by Nancy Ross

Abundance. Appreciation. Gratitude: All words with beautiful images that come to mind this time of year. Gold. Scarlet. Brown. Orange. Yellow. Lovely shades of green. Fruit and vegetables that catch the eye, warm the soul, and nurture the body. This is a precious season of giving and receiving. Nature is mirroring the loving relationship we all desire to have with our beloved.

It is a perfect time to look at yourself and your relationship from the outside in, and the inside out. Do you like what you see yourself doing (the outside) in relationship to your partner? Do you like what you are aware of feeling (the inside), in relationship to your partner? Acknowledge the wonders you have created together. Practice letting go of the hard. Warmly focus on receiving and letting in the soft, lovely, and abundant energy, which is very sacred, between the two of you.

One of the most successful ways to enhance your relationship is to let your partner hear specific appreciations from you about little things you have noticed that they have said or done. Say out loud the simple things you like. We are quick to say what we don’t like. Just skip that. It isn’t particularly useful and is often hurtful.

Tell him/her that you like: spooning at night, a kiss good-bye in the morning, a phone call during the day, a cup of tea when you feel sad, remembering to pick up the laundry, when she/he joins you in the shower, holding hands. Deliberately and intentionally sharing appreciations with each other helps strengthen feelings of safety between you. When safety lives in the sacred space between you, joy, peace, harmony and balance follow.

You implicitly own a responsibility for your behavior toward your beloved, simply by being in relationship. When you face each other, there is space between you. That is precious space that you are each responsible for keeping sacred. Anger doesn’t belong in that space, nor does fear or shame. It is a place of openness and vulnerability and is ready for love.

As long as you do your part in creating and maintaining that sacred space, your relationship will have the safety it needs to receive abundance and passion. Take an intentional step toward safety: Both of you commit to telling the other at least 3 things each day that you liked/appreciated that they said or did. Your harvest will be rich!

Suggestion: In silence, facing each other, slowly peel an orange and one at a time feed it to the other. When you have completed nourishing each other in this gentle, sensuous manner, decide together if you would next like to: snuggle, share, laugh, tickle, make love, play, take a bath, or any other creative and joyful idea of your own.

Warmly, Nancy Ross