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Relationship rituals are activities and events that you do often with your partner, and they play a massive role in building a strong connection. All couples with healthy relationships have developed a strong connection by focusing on the little things and building habits which bring them closer. Relationship rituals are examples of those little things. From holding hands to cooking together, no matter how simple the ritual may be, they hold major importance in romance.
Here are 15 relationship rituals to follow to connect with your partner
1. Chat over hot drinks
Before jumping into your cozy bed or following a lazy sleep-in, having a hot drink with your S.O. can be really nice and relaxing! In one of their tea-focused blog posts, Sips By explain how you and your partner enjoying a cup of tea reminds you to “slow down, be present, and enjoy the little things”. Sipping on a hot drink together provides the opportunity to remove yourselves from the daily chaos and connect with some quality conversation. Chatting over a comforting beverage is a stress-free, cheap relationship ritual that you can implement in your everyday life right now!
2. Enjoying meals without distractions
It doesn’t need to be over candle light, and the table doesn’t need to be covered in roses! To have memorable, romantic meals with your other half requires only you and them. Oh, some food too I guess – that’s essential! Putting away all possible distractions and enjoying a meal together is a great way of connecting with your partner. This relationship ritual can be personalised plenty as well. You can cook together, for one another or even splurge on some quality takeout. The point is, is that you drop that phone, turn the TV off (maybe drop the kids off with the babysitter) and give each other your undivided attention.
3. Treat dating as a ritual
Never. Stop. Dating.
Escaping the mundane and going on a date is an effective way to push any stress to the side and allows you both the chance to connect. Just forget about the times where you’ve put dates in the too hard basket – It’s simpler than it may seem! This is all a date needs to be: quality time set aside for only you and your partner. No invites for extra friends or family, just the two of you. If an outing feels like to much of a fuss, then do a date at your humble abode. A date doesn’t require leaving the house, spending lots of money or giving grand gestures. If you make time in your hectic schedules for one date a week, then you’ll be thanking yourself big time!
4. Cuddling & hand holding
Physical touch plays a huge part in staying connected and growing the bond with your partner. As relationship rituals, “holding hands, hugging and cuddling” will have you and your S.O. feeling better connected and they’ll be important in helping build trust. In Allo Heath’s article, Exploring the Sensual Connection, they also discuss how non-sexual contact can relieve you of stress by making you feel more comfortable. The list of benefits goes on and on! Each couple is different with how physically intimate they are. You might link arms during a movie, or cuddle with blankets wrapped around you, or even give each other relaxing massages. Any form of physical touch can have great effect!
5. Surprising each other with scattered love notes
Leaving sweet notes scattered throughout the house is a cute relationship ritual for you to start implementing into the daily or weekly routine! Hand written messages are a great way of expressing love and appreciation for your partner. It’s a great opportunity to reflect on your relationship and remind yourself to be grateful! Keep it simple – it doesn’t need to be 100 notes tucked in every corner of the house. Just a few sticky notes placed in spots to surprise your other half will be more than enough to make them smile. Jot down some heartfelt comments when they spring to mind and stash them away ’til you want to start this ritual!
6. Set aside seriousness → clock-in & clock-out
After a long day of work or study it can be normal to want to offload some stress by speaking about the rough parts. These sorts of serious chats are important in managing stress and getting rid of frustration, however you and your partner need to allow time for putting the negative topics aside. Also, in a lot of long-term relationships, talking about bills and chores takes up a big chunk of time. Make ‘clock-in’ and ‘clock-out’ times as a couple. ‘Clocking-in’ will mean that you can address those intense subjects and ‘clocking-out’ means you can turn off the brain and chat about more light-hearted, less important topics. More time for fun convos = more opportunity to connect!
7. Learn new things together
Making relationship rituals is not necessarily about repeating the same activity again and again. One ritual to start with your partner is to have a time slot dedicated to learning something new each week or month. From exotic cooking classes to watching nature documentaries, you could try all sorts of activities! Learning with your partner helps you in creating shared experiences and growing together. On top of giving you fond memories to look back on, these times where you’re trying new things together will provide opportunities to show unwavering support. What are you going to set your sights on learning first?
8. Embrace greetings and goodbyes
The hellos and goodbyes with your partner in your busy lives can easily become rushed and emotionless. It’s not because those transitions get easier over time, it’s the fact that we don’t treat these as “two of the most important times of the day,” when actually, they very much are! Ritually embracing these parts of your day will help you better connect with your partner. Author Theo Pauline Nestor shares the concept of the “six-second kiss” during greetings or partings on The Gottman Institute’s blog. Kissing for at least six seconds is a great way to turn moments that are simply overlooked into special moments of romance!
9. Have aspirations together
Creating shared and independent goals to work towards is really important in a relationship! Making time to sit down, assess what is coming up in you and your partner’s schedule, and setting goals accordingly will help you to connect. You’ll feel more in sync and that is a great feeling. Knowing where your partner is placed on a timeline for achieving their goals also helps you provide the best possible support. Make it one your relationship rituals – put goals on paper and have an in-depth chat about all of them!
10. Walk together
Taking a stroll hand-in-hand is a lovely way to find peace at the beginning or end of your daily routine. Walking with your partner provides plenty of opportunity to have deep conversations and connect on new levels. Without feeling like you’re having to consciously rip yourself away from social media or that new game you’ve downloaded, you disconnect from distractions and have more genuine interactions with your partner on a wander. You’ll be surprised at how the act of walking brings up a wider variety of conversation than you’d usually have. Let your minds wander with your feet and talk about the little things!
11. Sending photos often
To help you and your partner stay emotionally connected, it’s essential that you see lots of each other. Work, family, sports and other hobbies can limit your time for really seeing one another. So, to make sure you do still stop in your tracks to admire your partner’s gorgeous looks, why not get in the habit of sending some fun photos back and forth? They don’t need to be spicy, but definitely don’t shy away from the spice if it’s up your alley! No matter whether the clothes are on or off, this is one of the relationship rituals that can help build emotional and physical attraction and, as a result, build an even stronger connection.
12. Admire each other often
Admiring your partner is about expressing appreciation and acknowledging their unique qualities that you love. Whether it is through verbal compliments, text messages, or small gestures of kindness, admiring one another is great to add to your growing list of relationship rituals. By making it consistent practice, you not only boost your partner’s self-esteem, but also create a positive, encouraging atmosphere. That’s super important for a healthy relationship. Both you and your partner deserve to feel valued and cherished.
13. Be silly!
Relationship rituals are introduced into our partnership for strengthening connection and for having a good time! When life gets a little too much on any given day, you should have the comfort of knowing that you can escape to a place of joy. A great way of doing this is ritualising silliness! With your S.O. you have the freedom to be your true self, and you can feel confident to let that silly part of you out! On one of Marriage.com’s blogs, Sylvia Smith shares some great ways to be silly. Sylvia suggests having tickle fights, singing your lungs out, telling jokes, making up dance routines or to try out roleplay (it could even lead you to the bedroom too 😉). Do this on a frequent basis so that you can develop inside jokes and have a good old laugh together. This relationship ritual is great for growing closer since you learn more and more about your partner’s humour and how silly they are willing to be!
The important thing in romantic relationships is that you continue putting in effort to maintain and develop your connection and intimacy. Relationship rituals do wonders in bringing you closer together!
So, with all of these relationship rituals to try, which one will you first bring into your routine? If there is a ritual which you already put into practice that we didn’t mention in this post, we’d love to hear what it is. Please share it down below!
