or getting up 15 minutes earlier, or taking more steps each day. Self-care habits help you feel better physically, improve focus and productivity, and help you show up as the best version of “you” in your relationship.
Assessing mental health is also important. If you’re not connected to yourself and your own needs and desires, it can be more challenging to connect with your partner. Examine how you internalize thoughts, feelings, and responses that arise in your life, and assess how this affects your interactions with your loved one. Becoming aware of daily stressors and negative thoughts, feelings, and emotions can provide insight into what you truly want and need.
If you have concerns, explore options to improve your mental health and shift internal perceptions to promote positive changes in your life. Taking time to learn to love and care for yourself and practice self-care is not selfish; it instead improves your energy and capacity for having a more meaningful relationship.
Find purposeful action to prioritize your own emotional well-being. Mental self-help strategies include developing a mindfulness practice of slowing down and being present, engaging in prayer, journaling, or meditation, focusing on breathwork, spending time in nature, and having outlets such as hobbies or a friend group. Talking to a trusted friend, family member, or pastor about any ongoing concerns in your relationship can help you air out issues and discuss solutions in a safe place. It can also be helpful to work with a behavioral health counselor to understand patterns, address anxiety, depression, trauma, or addiction, find helpful coping techniques, and improve communication skills.
Learn to communicate effectively. It’s important to set healthy boundaries and communicate your needs and values by discussing emotional limits, personal boundaries, and acceptable vs. unacceptable behaviors. Then make sure to stay consistent with what is important to you. Life brings challenges, but communicating honestly and kindly can help you understand each other, grow together, and grow personally. Be accountable for mistakes or responding poorly, as we all have bad days. Learning to actively listen, mirror your partner’s needs, respond with authenticity and kindness, and find ways to help each other can build trust and security for both of you.
Have fun together. Quality time together with shared experiences builds communication, trust, and greater satisfaction. Games, hikes, or learning new hobbies or skills together, such as dancing or a sport, can build problem-solving skills and shared responsibility. Traveling together for a vacation, going on date nights, celebrating milestones, and sharing inside jokes evokes good memories and deepens emotional connections. Make small moments count, like a lunch date, regular check-ins or texts, or a quiet night in. Be fully present without phones or screens to enhance engagement and connection. Laughter and humor can reduce stress and pain, lift the mood, resolve conflict, and build intimacy and connection.
Building a healthy relationship with yourself and your special person brings fulfillment, trust, and security in both easy and challenging times, and improves the health of both of you, leading to a longer, happier life.
