Skip to main content

Gratitude, Forgiveness, Intimacy

Many patients confide that their sex life has deteriorated and that they feel abandoned within their marriage. Emotional disconnection often gives rise to frustration, resentment, and a gradual erosion of intimacy, creating a cycle that can be difficult to break. While physical desire is influenced by numerous factors, emotional closeness remains fundamental to sustaining both relational and sexual fulfilment.

A study published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy has revealed that gratitude and forgiveness can help mitigate the negative effects of loneliness on marital and sexual satisfaction. The research found that couples who actively cultivate these emotions tend to maintain a deeper emotional connection and a more fulfilling sex life, suggesting that appreciation and acceptance reinforce both emotional bonds and physical intimacy.

Loneliness within marriage may seem paradoxical, yet it is a common reality. When emotional distance sets in, sexual desire and harmony often wane, making intimacy less frequent or less pleasurable. However, couples who express gratitude tend to strengthen their connection, which in turn enhances desire and openness to intimacy. Similarly, forgiveness prevents resentment from accumulating, reducing emotional tension that might otherwise undermine sexual wellbeing.

From the perspective of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, emotions have a direct impact on sexual vitality. Resentment and frustration, associated with the liver and the Wood element, can create energetic blockages, leading to irritability and diminished libido. The heart, regarded as the sovereign of emotions, is profoundly influenced by gratitude and forgiveness, fostering emotional balance and deepening a couple’s affectionate and sexual connection. Moreover, the kidneys — linked to vital energy and sexual desire — also benefit from emotional harmony. When the heart is at peace and the kidneys are strong, intimacy becomes more natural and gratifying.

Cultivating these qualities in daily life is therefore essential. Small gestures of appreciation and mutual understanding strengthen the relationship and enhance sexual harmony. Valuing shared moments and letting go of past grievances create a more conducive environment for intimacy, making a couple’s sex life richer, more pleasurable, and deeply satisfying.

Reference:
Leavitt, C. E., et al. (2025). Loneliness within a romantic relationship: Do gratitude and forgiveness moderate between loneliness and relational and sexual well-being? Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 2025.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What Winter Asks

Lately, I’ve found myself anticipating winter — not because it is here, but because its presence has begun to register. A shift in tone. A quiet deviation from the familiar. We are still within autumn, yes, but the pattern is clear: a cooling, a thinning of light, a withdrawal. Winter does not arrive with grandeur. It infiltrates. It operates in intervals — a guest that does not overstay, yet rearranges the room all the same. It brings with it not only the chill, but a quiet audit of our habits. Our homes, designed for air and openness, falter in the face of this visitor. We adjust. Coats reappear. Blankets are retrieved from high places. Improvisation becomes method: Havaianas with woollen socks. Soup, made not only to nourish but to ground. This is where hygge emerges — not as aesthetic, but as principle. The deliberate act of creating warmth within transience. A structured comfort, built from attentiveness. Outside, clouds obscure the light. Inside, a countermeasure: sof...

On slowing time: multivitamins, acupuncture, and the art of ageing well

A major randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, recently published, has demonstrated that daily multivitamin supplementation may decelerate biological ageing, as assessed by epigenetic markers. Conducted by researchers at Columbia University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the study followed over 2,200 participants aged sixty and above for a period of two years, evaluating the long-term effects of daily micronutrient intake. Epigenetic age — distinct from chronological age — was estimated via DNA methylation, a biomarker increasingly recognised for its accuracy in gauging biological ageing. The results revealed a marked slowing of this process among those receiving the multivitamin: on average, participants exhibited approximately two years less biological ageing when compared with their counterparts in the placebo group. These findings lend weight to the hypothesis that subtle yet chronic micronutrient deficiencies may hasten the ageing process, even in the a...

The Navel and the Whole

In the course of daily life, concepts such as knowledge, self-knowledge, and the practice of goodness ought never to be forgotten. Yet not only are they neglected — they are actively abandoned, especially when they stand at odds with the ambitions of humankind. And therein lies the blind spot of human pride: the self — the ever-contemplated navel. I see it manifest in the most absurd of circumstances, where there is no sincere interest in understanding the other. The affluent denigrate the poor; the poor resent the affluent. But where, I ask, is our shared humanity? Where is the recognition that the destiny of one is bound to the destiny of all? That recognition remains — dimmed, tucked away in some forgotten recess — awaiting the rekindling of light. When I welcome a homosexual patient, I see someone in search of that very light, navigating life in a conservative, restrictive city that offers little room to breathe. When I receive someone ensnared in substance use, I encou...