Sex & Relationships

How to save your marriage in two minutes

“It sounds strange, but can you remember when you and your husband last kissed passionately? No? Then you're not alone.”

It’s the little things that end up destroying a marriage, but it’s also the little things that can save one. Well, according to a new book.

The Two-Minute Marriage Project: Simple Secrets For Staying In Love, written by relationship guru Heidi Poelman gives readers the advice every committed man or woman wants receive.

Yes, there is a quick fix.

But the trick is using the quick fix, consistently. Based on the “nudge theory” where small adaptations to a relationship applied consistently can build a better one, Poelman provides an array of tips which are each under the two minute mark.

And here are three of them.

Celebrate their milestones:

“Next time your other half has good news, celebrate it properly – be it with a bottle of something sparkling, or simply enthusing at length about how wonderful they are,” claims Poelman in the book.

As Poelman points out, you do it for your friends, so why wouldn’t you do it for your partner?

Give them a warm welcome, everyday:

Greeting your partner after time apart – whether that be for days or hours – can impact the rest of your day or evening.

If you make the effort to greet them properly, positively and show interest in their day, it will make the rest of yours, together, better.

“However tired or grumpy you are, make it a priority to greet your other half in a loving manner,” advises the book.

Seal it all with a kiss:

“It sounds strange, but can you remember when you and your husband last kissed passionately? No? Then you’re not alone,” says Poelman in the book.

“Studies show that one in five married couples go without kissing for as long as a week at a time, often because they are simply too busy.”

The book points to research conducted by Arizona State University which found couples who kissed regularly were more satisfied in the relationship, had decreased cholesterol levels and were less stressed.

So if not for your partner, do it for yourself.

Read an adapted extract of the book here.

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