The Art of Recieving

Relationships are like the weather. You never know when the unexpected will arrive. Last week in SE Qld, a cyclone, or at least the threat of it, rocked our worlds. Whether it was the threat of disaster or an actual one, nearly all our nervous systems were activated.

Just like this, stress often arrives uninvited in a relationship. Illness, natural disasters, deaths, losses, life-changes. All these can cause us to retreat into our coping mechanisms that can disrupt the love that lies deeper in our hearts.

Life's busyness, unspoken tensions, and the weight of daily responsibilities can create an invisible barrier between two hearts yearning to connect. With an overwhelmed nervous system, bodies and minds contract, leaving little space for love to flow freely. True intimacy—deep, nourishing, and restorative —can not thrive in tension.

For many couples, stress seeps into the bedroom unnoticed. The body, still holding the rush of the day or the week, remains tense, even in moments meant for closeness. In this state, making love can become mechanical or pressured, rather than the expansive, heart-opening experience it is meant to be. But what if intimacy became a space of deep restoration? A place where both bodies could soften, exhale, and truly meet?

The Feminine and the Art of Receiving

The female body, in particular, flourishes in relaxation. A woman's capacity for pleasure is directly linked to her ability to surrender into safety and presence. When she feels rushed or energetically overloaded, her body may close, not out of disinterest, but out of an intuitive need for slowness. The masculine, too, benefits from unwinding the grip of tension—learning to BE rather than DO, to attune rather than perform.

Creating an atmosphere where love-making is free from stress begins outside the bedroom. It starts in the way you speak, touch, and hold space for each other throughout the day. A gentle embrace, a moment of eye contact, or an unhurried breath together can shift the nervous system from survival mode into receptivity.

Shifting from Performance to Presence

One of the greatest gifts to intimacy is the release of performance. When the goal shifts from “getting somewhere” to simply being with each other, the entire experience changes. Slow down. Feel the warmth of your partner’s skin, the rhythm of their breath. When the mind is quiet and the body is at ease, pleasure arises naturally. In this space, the heart softens, the body opens, and love deepens.

If tension arises, pause. Place a hand on your own heart or your partner’s. Breathe together. A few moments of stillness can dissolve walls built by stress and return you to presence. The more attuned you are to your own relaxation, the more your partner will feel it, and intimacy will become a space of true nourishment rather than another place to strive or prove.

Love as a Space of Deep Rest

True intimacy is not just about passion; it is about connection, safety, and the ability to truly rest in each other’s presence. The more we honour relaxation as an essential part of love-making, the more we discover the depth available in each embrace. When stress is left at the door and the body enters a state of deep surrender, love becomes more than an act—it becomes a meditation, a renewal, and a path back home to each other.

Join me to make the deep shift to presence and restorative practices for your relationship on all levels at The Making Love Retreat.

Here's what Helen so kindly said after one of the retreats last year:-

The Making Love retreat has been life-changing for both my relationship with myself and my partner. I feel I have unraveled so much trauma held in my body, which has enabled a deeper understanding of myself and my relationship with my partner. I feel deliciously expanded in my feminine self-love and beautiful growth in my love for my partner, stillness, slowing everything down to more presence, this has been mind-blowing and powerful. Thank you. Janet, you are a beautiful, masterful facilitator of making love that flows in all areas of life.

DISCLAIMER: Relief of symptoms described by Helen, is not a guarantee that such results will occur for others. Please seek medical and psychological advice for physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. Even though what Helen has shared and the results of implementing The Making Approach as taught by Janet McGeever at The Making Love Retreat in Australia are common and have been so for the 30 years that The Making Love Retreat has been taught by its founders Diana and Michael Richardson in Europe, a couples' attendance does not guarantee the same result. In our experience, when couples apply the simple, yet effective teachings and embrace humility and curiosity, they have very effective and often life-changing outcomes.