+1: Love + Intimacy (#019)

Welcome to Mama Goddess. I'm your host, Alexandra J. Johnson. This podcast is all about rocking your goddess life, creating vibrant health and celebrating motherhood and family life. It's about living an authentically awesome life. Let's have.

Hello, this is Alexandra. Welcome to another Optimize plus one Love and intimacy are at the root of what makes us sick and what makes us well, what causes sadness and what brings happiness, what makes us suffer and what leads to healing. If a new drug had the same effect, virtually every doctor in the country would be recommending it for their patients. I'm not aware of any other factor in medicine that has a greater impact on our survival than the healing power of love and intimacy. Not diet, not smoking, not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not surgery. Dean Ornish Wow. Double wow. That is an incredibly powerful statement. There's so much focus on eating, sleeping, moving in the realm of health and fitness and I absolutely love rocking all of them. But what about our emotional connection with others, our feelings of love and intimacy? I would say this has been a big area of growth for me, the willingness to be seen for who I am. When I started my first blog over 12 years ago, it was called Live Out Loud because there was this feeling that I was hiding my true self from the world. There are many layers we often need to dig through in order to feel truly connected, self expressed and a sense of belonging. Sometimes we need to find our people, our tribe, and that takes some effort. But when we're willing to give the energy to this potent healing elixir, we are nourished on a deep level that not only impacts our mental and emotional well being, but our physical well being. No amount of kale is going to make a toxic relationship better. No amount of exercise is going to take away our emotional wounds that need love and healing. It takes courage to be seen for who we are. It's a brave act to create the love and intimacy we want in our lives. It's also a fundamental need for all of us. We may not even know how much we're craving it until we get a good dose of love and intimacy and experience how deep this nourishment goes. In our modern technology based world, we can easily forget about the importance of daily connection. Things like touch, eye contact, listening to someone and investing more time in our real social life and less time on social media. No matter how awesome technology advances are, there will always be the human need for love and intimacy and that usually happens in each other's presence. That's where the magic and healing happens. Side note, I have met many of my dear friends and Mr. Johnson via the Internet so so I am all for that. We just need to make sure we are getting some real face time in there as well. All right, Take a moment and tune in to see how you're feeling in the area of love and intimacy. This doesn't need to be romantic love. It can be with your parents, your children, extended family, your friends, your co workers, et cetera. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. How connected do you feel to the people in your life? Notice any emotions and images that arise. Don't try to force anything, just allow whatever comes to mind when you think about this question. Take a deep breath. What's one thing you could do today to cultivate more love and intimacy in your life? See yourself doing it or being it. Your body and heart being filled up with love, joy and connection. Notice how that feels. Take another slow, deep breath and open your eyes. Go out and love your friends and family a little more today. It will feel good and you'll also experience all the health benefits to too. Sending you big love and blessings.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Mama Goddess. Sending you lots of love and blessings. If you'd like to connect more, go to mamagoddess.com until next time, keep rocking it and have an awesome day.