Joyful Love

In this episode of Joyful Love, I share with you how I'm choosing to embrace Perimenopause and listen to my own needs right now.

During my 4-month hiatus,  I've had so many benefits of hitting the "pause" button on a few things in life.

Slowing down has helped me prevent burnout, make clearer decisions, and deepen my relationships. But it also gave me a little surprise that I'll tell you about in this episode ... a welcome surprise! 

Tune in to hear how I'm approaching my own midlife awakening, what I've created along the way, and how you can join me in what's to come! 

Listen to the end to hear all about the Have A Better Marriage By Friday Challenge coming up and how to register! 


For full show notes and transcript, go to: https://rachaelcunningham.com/podcast/ep_104/

In this episode, we dive deeper into the concept of planned rests and intentional breaks, exploring how they act as crucial periods of healing and growth. Drawing inspiration from nature's cyclical rhythms, we examine the necessity for rest in our lives, especially amidst our busy routines in womanhood, motherhood, career pursuits, and relationships.

Episode Insight:

• Understanding the significance of planned rests as essential for healing and growth.
• Exploring the parallels between nature's seasonal rest and our own need for rejuvenation.
• Overcoming societal pressures and patriarchal ideologies about constant productivity to embrace the transformative power of intentional breaks.

What You'll Learn:

• How planned rests contribute to increased energy, creativity, and peace.
• Identifying areas in your life that would benefit from a break and how to approach this transition.
• The art of trusting yourself in taking a break and its positive impact on personal and relational well-being.
• How embracing rest serves as a catalyst for personal growth and the cultivation of joyful living.

Listen now to discover just how productive rest can be - for your life and relationship. 

To learn more and take a free class on better connection, go to rachaelcunningham.com

For more info and to join Stoked: The Marriage Mastermind For Women, go to : https://www.stokedmarriage.com/smm-01

As the holiday season approaches, the desire to create lasting memories for our families often clashes with the need for personal rest and relaxation. In this episode, we explore how to strike a balance between nurturing our own well-being and ensuring joyful experiences for loved ones.

What you'll learn: 

1. Striking a Balance: Learn how to harmonize personal rest with family holiday activities without reaching the breaking point.

2. Client Stories: Here a few real-life examples of clients who managed to honor their need for rest while creating memorable moments for their families. 

3. Preventing Overwhelm: Practical steps to avoid overwhelming situations during the Holiday season and what self-respect has to do with it.

4. The Power of Emotions: Embrace both positive and challenging emotions to create space for joy and peace during the holidays.

Get ahead of the game this season! A peaceful, joyful, and connected Holiday begins with This episode, a pen, and a piece of paper! 

Grab your pen and paper and listen on! 

For more information, check out https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

In this episode of "Joyful Love," I tell you exactly how to deal with a defensive partner.

We've all been there, attempting to address issues or seek improvements in our relationships, only to have our partners become defensive. This episode explores why this happens and provides practical strategies to foster a deeper connection and open communication with your spouse.

You'll hear how my client, Sarah had success in helping her husband feel comfortable in conversations about making change. And I'll tell you the five tools she adopted to help her do so.

You'll learn how to create understanding, validate emotions, and work collaboratively to resolve issues, ultimately leading to a more harmonious and supportive partnership.

Here's what you'll learn:

1. Discover the root causes of partner defensiveness, including fear, insecurity, and past experiences.

2. Gain insights from a client's success story in transforming a defensive dynamic into a more peaceful and connected relationship.

3. Learn the five essential steps to effectively respond to your partner's defensiveness, including active listening, validation, perspective exploration, and collaboration.

4. Understand that improving your relationship goes beyond surface-level issues; it's about building confidence in yourself to navigate and manage both solvable and unsolvable problems in your partnership.

Tune in to "Joyful Love" and equip yourself with the tools and knowledge to foster healthier, more satisfying relationships.

For full show notes, visit https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

Can you believe it? The Joyful Love Podcast has hit 100 episodes of inspiration, stories, and relationship wisdom!

To celebrate this journey, I've got something special in store for you.

In this episode, I'll share my most embarrassing moment as an entrepreneur yet! And then I get to what you really want to know about - the newest, most accessible way to work with me yet - the brand-new membership program!

This membership is going to be your opportunity to get all the coaching and support you need to create a marriage and life you're stoked to be in! 

Tune in to hear the details and how you can be a Founding Member!

For more information, go to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

Resentment normally turns to anger and disconnection in a marriage. But what if we could flip the script and use this feeling FOR our connection instead? 

In today’s episode, "How To Turn Resentment Into Emotional Connection," you'll discover practical strategies for transforming feelings of resentment into emotional intimacy.

What You'll Learn:

• The nature of resentment and how it can silently affect your relationships.

• The importance of recognizing and acknowledging resentment to regain personal power.

• Why expecting a perfect 50/50 balance in relationships can lead to more stress.

• Three key questions to ask yourself when you feel resentment, including how to communicate your needs to your partner.

• How expressing gratitude and appreciation can be an antidote to resentment

• The importance of self-awareness in resolving resentment and building emotional intimacy.

Don't miss this episode if you want to learn how to turn resentment into an opportunity for growth, connection, and a thriving marriage

For more information and show notes, go to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

If you ignore or avoid your emotions ... eventually you'll POP!  I've been there and I'm sure you have too.

So today, I'm showing you exactly what to do with your triggers and emotions.

You know how sometimes we get so busy with our daily lives that we forget to pay attention to how we feel inside?

When we barrel through our emotions and try to avoid them, we do ourselves no favors. And when we feel triggered, we think something is so wrong that we feel paralyzed and stuck in that feeling.

This happens becasue we don't know how to process our feelings. 

 In this episode, I show you how to fully process your emotions, even the not-so-fun ones, and how doing this can actually make us wiser, more decisive, and have more joy and peace in life.

 You'll learn how to stop avoiding your feelings and start tapping into the wisdom of your body.

If you want to stop ignoring your emotions, listen on! 

For more information and full show notes, and a free class on better connection, head to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

Difficult conversations are part of marriage. And it can be uncomfortable to start one.  Your nervous system goes on overload. You feel tense, stressed, and like you want to RUN!

This is why we often avoid hard talks and simply hold in our feelings and let them fester.

But If you hold in your frustration or confusion, it’ll come out eventually … often with passive-aggressive anger.

Let’s change that!

In this episode, you’ll learn how to get comfortable with uncomfortable conversations. You’ll reach solutions to your marriage problems more quickly - while you stay connected!

Tune in and learn:

• How to be aware of your emotions in the moment and remain present with your partner.

• Why you don’t have to be right!

• How To listen to your partner’s perspective so YOU can be heard too.

• 4 Steps to help difficult conversations flow and reach better solutions

Listen now and have better conversations tonight! 

For more information go to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

Communication with two different people who live all of life together can get tricky at times. Our decisions affect each other. And the way we talk to each other matters. 

Often we're married to someone who is opposite from us in communication styles.  One can be an internal processor, where they need time and space on their own to think about decisions.

And the other can be more external. The external processor needs to verbally express their thoughts and opinions. 

If we don't understand these different needs, it's easy to take offense at your partners communication style. 

How do you not feel ignored when your partner is quiet?

How do you not feel bombarded when your partner expresses all of their stress out loud? 

If you've ever been confused by how you or your partner respond and communicate, tune in to this episode. 

You'll learn the difference between the two communication styles and how to use them for the good of your relationship instead of against it. 

You'll learn to hold space for each other's hearts and to trust that you and your partner are on the same team. You're kicking the ball to the same goal ... even if you have a different route of getting there!

If you'd like more information or to get on my newsletter, go to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

If you're married to a difficult partner, you don't have to live a life of frustration and confusion.

There's a better way to approach your relationship that doesn't include suffering and discontentment.

You may need to adjust your expectations or you may need to set some powerful boundaries.

In today's episode you'll learn:
* To own your decision to stay married or complete the relationship
* To step into your power and love from your strengths.
* To see and value your partner's perspective
* To focus on what you can control
* To be present with the good in your partner and your relationship
* How to set a boundary if needed.

And you'll learn 5 Questions to ask yourself to get you unstuck!

Only YOU can decide if you want to stay in your marriage or not .... but if you choose to stay married to someone who is extra challenging ... get the help you need ... starting with this episode. 

For Full Show notes, go to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/category/podcast/

In this episode, we delve into the essence of building a beautiful friendship with your partner.

 The best marriages are friends first. Even if you started off hot-n-heavy and forgot to build a deep friendship, it's never too late!

With intention and an open heart, you can foster a connected friendship to be the foundation of a strong, healthy marriage.

In this episode, you'll learn five skills that every good friendship needs and how to incorporate them into your relationship.

It's time to cultivate a bond with your partner that goes beyond romance and truly embodies deep friendship. BFFs For Life! Let's do this!

For More info and a free class on better connection, go to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

It’s time to get a new bestie. Yourself!

Just as we cultivate and cherish friendships with others, nurturing a positive relationship with oneself is equally important.

We women need to do a better job of:

👉 Accepting ourselves,
👉 Having compassion on ourselves when we mess up
👉 And Having our own back in this one, beautiful life.

When you treat yourself with the same kindness and support as you would a dear friend, you’ll navigate life's challenges with a deep trust that you’ve got what it takes - whatever life brings.

If you need encouragement to TREAT YOURSELF BETTER today, don’t miss this episode! 

For full show notes and more information click here: https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

It’s a beautiful thing to want to make your marriage better. It’s good to say, “There’s a better way to relate with each other than what we’ve been doing.”

But trying to be perfect can hold you back from growth. Because perfectionism compares. It’s discouraging. It shames and blames. 

So how do we continue growing, while accepting that we are not perfect - and neither are our partners? How do we challenge ourselves to continue growing in love and also see the beauty in our imperfect selves?

Tune in today as we discuss how to drop perfectionism and embrace growing into our ideal marriages (and selves!).

For full show notes and more information, go to https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/category/podcast/

All humans want the same thing - to be HEARD and SEEN. And when a marriage begins to feel disconnected, you don’t have to look too deep to realize that one or both partners are not feeling heard and seen. 

Our relationships often begin this way - where we know that our partner is truly seeing our deepest beauty. They’re supportive of our heart's desires.  And it’s a shared experience. Your spouse feels like you see and appreciate their good too.

Damn, those early days feel good, don’t they?

Listening and responding to each other's hearts is why we fell in love in the first place.

But after a few years of marriage, kids, careers, home repairs, aging parents, bills, and retirement plans … and so much more … It’s SO hard to slow down to hear and see our partners.

I was talking to Cris about this the other day. Since he’s an actor, I was curious … How - as an actor - does he tune everything out on stage and in front of cameras - to LISTEN and RESPOND to the other characters?

So asked him what his process was - to genuinely listen. And we recorded the conversation!

Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

• A simple process to listen to others when they’re talking

• How to look deeper than the words they’re saying.

• Why saying the “right thing” back should not be your focus.

• How to listen to your partner’s heart and encourage their passions

• How listening is a practice that we’ll be improving for a lifetime, but it’s so worth it!
  
  

Today’s conversation takes place on our back porch, along with the birds and crickets!

Join us! And then take the challenge to listen and respond to your partner this week! 

For more information, visit: https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/category/podcast/

Are date nights a regular occurrence for you and your partner? If not, it’s time to prioritize it.

But what would you even do - dinner and a movie? I LOVE dinner and a movie. But I also like to spice it up sometimes and think outside the box.

In today’s episode, I share with you several ideas to take your dates to the next level and welcome in more joy and fun as a couple.

I also share what it was like to stop drinking alcohol and to relearn how to relax and connect without wine.

Listen to today’s episode to hear how to bring fun to your dates - whether you’re alcohol-free or not! 

In this Episode, you’ll hear:

• My 2-year journey of giving up alcohol and how it affected date nights

• The 27-year-old Date Night Book that got Cris and I through our first year of dating and beyond.

• The importance of having regular dates with your partner.

For more Information on my work, come visit me at rachaelcunningham.com

Holy Moly! We need some fun in our lives!

Sometimes life can get so busy and hectic that we forget to feed our soul's desire for freedom and fun. And that’s when life becomes boring and stagnant - even though you feel like you’re moving at lightning speed all day.

When life stays the same and you feel bored, your brain tries to fix the problem by convincing you that false pleasures that are negative for you are actually fun … like overeating, over-drinking and over-spending.

And for like 2 seconds, you do feel pleasure. But since it doesn’t last - and since these things don’t add to your life in a positive way,  once again, you’re left feeling like life is such a drag.

If this sounds like you, you need some fun.

Listen to today’s episode to hear the case for slowing down, enjoying what you’ve got, and welcoming new adventures in your life.

Your soul is craving some fun! Listen to it.

In this Episode, you’ll learn:

• How Being present opens the doors for more enjoyment out of life.

• Why our soul craves Fun and how to listen to it.

• How To metaphorically shake up the snow globe

• Why it’s not helpful to blame your partner for your boring life

• How cultivating an attitude of gratitude for life as it is can spark creativity and pleasure
  
  
  

For more information, visit: https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/podcast/ep_89/

In this episode, I'll show you how to have a family vacation that is full of fun, connection, and peace as you create incredible memories with your family.

And it starts with accepting that it doesn't have to be perfect! 

You'll learn why vacations are important and how to cultivate precisely what you need out of it.

Can we be honest here? Vacations can be exhausting. Going on adventures and trying to relax with family doesn't always meet our expectations. Sometimes we can even feel more disconnected and wiped out after our time to 'relax'.

So I'm going to share some strategies that I had to use last month while on Vacation with my family. I went from feeling the internal chaos bubbling up to taking back control over creating the vacation we needed.

Today you'll learn:

• How embracing the 50/50 of life (on vacations) will help you have more peace
• The Three things you want to cultivate on a vacation
• How to communicate about your vacation wants and needs ahead of time
• How to recover after a vacation fight
• How to understand the dynamics between your partner and your inlaws.
• How to prioritize relaxation when you have teens ... or young kids.

What I'm sharing today works! Tune in to hear how I implemented it on our trip to Hawaii last month! 


For more information, visit https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

Every long-term committed couple will have issues to navigate in their sex life. It's important to know this. You are normal. Nothing is wrong with you if you feel like something is lacking in your sex life.

The business of life, parenting, different goals, communication issues, and changing hormones can all affect a couple's passion.

And most couples just try to figure it out on their own .... without much success. And a lackluster intimate life can lead to feelings of guilt, rejection, frustration, and even resentment.

So today we'll explore the most important first steps to bring more (or better) intimacy back to your relationship.

You'll learn the most important emotion to cultivate to create a better sex life.

You'll learn why knowing how your body responds to desire is more important than figuring out how to increase your libido.

You deserve to experience pleasure and satisfaction in your love life. Listen to today's episode to get started! 

Get more information and show notes at: https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/

Book a free consultation at: https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/workwithme/

Are you a spender? 

You know if you are. The impulse buys online. The Amazon purchases so frequent that you have no clue what those 7 Amazon charges are in your credit card statement. And the coffee shop down the road? You might as well just give them your credit card to keep on file at this point. 

Every month you try to reign in the spending and you recommit, "Okay! That's It! This month is a SPENDING FREEZE!"  And then 4 days in (if that long) you realize your budget is already getting pinched because of unplanned purchases.

Or maybe it's not you that's the spender, maybe it's your partner. And it's enough to drive you mad! 

There are 2 different types of people in the world: Savers and Spenders. And quite often, we're married to each other!

How do we solve this problem? You want the freedom to spend. And you also want to plan and save for your future. 

Can you have both? Can Spenders and Savers find a path to understanding and reaching peace together?

Yes. 

And Franchelle Caesar is the financial coach who will show you the missing pieces for people who constantly spend and how to speak their language.

So whether you're the spender or your partner is, tune in to today's episode, and let's shed some light on a very misunderstood group of people: Spenders! 

In today’s Episode of Joyful Love,  we delve into the topic of compromise in relationships and the importance of finding joy while making tough decisions.

Both you and your partner have desires, dreams and opinions. And they matter - for you and your partner. 

Making compromises with a partner can be challenging, especially when desires differ greatly.

But when you take the time to have solution-focused conversations, listen to each other and meet any fears and concerns with patience and compassion, you can have joy as you make decisions together.

Listen on to learn how confidence can play a key role in meeting in the middle and making big and little decisions together! 

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachaelcunningham.com/category/podcast/

Schedule a Free Consultation with me, click here: https://RachaelCunninghamCoaching.as.me/consult