Gloss How-To: Make Sex a Priority

sex Gloss How To: Make Sex a PriorityYou work overtime, help the kids with their homework, drive to and from soccer practice, make dinner, pay bills, clean up…and you’re still supposed to make time for sex with your spouse? Keeping things spicy while keeping up with your responsibilities can seem difficult at times, but it just might be critical to the health of your marriage.

Jenny Block, author of Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage, says the key is to “keep your sex life at the top.” There are no set rules for how often you have to have sex or even what a healthy sex life means to you. But you need to communicate with your partner and decide what your basic sexual needs are. Then, those needs have to become a priority.

Too often, couples put their sex life to the bottom of the to-do list. When “take out the garbage” becomes more important than your sex life, it’s a sure sign things might be getting stale. A healthy sex life keeps you connected physically and emotionally with your partner.

The benefits of a healthy sex life extend well beyond your relationship as well. Sex is a great stress reliever, burns calories, boosts cardiovascular health and has even been linked to improved immunity.

Can Sleeping Apart Bring You Closer?

sleepingapart 300x232 Can Sleeping Apart Bring You Closer?As much as you may love your partner, sometimes insignificant habits and traits can start to wear on you after a while. Some differences you just have to learn to live with. But when it comes to sleeping habits, maybe you don’t have to live with it after all. Maybe he snores and you steal all the covers. You like to curl up with a book and he likes to sleep with the TV on. Varied sleep habits can lead to one or both halves of a couple not getting a good night’s sleep. A growing number of couples are choosing to solve their sleep differences by sleeping in different beds. Maybe Lucy and Ricky Ricardo were on to something.

Professionals are divided on whether separate beds/rooms are a good thing for couples. On one hand, you’re more likely to get a good night’s sleep if you have the bed to yourself, some time alone can be beneficial, and you can keep your own personal bedtime rituals and sleep habits without disturbing your partner. It’s not as if sex has to suffer; you can certainly sneak down the hall to your partner’s room. It might even have a little naughty thrill to it! On the other hand, there’s a definite intimacy that comes from sharing a bed with your partner and waking up with them. Could letting go of that intimacy be damaging?And while a healthy sex life is still completely possible for couples who sleep in separate beds, those middle of the night “oh hey, we’re both awake, why don’t we…” moments wouldn’t present themselves anymore.

What do you think? Can sleeping apart bring you closer? Or do you think it would lead to problems in your relationship?