Thriving Sex Life | 7 Easy Hacks Keeping The Spark Alive

You love your kids, but between work, chores, and the nonstop needs of little ones, your sex lives has taken a back seat. When you’re tired and touched out at the end of the day, getting intimate with your partner is often the last thing on your mind.
But don’t give up hope—you can have a thriving sex life as busy parents. All it takes is making it a priority, getting creative, and trying out a few hacks to reconnect with your partner between nappy changes and bedtime stories.
With some simple ideas that can help boost your libido and bring the spark back into the bedroom, so you can nurture your relationship while you also nurture your kids. Keep reading to find out how you can transform your sex life from blah to oh, baby! in no time.

Keeping Intimacy Alive – making intimacy a priority

Between work, chores, and parenting responsibilities, finding time to connect physically and emotionally with your partner can seem impossible. But maintaining intimacy between yourselves should be a priority for any couple.

Ask for help, don’t be afraid to ask family or friends to babysit so you can have an evening alone together. Your relationship will be better for it. Be open to new activities. Trying new things together, even simple things, releases oxytocin to boost arousal and strengthen your bond with each other.

With some creativity and commitment, you can maintain a healthy sex life as parents. Make intimacy and pleasure a priority in your relationship again. Your partner and your sex life are worth the effort!

Making Time for Each Other

Making time for each other when you have kids can feel nearly impossible. But maintaining a healthy sex life with your partner should be a priority, not a luxury. Here are some creative ways for busy parents to reconnect:

• Date Nights – Schedule a weekly date night and stick to it. Get a sitter, cook a nice meal together, do an fun activity you both enjoy. Making the time to connect without distractions can rekindle the spark.
• Early Mornings – Set your alarm a bit early and start your day with some couple time. Most kids won’t be up for at least an hour, so you’ll have the house to yourselves. An energizing way to begin your day!
• Shower Stall Shenanigans – If your bathroom has a shower stall, it’s an ideal spot for a steamy encounter. The running water provides both mood lighting and covers any sounds of passion. Just be very careful to avoid slips and falls!

Making yourselves a priority again may feel strange at first, but sticking with it will help you reconnect and keep that spark alive. Get creative, make the time, and most importantly, have fun with each other! Your relationship will be all the stronger for it.

Is a thriving sex life achievable?

Sex is everywhere…. Magazine ads, billboards, and mainstream media shove sex in our faces on a daily basis, but it’s still somewhat shameful to discuss sex publicly or openly between couples.

As a byproduct of the commercialisation of sex to sell soft drinks, deodorant, and video games, the sexual act itself has become increasingly void of depth and passion. The massive success of books and movies like 50 Shades of Grey speaks to an under-sexed culture of people who are looking for intimacy and intensity that they currently aren’t experiencing in their sex lives.

How do you achieve a more fulfilling and thriving sex life?

7 easy hacks for a thriving sex life with your partner:

#1: Make It A Priority

It’s easy to let life get in the way of our relationships. But whatever we tell ourselves is the reason that we don’t prioritise our sex life any longer, it is only an excuse.

Schedule it. Turn off your cell phones. Keep all phones/televisions/computers away from your bedroom and make it a sexual safe haven. Talk to your partner about your ideal frequency of sexual intimacy. No more excuses. Put the effort in, make it the priority that it deserves to be, and you will both benefit tremendously.

#2: Exercise

Feel like your sex drive has dropped off in the last little while? Unless you’ve just had a baby and are dealing with sleep deprivation, you’re probably not getting enough exercise.

Challenging exercise gives you a rush of endorphins, dopamine, and a host of other happiness inducing brain chemicals. Weight lifting also helps with the production of testosterone (the sex and aggression hormone) which keeps your sex drive healthy and regular.

Does the thought of becoming a gym rat with a regular protein shake habit sound like too much? Then don’t commit to that. Work out with intensity once and see how your body, libido, and mental state respond.

#3: Eye Contact

Studies have shown that, early on in a romantic relationship, the greater the amount of time you and your partner spend making eye contact the greater chance of success your relationship has long-term.

One of the most common complaints I’ve received from my heterosexual female clients is that their boyfriends bury their face over their shoulder and they get little to no eye contact during sex. Counteract this by consciously connecting with your eyes. To take it a step further you can touch your foreheads together for periods of time for some deep soul gazing.

#4: Just Say No To Porn

I’ve written about this extensively in the past, and it bears repeating.

Fast food is to nutrition as porn is to intimacy.

If you have a low sex drive, have difficulty becoming aroused with your partner, or generally have a lackluster desire for your partner, this can frequently be tied back to your porn consumption. Just say no to porn. You can go as far as downloading website blocking applications that keep you away from your most visited sites to help you abstain.

The one exception for the ‘no porn’ rule is to only watch “porn” of you and your partner. Whatever you are doing in any moment you are getting better at. So by becoming aroused by your partner by getting off to photographs or videos of them (or you with your partner), then you are deepening your attraction to them.

BellyBelly says: You can read informative and eye-opening articles and research on how porn can quickly become addictive and significantly affect your body, mind and relationships at the YourBrainOnPorn website.

#5: Experimentation And Openness

Sex with someone new is always the same… but sex with the same person is always different.

Have all of the darkest corners of your sexual psyche been explored? There’s no better time to explore these than within the context of a committed relationship.

You can sit down with your partner and take twenty minutes to write down all of the things you have ever wanted to try sexually… then at the end of the session, compare notes and see if there is any overlap or things you would each be willing to try. Make sure you agree at the beginning of the exercise to have it be a judgment and shame free session. Whatever comes out is from the most vulnerable parts of you and your partner, so treat the information with respect.

BellyBelly says: If you feel this may be too confronting or if you feel insecure about doing this, it might be a good idea to talk things through with an experienced sexual or relationship counsellor first. What gets heard cannot be unheard, and if you’re in a place of insecurity, it can cause difficulties in your relationship.

#6: Flirty Texts

Send a flirty text during the day to keep intimacy on the mind, build excitement for the evening and make your partner feel desired. But keep it discreet in case a child sees the phone!

#7: Have The Tough Conversations

… And have them outside of the bedroom.

It’s easy for things to pile up when you are in a long-term relationship. Conversations about sex, money, children, morals, and religion can go unsaid until resentment starts to build up from one or both partners.

Lean into the awkwardness and have the tough talks. Bringing it up could be uncomfortable for a moment, but not bringing it up will make you uncomfortable for months (or years!).

Also, if there is unresolved sexual trauma in either one of your pasts, I would highly recommend talking to a therapist or coach that can help you process some of the stuck emotion that you have surrounding the incident.

While not being a registered psychologist, I have helped many people process PTSD, sexual anxiety, erectile dysfunction, past sexual trauma, and enabled them to help their partners through the same things. Verbalise your fears. You are far from alone.

Just The Tip…

We all have some elements of sexual programming that our friends/family/religion/culture have pressed upon us that aren’t serving us. Make it a goal to look within yourself to see what your inner voice tells you about what is “okay” or not in your sexual self.

The truth is that there are as many sets of sexual kinks and preferences as there are people in the world. Sexuality couldn’t be further away from the overly masculine perspective of ‘black and white’ and it should be embraced as such.

It is my belief that the world is constantly in a state of ever-increasing openness.

The ink runs… the smoke leaves the fire and never goes back in… two lovers under a single white sheet look into each others eyes and are transformed forever…

So where do you need to open up and let others in more deeply?

How could you be more fully seen by your partner?

Set your intention, and walk confidently in the direction of your fears.

Struggling with giving her an orgasm? A resource we recommend to our male friends (and their partners), is the work of Jason Julius.