205 Why does unhappiness and irritation so often sneak into even the most loving marriages? Usually, it’s through the silent killer of connection: non-acceptance.

In this episode, we’re diving deep into the "Acceptance Switch"—that internal shift that moves us from judging our partner’s flaws to making peace with their full, messy, human selves.

I share the raw truth about my two marriages: how a lack of acceptance created a cycle of shame and distance in my first, and how consciously choosing to perceive my second husband’s "shortcomings" through the lens of acceptance has unlocked a level of joy and playfulness I never thought possible.

We also explore:

• The Cultural Root of Intolerance: Why society has conditioned us to reject our partners full selves, including moods and behaviors.
• The "Human Inheritance": Understanding that your partner’s frustrating patterns aren't personal—they are often a genetic and cultural "ball and chain" they didn't choose.
• The Growth Paradox: Why true growth and change in a relationship only happen after you’ve established a foundation of radical safety through acceptance.
• Acceptance vs. Tolerance: Why accepting someone’s humanity is the opposite of being a "pushover."

To help you kick off the year with a heart-centered reset, I’m walking you through a New Year Acceptance Process. We’ll unpack the "stories" we tell ourselves about our partners and learn how to see through the fog of expectations to find the sweetness that’s been there all along.

Stop fighting your partner’s humanness and start reaping the gifts of making peace with who your partner really is.

SHOW NOTES:

• Join Hannah for private 1:1 Marriage Coaching, and get her deep, super individualized support to make your marriage more full of security, connection, love, and mutual support than ever. Get started here.
• See her on-demand relationship courses for HSPs here.
• FREE QUIZ: How Much is High Sensitivity Impacting Your Relationship (and are you even highly sensitive)? You want to know. Because, high sensitivity has a major impact on intimate relationships – for better or worse. Take this 3 minute quiz to discover if you're highly sensitive and how deeply it’s affecting you, and your happiness in your relationship. You will also get your next steps to making sure sensitivity works for your relationship, instead of against it.

204 Developing your sensitivity, instead of overcoming it, may be one of the best things you can do for your marriage. We HSPs often think of ourselves as “too sensitive”, but actually, our sensitivity is the very thing that can make our marriages richer and better than any others on earth!

I often talk about how ”working with” your sensitivity is quite key to your happiness in love– and your whole life, and it is true there are many ways we can learn to do that to thrive. And, we can also DEVELOP some of what is already there – deepen it, sharpen it, fine tune what we naturally bring that already is an asset for our relationships.

Today I want to specifically talk about one easy way you can develop your sensitivity for a richer, more deeply intimate, relationship. You’ll learn what that is, how you are already probably pretty good at it, how to refine this gift, and what gets in the way of it all too often.

You’ll also learn about a couple (of many more) other aspects of sensitivity you also want to develop. My hope is you will come away from this episode reminded of the natural gifts you already possess, and some simple easy to implement ideas about how to deepen those gifts for more harmony and a sense of being lovingly in-sync in your marriage. Listen in.

SHOW NOTES:

• Join Hannah in her special end-of-year 3 session program, A BETTER MARRIAGE IN 1 MONTH: A Mini 1:1 Marriage Coaching Program For HS Women To Start to FEEL the power you have to change the whole emotional culture of your marriage into one of more safety and warmth, without dragging your partner into therapy. Click here to learn more.
• Take The 2 Minute Free Quiz: What's Your Best Next Step To Improve Your Marriage? Find out the most important place for you to focus on to make your unique marriage more loving and connected a sensitive woman.

ENJOYING THE SHOW?

• Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. Leave a review in Apple Podcasts--we are SO grateful!
• Get the Podcast Map by becoming a Podcast Supporter, so you can quickly identify the episodes most helpful for your unique relationship, by supporting the podcast (for as little as $3)

203 "That couple is just so in love…so much more than we are!" "How come we can’t communicate like that?" "What's wrong with our relationship that my husband doesn't look at me like that?"

Ever sounded like that in your head? Ever compared your relationship, or your spouse, to other couples or spouses…and then felt even more unhappy about your relationship? Clients ask me about this often.

It's so common that there is a term for it: Compare and despair. Today, we are calling it Relationship Compare and Despair, since we will focus in how it affects our love lives. It’s a wired-in thing our brains just do as humans, especially if we aren't totally happy in our relationships. But it hurts and disempowers us, and makes our relationships worse.

So how do you stop? In this episode I will tell you, and help you turn this habit into something that, instead of making things harder, can help your marriage get better.

You will also learn what is driving the despair that often accompanies comparing, as well as the most important shift to make to put an end to most of the pain or upset you feel in your relationship, so you can effectively shape your relationship into one that feels lighter, more loving, and connected and all the things you want…

You can stop letting comparison undermine your love and connection. You can use it instead as an opportunity to make your marriage into the very best one it can be. Listen in to learn how.

SHOW NOTES:

• Join Hannah in her special end-of-year 3 session program, A BETTER MARRIAGE IN 1 MONTH: A Mini 1:1 Marriage Coaching Program For HS Women To Start to FEEL the power you have to change the whole emotional culture of your marriage into one of more safety and warmth, without dragging your partner into therapy. Click here to learn more.
• Take The 2 Minute Free Quiz: What's Your Best Next Step To Improve Your Marriage? Find out the most important place for you to focus on to make your unique marriage more loving and connected a sensitive woman.

ENJOYING THE SHOW?

• Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. Leave a review in Apple Podcasts--we are SO grateful!
• Get the Podcast Map by becoming a Podcast Supporter, so you can quickly identify the episodes most helpful for your unique relationship, by supporting the podcast (for as little as $3)