insideKENT Magazine Issue 83 - February 2019 | Page 86

Reignite the Spark CONT.
5. Do something as a team 7. Create a no-phone zone
Relationships require teamwork. Not feeling connected to
your partner can make you feel isolated and alone, so one
of the best ways to bring back the two-person spark can be
choosing to do something together. You could interpret this
any way that makes most sense to you as a couple – for some
people that might mean watching a favourite quiz show,
doing a weekly crossword together, playing a Mr and Mrs
board game. For others it may be going for a regular run or
playing a game of badminton every Saturday. You might
even want to think outside the box and sign yourself up for
an escape room experience. Plus, winners get dinners, right? A guaranteed way to feel disconnected with your partner is
to spend quality time scrolling through Instagram, mindlessly
connected to your phone screen. Decide on certain areas as
no-phone zones: the bed, the dinner table, and especially
anywhere you’re going for a date!
6. Pay each other compliments
When was the last time you told your partner that you like
the way they look? That they’re really funny? That something
they did was amazing? It seems like an obvious point, but
it can often be a forgotten element of affection in a long term
relationship, and the void can be really noticable if we’re
cricisting each other a lot instead. We humans love to feel
validated and appreciated, and one of the quickest and easiest
routes to this is a compliment. Be genuine and be specific.
“I love it when you do XYZ”. Additionally, sexy compliments
can really help your partner to feel confident if your
relationship has lost its sexuality.
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8. Schedule date nights
Although it’s not as spark-filled as those early spontaneous
dates, scheduling a regular date night can be just as fun.
Whether that means staying in with a bottle of wine, ordering
Chinese and watching a new movie, or going out to a
restaurant, bar, cinema, comedy club. It can be anything,
from the normal to the downright bizarre, as long as you’re
dedicating one night (or day) a week to each other, and to
the pursuit of a happy healthy relationship. It means you get
to do something you enjoy together, but it also means you’re
proving your commitment to one another – to fun, to
communication, to laughter.