Tips to Take Your Emotional Intimacy to the Next Level

Your relationship isn’t only about what happens in the bedroom. In fact, sex is only one aspect of intimacy in a relationship. So, enhancing emotional intimacy can't simply be tackled between the sheets or sitting beside each other on the sofa – it must be approached from many different directions.

Practice affection

Life can become so busy and hectic that we often forget to find time for the little gestures. While a kiss on the forehead or a gentle caress of the cheek might not seem like much, these actions make your words more tangible – they put action behind the words, "I love you." While they may seem more sweet than sexy, the strong sense of comfort and security they build makes for a more meaningful connection in the bedroom, too.

Communicate your needs

Picture you and your partner standing facing each other, but the space between you is a barrel filled with water. That would make it pretty impossible to get closer to each other, right? That barrel of water is your repressed feelings. To lessen the gap, you have to be totally open and honest about your wants and needs – and the same goes for your physical wants and needs. Expressing your desires in a healthy way enhances trust, which is the foundation of any great relationship.

Be physically intimate

Sex does play a large part in furthering intimacy, largely thanks to oxytocin or the “love hormone” that floods the body during post-coital bliss. According to the American Psychological Association, the rush of oxytocin that occurs after sex is a socially bonding experience that creates feelings of calm and closeness.

Discover yourself

The more you know and fully accept yourself, the more likely you are to take your intimacy with your partner to the next level. Why? In order to increase intimacy with another person, a certain level of transparency must exist – you must be willing to expose even those most vulnerable sides of yourself to connect on a deeper level with your partner. The less you hold back, the better. Ultimately, the more personal aspects you realize, acknowledge, and eventually share, the closer the two of you become as a couple.

About the Author

A native of Charleston, S.C., Julie Sprankles has been writing professionally since 2003. She received a double Bachelor of Arts in English and communications from Charleston Southern University. Formerly editor-in-chief at award-winning shelter publication "Charleston Home + Design Magazine," Sprankles now enjoys writing and editing full-time.