Listening to the waves crash on the shore acts like a cleansing meditation that removes you from the grip of your busy mind.
Summer is the perfect season to take advantage of one of nature’s most glorious gifts - water. Good ol’ H20 in all its soothing forms can go a long way to bringing romance back to your relationship.
Staycation!
If you live near the ocean, surprise your wife with overnight seaside hotel reservations. Leave the stresses of your lives at home for 24 hours (even if home is just a few miles away) and enjoy an extended date night. Head out for a seafood dinner or just pizza on the pier, then stroll along the beach hand in hand. Listening to the waves crash on the shore acts like a cleansing meditation that removes you from the grip of your busy mind and reminds you that the world is bigger and more profound than just your personal anxieties. Bring that new perspective back to your hotel room and make love with extra passion.
Don’t forget to take a morning walk on the beach before you go back to your regular lives. If it’s too cold to swim, roll up your cuffs and get the salt water and sand working on your feet. A beach pedicure always leaves you feeling like you’ve been on vacation.
Lake Side Retreat
For couples that live in fresh water zones, rent a lake front cottage and truly relax. Sometimes organizing the supplies for the week or weekend can be stressful, but once you arrive at your country haven and put away the groceries, you will truly have nothing to do. Take advantage of this! You should spend the first few hours just sitting in a lounge chair at the shoreline, breathing deeply, and looking out at the tranquil water. It’s a therapeutic visual that will help you relax instantly.
Then when you’ve recharged your batteries, there will be plenty of time for swimming, fishing, canoeing, row boating, wading knee deep to collect stones – all the restorative activities that lakes have to offer. Some lakes prohibit motorboats, which can add an especially delightful quiet experience to your trip.
Spas
Stuck in the city? Don’t despair. Many urban spas now have his and hers days where you can bring your hubby along on your otherwise solo water therapies at your local spa. There are hot and cold mineral pools where you can jump from one to the other, invigorating your skin and giving your body a jolt of energy that will change your state of mind for the better. When your thoughts are racing with stress, there’s nothing quite like a mineral soak or a whirlpool to alter your headspace in a short amount of time.
Then grab your sweetie and head to the steam room, or spend a good ten minutes in the ‘mist’ room if your spa has one. They’ve become very popular, and if you’ve ever been in one, you’ll know why. There’s something about the tropical jungle atmosphere with cool condensed water dripping on you that it positively erotic. Make sure you close your eyes and breathe deeply.
Use Your Pool
If you’re one of those lucky couples that have a pool in their backyard, then you probably also know that you can start to take this treasure for granted, even in the summer. Well, here’s your chance to be grateful! Don’t invite all your neighborhood friends – make a date of it with your partner instead and spend the day together swimming and relaxing. Swimming is a fantastic overall exercise that conditions all your muscles including your heart, so make sure you stay in the water for at least half an hour. You’ll feel great. And get stocked up with your favorite snacks or fire up the barbeque to truly pretend you’re on vacation!
Not one of the lucky ones? Buy yourself a kiddie pool! It may sound ridiculous at first, but when you and your wife are playing footsie underwater with cocktails in hand, you’ll be thanking me. It’s a great way to cool down even if you’re just sitting waist-deep, and the soothing power of the water still shines through, even if there are Ninja Turtles adorning your pool.
It’s easy to forget how therapeutic water can be when we only encounter it taking quick showers and doing the dishes. But immersing ourselves in water is extremely useful for stress reduction, and large bodies of water like the ocean or lakes can help us reconnect with nature, which benefits our state of mind enormously. Then with a relaxed body and state of mind, romance can’t be far away…
