In order to create shared meaning, it is important for couples to engage in rituals and traditions. Habits and daily rituals often allow individuals to be more productive and healthier, and the same is true in relationships.

To facilitate success and to help friendships and relations thrive, consider these 5 rituals:

·      Join together during meal times without screen usage. Consider charging your phone, turning the TV off, and letting go of news feeds.

·      Engage in stress-reducing conversations each day. The purpose is to understand, acknowledge, and discuss external events. This allows couples to practice active listening, turn taking, and extending compassion. In turn, emotional connection is strengthened.

·      Exercise together one day a week or take a daily post-dinner walk and stroll with your partner. Add novelty with skiing, hiking, or kayaking. These exciting experiences will bring closeness to the relationship.

·      Increase affection and physical intimacy. Physical touch will release oxytocin, which fosters bonding, improvement in mood, and a calming response. Physical touch includes hugging; touching, kissing, holding hands, and this will also reduce the stress hormone of cortisol.

·      Be intentional with your time, do fun things together, tell jokes, and reignite passions and shared interests.  Research shows that when couples spend 6 hours together per week, engaging in rituals in the beginning and end of the day, fosters reconnection.