It’s essential to feel connected to your partner, no matter what stage your relationship is in. Feeling close comes more naturally in the beginning stages when you are head over heels in love, and as you settle in your relationships and life gets busy, it’s easy to grow apart.
That’s why relationships are hard work, but using the mindfulness activities I’ve compiled, you can have fun while working on your relationship and connection with your romantic partner.
When you are mindful, you are present in the now and you practice compassionate, non-judgmental awareness of yourself, the moment, and your partner. Mindfulness, thus, helps you strengthen your relationship in sustainable and meaningful ways.
Include these mindfulness exercises for the benefit of you, your partner, and your relationship.
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Why Mindfulness Matters in Your Romantic Relationship
When you practice mindfulness on your own, you gain various benefits like improved concentration, reduced stress, and better emotional intelligence. So when you do mindful activities with your partner, you get these benefits and more.
In a relationship, mindfulness helps you:
- Build emotional intimacy
- Feel more love and compassion for yourself and your partner
- Face challenges as you feel calmer and more empathetic
- Improve your sense of equanimity
- Better regulate your emotions
- Feel more grateful
- Overcome your unhealthy ego driven by fears and desires so you don’t overreact (i.e., you become self-aware of your behavior)
- Appreciate your partner more
- Enjoy a healthier and happier relationship
10 Mindfulness Activities to Improve Your Relationship
When you practice mindfulness in the relationship realm, you are engaging in mindfulness-based relationship enhancement (MBRE), which is based on mindfulness, acceptance, relaxation, and self-broadening.
1. Practice Deep Breathing
Breathing is essential to living, yet we often snatch at breath like it’s limited. To become more mindful, you need to be aware of your breath.
Practice deep breathing with your partner for 10 minutes a day or every other day.
To do this deep breathing mindfulness activity with your loved one, follow these instructions:
- Sit opposite each other, and ensure there are no distractions.
- Look into each other’s eyes and start becoming aware of your breath. Feel the cool air move up your nose and feel the warm air leave through your lips. Just breathe.
- After two minutes of breathing, being self-aware, and looking into your loved one’s eyes, focus on your partner’s breath.
- For five minutes, they need to breathe in for a count of five, calmly hold their breath for another five, and then breathe out slowly for a count of seven. You should focus on your partner and their breath.
- Now for the next five minutes, it’s your turn to breathe and your partner’s turn to focus on you.
2. Visualize Your Love
Visualizing comes with many benefits, from improving relaxation and your overall well-being to helping you reach your goals. To become mindful with your partner and use visualization, also sometimes called imagery, follow these steps:
- In a comfortable position, sit opposite your partner.
- Close your eyes and focus on your body.
- For three minutes without speaking, scan different parts of your body for tension, discomfort, aches, and pain. Start with your toes and move upward.
- Then focus on your breathing.
- For the next two minutes, think of a time when you really appreciated and loved your partner so much. Recall everything you can about that moment, and feel the warmth spread in your heart to your chest and beyond.
- Return your focus to your breathing for a minute, and then open your eyes and look at your loved one.
- Now it’s your partner’s turn.
- Afterward, you can share the memory and what you felt to grow closer together.
3. Meditate Together
You can meditate together a few times a week. Your partner can be your accountability person, and meditation helps reinforce positive vibes.
To meditate together, follow these general steps:
- Remove any distractions. This time is for you and your partner to meditate.
- Sit opposite each other in a comfortable position.
- Be aware that your loved one is next to you while you meditate.
- After your meditation, you’ll feel connected, loved, peaceful, supported, and calm.
There are various meditations you can do with your partner. For example, there’s the loving-kindness meditation, mindfulness meditation, mantra meditation, guided meditation, and more.
4. Be Grateful With Your Partner
Schedule regular gratitude check-ins with your partner to foster positive emotions and feel more connected. When you are grateful, your body releases the love hormone, aka oxytocin, so when you are thankful for your partner, you love them more in that moment and you feel closer to them.
To practice gratitude with your partner, set aside 5-10 minutes a day. Ideas for gratitude activities include:
- Keeping a gratitude journal and sharing your entries with each other
- Doing the classic “Three Good Things” where you say three things you are grateful for about your partner
- “Tell Me a Story” where you can tell your partner about the first time you noticed a personality trait of theirs you are thankful for
5. Do a Mindfulness Workshop
You and your partner can also attend a mindfulness workshop (or two) to help you become more mindful.
It’s always a good idea to educate yourself because there are so many ways in which you can be mindful together.
Some mindfulness workshops you can check out are:
- The Compassion for Couples course from the Center for Mindfulness
- The Mindfulness for Couples course from LiveWell
- The Mindful Love course by Connie Feutz
6. Do Couples Yoga
When you do yoga, you are very much present in the moment and mindful of yourself. So when you engage in couples yoga, you tune into your partner to align your breath, and you work on support, communication, and being there for each other.
You can attend in-person classes, book one-on-one sessions with a trainer, or check out what’s available on YouTube and practice at home.
Choose between these types of couples yoga:
- Tantra yoga is a spiritual practice where you connect with your energy and bond with yourself. With your loved one, you focus on sharing your energy with them and fostering a greater bond.
- Acroyoga combines acrobatics and yoga so you and your partner need to be a little fit. You will build strength with your partner as you learn how to support each other and build trust.
- “Regular” yoga is also a mindfulness exercise you and your partner can do together.
7. Declutter Your Home
You probably think this is a chore and not an exercise in being mindful. But when your home is full of clutter, so is your mind and your relationship.
It’s time to get rid of clutter so you can focus on what’s important in your life. The benefit of decluttering with your loved one is that you can switch off, unwind, and be mindful about the items in your home.
In true Marie Kondo fashion, ask yourself whether the item sparks joy in your life. You can also reminisce with your partner as you come across items that hold meaning.
8. Massage Each Other Sensually
Mindful touch helps you relax and makes you feel closer to your partner. The purpose of a sensual massage today isn’t to lead to sex, but if it does, great for you. The main purpose is to connect with your loved one, make them feel special, and to be mindful that you are spending quality time together.
Related read: How Important Is Sex in a Relationship?
So follow these steps to get started:
- Eliminate distractions. Light some candles and put on soft, relaxing music.
- Decide who is being massaged today, and then switch next time.
- If you are getting a massage, lie down on your tummy on the bed or couch.
- Your partner can start gently massaging you, spending 30 seconds or so on one body part. They can start with your feet and more upward to your neck and scalp.
- Focus on the sensations your partner evokes while they touch you, and your partner should also be mindful of how they are making you feel.
9. Forest Bathe
It’s wonderful to spend time in nature, and the Japanese call this shinrin-yoku (forest bathing) that quite literally means to “bathe in a forest.”
You don’t actually take a physical bath; it’s more of a soul bath as you are quiet and calm and observe the nature that’s around you.
Take your partner with you to forest bathe in your garden, local park, or a national park. You can sit next to a tree and focus on breathing deeply, collect rocks or leaves and be mindful of the object (how it feels, how it looks, etc.), and do a nature scan (where you notice your partner, the space you’re in, and what you feel, see, smell, and hear).
10. Create a Vision Board Together
You can also create a vision board with your partner to engage in mindfulness. Choose a theme for the board and start making it.
The vision board can be about bucket list activities, your shared vision for the future, what you are grateful for, and milestones in your relationship.
Final Thoughts
There are so many ways you can be mindful with your partner, and it’s essential to do at least one of these mindfulness exercises a day.
Keeping your relationship strong, happy, and healthy takes continuous hard work. But with these mindfulness activities, you won’t feel like it is work because you’ll enjoy spending time with your loved one while you reap the benefits.
You want to be connected and feel loved and supported, so be mindful!
Continue working on your relationship with these 9 weekly romance goals.
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