Effective communication skills are important now more than ever since you're stuck inside with your partner 24/7.
Even if your first weeks together during the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown are peaceful and happy, every couple will eventually feel triggered by "forced togetherness."
Even if you plan on turning your quarantine into a second honeymoon, you will still need advanced self-soothing and communication skills to create the intimacy, passion, and peace that you desire under these challenging conditions.
Your relationship can survive and thrive in any health, financial, or lifestyle emergency that you may face for the rest of your life.
RELATED: 5 Communication Hacks To Make Unhealthy Arguments In Your Relationship A Thing Of The Past
Motivating and inspiring your partner to co-create solutions that work for both of you must be part of your skillset as cooperation is the goal of every relationship.
The first step you need to take is to ensure that you are in a "no fight zone," as any argument you have now will be too expensive.
Arguments are no longer an option when you are virtually sharing a prison cell with one another! To remind yourself, write this reminder on your bathroom mirror with lipstick.
Now, you can proceed with the 5 effective communication skills for couples in quarantine.
1. Self-soothing skills.
There are five self-sooting skills, and if you are familiar with yoga, you'll be able to use the easiest tool in the list to calm down fast.
The key is to use "brain-breathing" to shift from fear, anger, or sadness within five minutes so that you can think clearly and function in any crisis.
Self-soothing is the first step to creating peace with anyone. And peace is the platform needed to generate cooperation under every condition.
2. "Brain-breathing."
Take a deep slow breath in through both nostrils and bring the air up from your stomach — this is also known as a "yogic breath."
Count to four as you breathe. Make your mouth into a round shape and breath out hard! You receive the greatest benefits if you can do this so that a "whoosh" of air is heard during the exhalation.
Repeat this up to 10 times without stopping. Practice this daily, until you've mastered it. With practice, you can feel calm again in minutes.
Even under "house arrest" with little privacy, you can do this so that your partner doesn’t realize that you’re upset, which is the first step to solving any problem.
You may think that self-expression works best. We all did. Until we realized that in the ’60s, we created monsters — people walking around venting again and again!
3. Know the Heartspace definition of love.
"When the other person’s needs being met is as important to you as getting your own needs being met, that’s love." — Heartspace.
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When you enter this state of mutuality, your relationship thrives and self-soothing makes it possible.
Consider a few easy adjustments that would make your partner happier. If you motivate rather than demand, mutuality grows.
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4. Motivate and inspire your partner.
This requires empathy and is a wonderful tool that creates offers, requests, and situations that generate solutions.
For example: "Sweetie, I’m guessing that you feel really bored and wish we could have some fun tonight, yes?"
Then, you figure out an activity or plan together, or you offer your own idea as a solution.
"Honey, you’re probably feeling very concerned about your job. Maybe you’d like to talk about it and have me listen? We have figured out so much so far. I’d love us to work on this together. Would that help?"
Marital Mediation© is a set of skills for long-married couples who have never resolved their issues, despite loving each other.
You can create the life-long love you desire. It only takes you to master this and recreate joy, peace, and passion!
Avoiding divorce can save you thousands of dollars!
Were you feeling overwhelmed by your marriage before the social distancing rulings? Is it harder to cope with your spouse’s behaviors now than it was during all the previous years of your marriage?
Have you considered separation or divorce because you can’t stand suffering anymore?
5. Learn peaceful no-court divorce with The Divorce Forum®
Even if you decide that you are done, learning how to peacefully separate allows your family to retain most of your assets instead of watching the legal system take your community property as spoils of war.
You can learn this — you must learn this.
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Susan Allan is a certified Mediator and communication expert who created The Marriage Forum, Inc. For complimentary one-hour private telephone coaching session, visit Heartspace®.
