Latest / The Diva Details / Foreplay Starts at Breakfast: Keep the Burner On All Day
Transcript
- 0:01Welcome to the Diva Details. Welcome to the Diva
- 0:05Details, where bold, confident women embrace life
- 0:09unapologetically. From love and sex to wellness and
- 0:13reinvention, we keep it raw, real, and powerful.
- 0:17No filters, no limits, just fearless conversations
- 0:22to help you thrive. Let's dive in with Diva
- 0:26Mia and Diva Kat.
- 0:32Hello, this is Diva Mia. Today we're gonna talk a little bit about foreplay
- 0:36and not in the sense that you think, but how you start foreplay
- 0:40well before the time you're gonna be intimate. I want you to think about
- 0:44something for a second. What was the first time you touched your partner today?
- 0:47Not talking about texting them or touching them via
- 0:51a phone call. If you had to think about it, or if you
- 0:54could gimme the honest answer, could you say, oh, I handed 'em coffee, or their—
- 0:58our fingers may have brushed, or— you're not alone. Of people
- 1:02don't touch their partners anymore. That was me a long time ago. When you're in
- 1:06a marriage for a long time, sometimes you forget. Then when you get into another
- 1:10relationship, touching may become much more important. Most of us think
- 1:13intimacy is sometimes something that happens at night in the bedroom
- 1:18with the lights down, but the couples who keep the spark alive are the ones
- 1:21that are constantly holding hands and hugging and kissing and
- 1:25touching. They keep the spark alive for decades because they're constantly being physical
- 1:29with each other. Now I know a lot of people don't
- 1:33like physical touch. They don't like it in public. Their love language may not
- 1:37be physical touch. However, it is part of intimacy. If you can adjust
- 1:42to enjoying it more, maybe you don't like the way they touch you. Maybe you
- 1:46need to let them know you like it a different way, but find a way
- 1:48to find enjoyment in it. I have found physical touch to be extremely
- 1:52pleasurable. Let's say you just touch and hug each other and
- 1:55give each other a kiss before work, or you hold each other's hands
- 2:00at the breakfast table. Or in the hallway, you, you rub up against them.
- 2:04It's, it's a nice thing to have a partner that you can
- 2:07spend quality time with and touch them. So today we're going to talk about
- 2:11why floor play starts at breakfast and it needs to start at breakfast.
- 2:14I'm really glad you're here because this is the episode I think a lot of
- 2:17people really need. It's a really good way to reconnect with your partners,
- 2:20especially anyone who's been there, their partner long enough that the relationship
- 2:25has quietly started to turn into logistics,
- 2:28managing the children, paying the bills. Figuring out what has to get done,
- 2:32who's picking up the kids, who's buying the dish soap. So here's the
- 2:36idea. I want to unpack today that when most people hear the word foreplay,
- 2:40they picture 10 or 15 minutes right before sex,
- 2:43making out, playing around a little bit. That's what most people picture
- 2:47when they think of foreplay. But a lot of relationship research
- 2:50and therapists would tell you that that's far too narrow. Real foreplay
- 2:55is the kind that actually keeps desire alive over years.
- 2:58Everything that happens between 2 people all day long can be considered foreplay
- 3:02if you make it that way. The way you say goodbye, the way you give
- 3:05a kiss, the way you give a hug, when you hold each other's hands,
- 3:09that's foreplay. When you touch each other when you pass in the kitchen, whether you
- 3:12hold hands in the car, whether you kiss hello like you mean
- 3:16it or like you're stamping a passport. We've all given
- 3:20the passport kiss. Don't get me wrong. It's quick. It's dry. It's done. It's next.
- 3:23But sometimes those extra passionate kisses are amazing.
- 3:27So today I'm going to walk you through a whole day, morning to night,
- 3:30and talk about small, playful, physical things you can do to stay connected with
- 3:34your partner. And I think people, I mean, we're all busy and I get it,
- 3:37but we re— you may need to reconnect with your partner. Touching,
- 3:41holding hands, hugging, kissing, even a little flirtation. And it's
- 3:45just as important. I'm going to talk about how to do it all the way
- 3:48in a way that makes you feel good and doesn't feel like pressure.
- 3:52That's a, that's a huge piece of it. One quick note before we dive in.
- 3:55This episode is about affection and intimacy between consenting adults.
- 3:59And so everything I'm going to talk about only works with, with both people want
- 4:03it. If you have a partner that's not into physical touch and you're trying to
- 4:07touch them and they don't want it, that's not going to be a good situation.
- 4:10It's going to creep them out. And I'll come back to that because it matters
- 4:13more than any tip I'm going to give you. You also have to learn their
- 4:16love language. Maybe they just like to be talked to. Maybe they like
- 4:20to have gifts. It just depends on who they are, but you need to learn
- 4:23their love language too. And I will say, I know a lot of women aren't
- 4:26into the touchy-feely stuff. I've, I've seen
- 4:29it a lot. They don't want to be, they don't want to have their hands
- 4:32held. It just depends on the person. So you really need to have that discussion
- 4:36because You may be touching a woman that doesn't want to be touched. And sometimes
- 4:40men are like that as well. So let's get into it.
- 4:43Desire is important. And before we get to go to get to
- 4:47breakfast, I need to clear up a myth. The myth is that desire works
- 4:51like a light switch. It's either on or off, and it's supposed to flip on
- 4:55at night when the moon strikes. Now, I will say I was in a relationship
- 5:00where the person wasn't very nice to me. Then he would expect intercourse at
- 5:03night. And for women, if you've been mean to us during the day, we don't
- 5:06really want to have intercourse with you. At night. We just don't. Sex is
- 5:10kind of off the table if you're not a very nice person. So it kind
- 5:14of kills the mood. But the light switch doesn't flip on and people panic when,
- 5:17oh my gosh, something's wrong. The spark's gone. Maybe we've just not
- 5:22attracted to each other anymore. If you're not having sex with your partner,
- 5:25and there are couples that don't have sex for weeks and months and even years,
- 5:29maybe try this technique because you need to
- 5:33have more physical intimacy before you actually have sexual intimacy.
- 5:37But there's a much more useful way to think about desire. Picture a pot on
- 5:40the stove. If the burner has been off all day, you can't expect
- 5:45that pot to boil in 5 minutes. It's just not gonna happen.
- 5:48But if the burner has been on low, keeping things gently warm all day,
- 5:52it doesn't take much time at all to bring it up to a boil.
- 5:55Think about that with your relationships. Your relationships, if you can keep
- 5:59them going, boiling by holding hands, giving each other kisses,
- 6:03snuggling with each other, even just having a conversation at night
- 6:08under the stars, holding hands, that's a good way to keep your
- 6:12relationship going. That's what this whole episode is about. It's keeping the
- 6:16burner on throughout the day and loving each other throughout the day.
- 6:20And there's real research behind this idea. Sex educator Emily Nagoski,
- 6:24who wrote a fantastic book called Come As You Are, talks about
- 6:282 different styles of desire. There's spontaneous desire and there's responsive
- 6:32desire. And I know we've talked about this before on the podcast, and spontaneous
- 6:37desire is the kind you see in movies where out of nowhere
- 6:40you just get swept off your feet and your partner, they show up,
- 6:43And it's instantaneous. That's spontaneous desire.
- 6:47But responsive desire is desire that shows up in response to something:
- 6:51touch, closeness, a great conversation, feeling appreciated.
- 6:55Both sides like to feel appreciated, guys and ladies. Feeling relaxed
- 7:00and safe. It's hard to find a person that truly relaxes you.
- 7:03So when you find one of those people, that's a turn-on as well. And for
- 7:08a lot of people, especially people in long-term relationships,
- 7:11responsive desire is the main way desire works. You feel
- 7:15safe with your partner. You can explore each other's bodies. You can play
- 7:19with your partner. You can do things that you wanna do with other people.
- 7:23That's what a long-term relationship is all about. I wanna pause on
- 7:26that because I think it's one of the most freeing things you can hear.
- 7:29If you're someone who doesn't just randomly get
- 7:33hit with desire at 3 in the afternoon, you're not broken.
- 7:36Nothing is wrong with you. You just need the pot on the stove all
- 7:40day long, warming up a little bit. And that's exactly why this
- 7:43all-day approach matters so much. If you or your partner experience desire responsively,
- 7:48then affection throughout the day isn't a nice little extra. It's a requirement.
- 7:52It's the thing that makes desire possible in the first
- 7:56place. There's another piece of research I love here from John Gottman,
- 7:59and Gottman has studied about couples for decades.
- 8:03And one of his big ideas is something he calls bids for connection.
- 8:07A bid is any small attempt to connect with your partner.
- 8:11They say, hey, look at this bird outside.
- 8:14Or they rest a hand on your shoulder, on your leg as they walk by,
- 8:17or they give you a little smack in the butt, or they come
- 8:21up and hug you from behind. They send you a funny meme.
- 8:24And in case of these moments, you have a choice. You can turn towards
- 8:29the bid, meaning you engage it, you respond, you notice it,
- 8:33you receive it, or you can turn away and ignore it, roll your eyes,
- 8:37you're on your phone, or you grunt. So that's 2 different ways to
- 8:41respond to the same input. And I'll be honest, I've been a world-class
- 8:45grunner at times when I was right in the middle of something, but most of
- 8:49the time I'm receptive. So the question is, are you? What Gottman's research
- 8:53found is that couples who stay together turn towards each other. They turn
- 8:57towards each other's bids more often than couples who split up. It isn't
- 9:01the big romantic gestures that make the difference. It's the little things.
- 9:05Sometimes it's the anniversary trip and the fancy dinner, but it's the thousands of tiny
- 9:09moments in between. Those little tiny moments are what matters.
- 9:12The physical touch, the peck on the cheek, the snuggle,
- 9:16the hug, the longer hug than you should be giving.
- 9:19Those are the physical moments that make relationships last. So when I talk
- 9:24about touch throughout the day, what I'm really talking about is making
- 9:27bids and responding to them. It doesn't have to be 15 minutes long. It could
- 9:30be a 5-second bid. A hand on the small of the back is a
- 9:34bid, a kiss on the forehead, you know,
- 9:37walking up and just being with the person in a nice long
- 9:41hug. Reaching for their hand in the car is a bid. And if
- 9:45you pull away when they reach for your hand, that's shutting down intimacy. And physical
- 9:49bids carry something extra. They're warm,
- 9:52affectionate touches linked with feelings of calm and closeness.
- 9:55It gives a sense of comfort. You'll hear people talk about oxytocin,
- 10:00sometimes called the cuddle hormone, and this is by
- 10:04far the actual science on oxytocin. It's a
- 10:08lot more complicated than the headline makes it sound, but you don't need a lab
- 10:11study to know that a real long hug from someone you really love feels
- 10:15very different than a quick pat on the back. Your body relaxes,
- 10:19your shoulders drop, you feel safe, and feeling safe and relaxed happens
- 10:23to be one of the biggest ingredients for desire there is, especially for
- 10:27women. We went through the 100 things that women want, and safety is
- 10:31right in the top because we want to feel safe. And you give those long
- 10:34hugs, Those are extremely powerful, just like a long romantic
- 10:38kiss. So that's our framework. Desire is a dial, not a switch.
- 10:42The day is the stove and touch and playfulness are how you keep
- 10:47the burner on. So let's walk through the day now. So in the morning,
- 10:50you're at the breakfast table, the alarm goes off. What's the very first thing most
- 10:53of us do? We grab our phones, which probably shouldn't. Before we're even
- 10:58looking at the person lying next to us, we're checking emails, scrolling news, reading a
- 11:01text from the boss. And just like that, the first energy of the day goes
- 11:05to everyone and everything else except for your partner. So here's tip number 1,
- 11:10and it's very simple. Before you touch your phone, touch your partner.
- 11:13Nothing elaborate. Roll over, put an arm around them, spend 30
- 11:17seconds just lying there before the day starts. It sets a completely
- 11:21different tone than waking up and driving straight into the office for
- 11:25work. And if your schedules don't line up, if one of you is up at
- 11:295 and the other sleeps until 8, you can still do something. Kiss them on
- 11:33the forehead before you get up. Brush their hair back from their face,
- 11:36rest your hand on their shoulder for a second. They may barely wake
- 11:40up, but some part of them recognizes it. It's another
- 11:44bid. It's another touch. For years, my partner would get up before me and
- 11:48slip out of the room, and there was a disconnect
- 11:52there. At some point, it, you know, it feels like you're disconnecting.
- 11:57It sounds so small, but I noticed that on the days I felt closer was
- 12:01when the days that You know, I was up with them and spending time
- 12:04with them. So now we're in the kitchen. And I think the
- 12:08kitchen is one of the most underrated places for playfulness in a relationship because
- 12:12you're already physically close. Most kitchens aren't huge.
- 12:15You're bumping into each other. You're rubbing up against each other, reading past,
- 12:20reaching past each other, squeezing up in small spaces. It's a very fun,
- 12:24playful location. So use it. When you reach past
- 12:28them for the coffee, put your hand on their waist. When you're standing at the
- 12:31stove, come up behind them and wrap your arms around them for a second.
- 12:35The back hug. Personally, I love back hugs. I think the back hug is undefeated
- 12:39for amazing hugs. And flirt a little. Tell them they look
- 12:44good. Say it like you actually mean it. You'd be amazed how many long-term
- 12:48couples just stop saying, you look good, out loud because we assume
- 12:52our partners know. And they might know it in theory,
- 12:55but hearing it is different, especially at 7 in the morning. Than when you're wearing
- 12:59yesterday's t-shirt and your hair is in a messy bun and you're doing
- 13:03something unexplainable. So now let's talk about the
- 13:06goodbye kiss, because this is the big one for the morning. John Gottman,
- 13:10the researcher I mentioned earlier, has an idea of something called the 6-second
- 13:14kiss. It's exactly what it sounds like. When you kiss
- 13:18your partner goodbye or hello, make it last 6
- 13:21seconds. No more pecks. That doesn't sound like a very long, but until you
- 13:25actually do it, It can be actually amazing. Try it after this episode.
- 13:29Count, count in your head, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 while you're kissing them.
- 13:336 seconds is long enough that the kiss stops being a habit and becomes a
- 13:36moment. You have to actually be there for it. You can't be looking for
- 13:40your keys or thinking about your 9 o'clock meeting. And honestly,
- 13:44there's something a little playful, even a little charged
- 13:47about a real 6-second kiss at a quarter to 8
- 13:51in the morning when you both have to leave. That's kind of
- 13:55the point. It leaves something hanging. You walk out the door. Still thinking about that
- 13:59kiss. Foreplay starts at breakfast. One more thing,
- 14:02one more morning idea: a real hug. Not a side hug, not a
- 14:05see-you-later wave from the driveway, not the one-arm hug while you're holding
- 14:09a travel mug. A full both-arm, chest-to-chest hug
- 14:13where neither of you lets go first. Eventually one
- 14:17of you will have to. Some people call this a melting hug. You melt into
- 14:20each other's arms. You hold on until you both feel yourselves relax.
- 14:24You'll literally feel it. Their breath slows, your shoulders drop.
- 14:28It makes 20— it may take 20 seconds for it to happen.
- 14:32And the first few times, you might even feel awkward because you're not used to
- 14:35hugging, but that's okay. Awkward is fine. Awkward usually turns into
- 14:38laughing and laughing together while you're holding each other. It's another
- 14:43sign of intimacy. So let's recap the morning. You touch before phone,
- 14:47you flirting and back hugs in the kitchen, a real spoken compliment and
- 14:516-second kiss and a hug That's at least 10 to 20
- 14:54seconds. And the total time investment is maybe 2 minutes.
- 14:58If you don't have 2 minutes to spare for your partner in the morning,
- 15:00you're having a bigger issue. So you have a great morning,
- 15:03you did the 6-second kiss, and now you're apart for 8,
- 15:079, maybe 10 hours. This is where a lot of the warmth drains out
- 15:11of the relationship. You each go off into your separate work, you get stressed,
- 15:14you deal with difficult people, and by the time you come home, you're basically
- 15:182 tired strangers who share a mortgage.
- 15:21So how do you keep the burner on when you
- 15:25can't physically touch? Here's the funny part. The answer is the phone, the same phone
- 15:28I told you not to touch in the morning. The phone giveth and the phone
- 15:31taketh away, but there's a world of difference between texting, can you grab
- 15:34milk? And texting, I keep thinking about that kiss this morning.
- 15:37Flirty text is one of the most underrated tools in a long-term
- 15:42relationship. Think about it. When you were first dating, you probably
- 15:45did it constantly, and then you moved in together or got married, and somewhere
- 15:49along the way it just stopped. Every text became about the schedule, the kids,
- 15:53the bills, and it doesn't need to be explicit. In fact, I'd argue
- 15:57the suggestion about non-explicit stuff is even
- 16:00funner. Stuff is often more fun because it builds anticipation.
- 16:04Here's a couple simple ones. I miss you, baby. You look really good.
- 16:07Hello, beautiful. Good morning, sexy. Can't wait to get
- 16:12home to you tonight. Can't wait to sleep with you again.
- 16:15A little more playful. I have plans for tonight, not telling you what they are,
- 16:19or One of my favorites, just so you know, you're getting a very long hug
- 16:23when you walk in the door. I love that, that one, because it's a promise
- 16:27and they can actually follow— you can actually follow through on it.
- 16:30That follow-through is key. If you send the I have plans for you text and
- 16:34then they come home and zone out on the couch for 3 hours, that doesn't
- 16:37build connection. That builds disappointment. And by the way, you know,
- 16:41plans doesn't mean you have to have sex. It means that you're
- 16:44gonna make something, their favorite dinner, keep them guessing. Photos work too.
- 16:48And no, I don't mean explicit photos being sent on
- 16:51your phone. You can just say, I just saw this photo and I thought of
- 16:54you and I sent it to you, or a picture of your coffee shop where
- 16:58you've had your first date, or a picture of the dog that looks exactly like
- 17:02their grumpy uncle, you know, or something that happened cute in your day.
- 17:05Every one of these is a bid. Every one, you're on my mind. Now,
- 17:09a lot of couples these days, they work from home, and that's a whole different
- 17:13challenge. You're physically around each other all day, but you're both in the work mode.
- 17:16And in some ways that can be even harder because you're close without
- 17:20actually being connected. If that's you, build little touch moments
- 17:24into the transitions of your day. When you get up for lunch,
- 17:28stop by their desk and put your hands on their shoulders for a second.
- 17:31Give them a quick massage. A quick shoulder rub is nice. A kiss on the
- 17:35top of their head. And if they're on a video call, maybe skip it.
- 17:39Read the room. Nobody wants a surprise kiss during the quarter budget
- 17:43review. That's, that'd be bad. And if you can take
- 17:47an actual lunch together, take lunch together, sit across from each other, hold each other's
- 17:51hands, no laptops, reach across the table and touch hands like you're on a
- 17:55date. It's such a small thing, but it feels completely different from eating side
- 17:59by side while staring at 2 separate screens. One more midday
- 18:02idea, and this one's especially good for couples with long workdays. I call it the
- 18:06countdown. Sometimes it's the afternoon text each other. You know, when you're saying,
- 18:10I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight, it could be a simple cuddling on the
- 18:13couch or a picture of 2 people cuddling, or It gives
- 18:17you both something to look forward to. And it also helps you anticipate.
- 18:20Honestly, if one of the most powerful ingredients is desire, half the
- 18:24fun of anything is looking forward to it. So midday recap,
- 18:28send some flirty or appreciative texts and share little things
- 18:31like, I'm thinking of you. Follow through on what you promise. And if
- 18:35you're home together, build touch into the transition. And then
- 18:39in the evening, okay, we're almost done. We're wrapping up. They're coming home and they're
- 18:43winding down. Now the evening. And I'd argue that the single most important moment
- 18:46of the entire day happens right here. It's the first 2 minutes after they walk
- 18:50into the door. Think about how most of us come home. You walk in the
- 18:53door, you drop your bags, and the first words outta your mouth are a problem.
- 18:56Traffic was terrible. Did the email get to the school? Why is the dog
- 18:59wet? Instead, imagine the first thing that happens in a
- 19:03real hug is a real hug or a real kiss before the problems start,
- 19:06before the logistics. The problems will still be there in 2 minutes. They're not going
- 19:10anywhere. But in those 2 minutes, you've reminded each other that You're partners
- 19:14first and co-managers of a household second. I think
- 19:18of it as a reunion ritual. And you know who does
- 19:21this perfectly? Dogs. Your dog does not
- 19:24greet you by complaining about their day. Your dog greets you like you
- 19:28have been gone for a year and it's the best thing that's ever happened to
- 19:32them. They're jumping up, down. They're so excited to see you. So here's your takeaway.
- 19:35Be more like a dog. If you have kids, this matters even
- 19:38more because the second you walk in, everybody wants something from you.
- 19:42So maybe you and your partner make an agreement. We greet each other first.
- 19:45First, even if it's just for 30 seconds. And honestly, it's good for kids
- 19:49to see that parent hug and that parent kiss. It shows them
- 19:53what a loving relationship should look like. They'll probably groan and say,
- 19:57ooh, gross. That's okay. That's their job. Then there's
- 20:00dinner. You cook together. It's very playful. One of my
- 20:04favorite things in the world is dancing in the kitchen while something's on the stove
- 20:08cooking. You put on a song you both love, you grab your partner, you sway
- 20:12for 2 or 3 minutes. You don't have to be good at it. Actually,
- 20:15it's better if you're bad because then you can laugh and make fun of each
- 20:18other, and laughing while you're holding each other is a powerful combination. After dinner,
- 20:22let's talk about the couch because the couch is where a lot of couples sit
- 20:26side by side, each scrolling their own phone for 2-3 hours.
- 20:29If you're gonna watch TV, great, watch it, but be touching while you're doing
- 20:33it. Feet, feet in each other's legs, head on a shoulder,
- 20:37head on their lap. Or a hand resting on their knees, playing with
- 20:41their hair. There's so many things you can do when you're sitting next to someone
- 20:44on the couch just to be touching them. And now I want to say something
- 20:47really clearly because it may be the most important thing in this entire episode.
- 20:51Not every touch has to lead somewhere. A lot of couples
- 20:55fall into a pattern over time where every touch from
- 20:59one partner starts to feel like an invitation to sex. A hug is really a
- 21:02question. A back rub is really a negotiation. And so the other partner starts
- 21:06avoiding touch altogether because they don't want to have to say no because
- 21:11they don't feel like it or they're feeling pressured, and slowly touching disappears
- 21:15from the relationship completely because of that. The painful irony
- 21:18is the partner who wanted more intimacy ends up getting less of it
- 21:21because every touch came with an expectation attachment.
- 21:26So the fix is that lots and lots of touch that
- 21:30is just touch— hugs that are just hugs, back rubs that are just back rubs.
- 21:34When your partner generally knows that a back rub isn't a sneaky
- 21:38setup, they can finally relax into it. And when they into
- 21:42it. Remember responsive desire from the beginning of the episode?
- 21:45That's exactly when it, when it has room to show up.
- 21:49It's almost counterintuitive. The less pressure you put on touch,
- 21:53the more likely it is to lead to intimacy. Some couples even make
- 21:57this explicit. They'll say, tonight we're just going to cuddle. That's it.
- 22:00That's it. Nothing else is on the table. And strangely, taking sex
- 22:04off the table can make both people feel so much more free, relaxed, and then
- 22:08they may have sex anyway. And finally, bedtime. When you can go
- 22:11to bed at the same time— I know schedules don't always allow for it,
- 22:14but a lot of couples drift into completely different bedtimes without
- 22:18ever really deciding to, and they lose one of
- 22:21the most natural times of the day to be close. Once you're in bed,
- 22:25the phone thing again— put it down or put it in the other
- 22:29room. Talk to each other, tell each other one good thing about your day,
- 22:32hold each other, fall asleep together touching if you like that,
- 22:35or at least start there. Corny can be underrated. Even strong couples I know
- 22:40it's a little bit fun to be a little corny and do something unique for
- 22:43each other. So far I've painted a pretty nice picture, but I'd be doing
- 22:47you a disservice if I pretended that it's always easy. So let's
- 22:51troubleshoot a few couple real situations. First situation,
- 22:54I want more touch, but my partner doesn't seem into it. This is really common.
- 22:58And the first thing I'd say is talk about it outside the
- 23:02moment, not right after you reached for them and they've pulled away. Just sit
- 23:07down some time and have a conversation about it. That way the moment's changed and
- 23:10there's no animosity towards each other. Pick a calm, neutral time and have
- 23:14a curious conversation. Curiosity, not accusatory,
- 23:17and not, why don't you ever want to be touched? More like,
- 23:21I've been thinking about how we can show affection. What kind of touch feels
- 23:24really good to you? Is there any that does? And is there any that doesn't?
- 23:28Because people generally have different preferences. Some people love a
- 23:32lot of touch. Some people get touched out, especially parents of
- 23:36young kids who have had a toddler hanging on them for 10 hours straight.
- 23:40By the time the kids are asleep, the last thing that parents want is more
- 23:43hands on them. That's not rejection. That's a nervous system
- 23:46that needs a break. So for that partner, maybe the answer isn't more touch at
- 23:519:00 PM. Maybe it's giving them 20 minutes of real alone
- 23:54time in a bath, or maybe the best touch is something low-key like
- 24:00just sitting close without a lot of grabbing because they've been grabbed by their toddler
- 24:02all day long. And just ask. Some people love having their hair played with but
- 24:06hate being tickled. Some people love a hand on their low back but don't
- 24:10like surprise hugs from behind. Back hugs are undefeated for some
- 24:13people, but others don't like them. And find out what— who you're married to.
- 24:17And in fact, you should have known this ahead of time before you got
- 24:20married because it shouldn't ever stop. It really should continue through your entire
- 24:24marriage. We've been together— and here's another situation. We've been together
- 24:29a long time and doing this stuff feels awkward, like we're faking
- 24:32it. Honestly, it probably will feel awkward at first if you haven't kissed for 6
- 24:37seconds in 5 years. The first one is going to feel strange.
- 24:40You might both burst out laughing and that's great. Name it. Say that feels
- 24:45weird, right? That's, that's okay. Treat it like an
- 24:48experiment. Learn each other's bodies. Learn to play again. Learn to
- 24:52have fun like a kid. And usually pretty quickly what felt awkward
- 24:56starts to feel natural again. Because it was natural once. You're not learning a
- 24:59language. You're remembering an old one. Here's another situation.
- 25:03One of us wants way more intimacy than the other. I've been there.
- 25:07I've been in this situation where I wanted way more intimacy. This may be the
- 25:10most common issue couples face. And I wanna be clear, there's no quick podcast
- 25:14fix for this one. Mismatched desire is normal. We probably should have
- 25:18a podcast on mismatched desire, but mismatched desire is normal and
- 25:22extremely common. But if it's causing ongoing hurt in your relationship,
- 25:25it's worth seeing a couples therapist or a certified sex therapist. That's not
- 25:29a failure. It's just getting the right help. What I will say
- 25:34is that this all-day affection approach can help precisely
- 25:37because it lowers the stakes. The partner who wants more gets more closeness
- 25:42and connection throughout the day, which can ease some of that longing.
- 25:46And the partner who wants less gets touched without pressure, which for
- 25:50a lot of people is exactly what allows desire to
- 25:53grow stronger in them. But, and this is a big but,
- 25:57it only works if the touch is genuinely pressure-free.
- 26:01If you're doing all-day affection as a strategy to get something at
- 26:05night, your partner's gonna feel it, and people can smell an
- 26:08agenda from a mile away. So do this because you actually enjoy being close to
- 26:12your partner. Let whatever happens at night be a bonus, not the
- 26:16goal. And then situation 4: What if my partner says no?
- 26:19Then there's the answer, and you take it gracefully. That goes for
- 26:24a kiss, a hug, anything at all. And here's something worth sitting with: How
- 26:29you respond to a no has a huge effect on how you're— how safe
- 26:33your partner's gonna feel. And eventually they may say yes in the future.
- 26:36If your partner pulls back from a hug and sulks or goes cold or
- 26:40makes a little comment, what they learn is that your affection comes with strings.
- 26:45But if they say, not right now, I'm stressed, and you say, totally,
- 26:48I'm here if you want me, and you give them space, what they learn is
- 26:52that it's safe to be close to you, that you won't punish them for having
- 26:55needs, and that a feeling of safety is what makes
- 26:59intimacy grow. Over time. The goal is a relationship where
- 27:03both people feel safe and free and free to say yes and completely
- 27:07free to say no. Playfulness only works when there's
- 27:10safety underneath it. And then the 5th situation I
- 27:14came up with is we're longing or we're long distance or our schedules are
- 27:18wildly different. So then you get creative. So video
- 27:22calls where you actually look at each other instead of multitasking,
- 27:26voice notes, which are so much more intimate than So leave
- 27:30a voice message because you get to hear the person's voice. Some couples
- 27:33even fall asleep on a call together, and the flirty texting I
- 27:37talked about earlier can become your main tools. So use it well. And when
- 27:41you are finally together, be intentional about that reunion hug. Maybe make it a whole
- 27:45minute. All right, so here's your challenge. I want to leave you with something practical.
- 27:49So I'm giving you a 7-day challenge this time. I know it's a lot.
- 27:52For the next 7 days, try these 5 things every single day
- 27:56with your partner. Number 1, touch before your phone. Hug, snuggle, do a quick
- 27:59kiss on the forehead before you check your phone in the morning. Correct— connect
- 28:03that physical touch with your partner, even for just a few seconds. And then number
- 28:072, the 6-second kiss. It's amazing. You need a 6-second kiss.
- 28:10I recommend one in the morning, and I recommend a goodbye kiss and a hello
- 28:14kiss for 6 seconds. Do both of them. And then number 3, one flirty or
- 28:18appreciative message during the day. Not logistically grab milk
- 28:23or pick up some laundry detergent, something that says, I'm thinking about you. And then
- 28:26number 4, the reunion hug. When they come home from work,
- 28:30give them the biggest hug they've ever had and just keep holding on and
- 28:34hold on until you both completely relax. Number 5,
- 28:37one moment of both of touch with no agenda,
- 28:40a back rub, holding hands on the couch, playing with
- 28:45your hair, playing with their hair, touch that, touch that isn't leading anywhere
- 28:49just because it feels nice. And that's it. 5 small things,
- 28:52probably less than 10 minutes a day total. And at the end of the week,
- 28:55sit down together and ask each other, how did that feel? What did you
- 28:59like? What did you not like? And what would you change? You might be surprised
- 29:02by the answers. I'm generally— I genuinely love to hear how it goes. So send
- 29:07me a message and let me know. I'd love to hear from you and how
- 29:09you and your partners are doing and tell me about your favorite part.
- 29:13Just DM me. Here's what I want you to walk away with today. The spark
- 29:17is a relationship doesn't usually die. The spark in a relationship
- 29:21usually doesn't die in one big dramatic moment. It fades slowly in all
- 29:24the little moments when we could have reached for each other and didn't.
- 29:28But here's the good news. It comes back the same way. One touch,
- 29:31one kiss, one hug at a time. Keep the burner on. And remember,
- 29:35foreplay starts at breakfast. This is Diva Mia. I hope you had a wonderful
- 29:39day. I hope you make sure to give your partner a
- 29:43hug and a kiss and Cheerio, take care of yourself.
- 29:47Bye-bye. Thanks for tuning in.
- 29:51Like, subscribe, and drop a comment. We'd love hearing from you. Visit thedivadetails.com
- 29:57to connect. See you next week for more.
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