Rediscover the Magic with LIFE Marriage Retreats
On your wedding day, you walked down that aisle with a rosy vision of your future together. But somewhere along the way, that vision seemed to get a little lost. Are you and your spouse ready to rediscover the magic you once had?
There are many marriage retreats in San Antonio, but it is important to choose the right one for your marriage. No matter where your relationship is today, it is the perfect place to begin a new journey toward lasting, positive change — LIFE Marriage Retreats can guide the way.
At a LIFE marriage retreat, couples find healing, renewed trust, and the highest level of communication they have ever experienced. Any committed couple looking to take their marriage to a higher level of love, trust, and effectiveness can benefit from a LIFE Training Retreat.
If you’re ready to feel more connected to your partner, develop trust and communication, or simply want to be happier in your relationship, LIFE Marriage Retreats can help.
While all of the Retreats we offer are in beautiful locations, LIFE Marriage Retreats in Texas have a specific ambiance. The lake setting in the Texas Hill Country is more than just a beautiful geographic location. Here, you might take long walks through peaceful woods with your loved one, or spot wildlife among the hills. In a beautiful lake house, you can connect with nature and your spouse.
Retreats are available for small groups or as private one-on-one retreats. The retreat offers a constructive combination of training, private sessions, experiential activities, and free time. To ensure positive group dynamics, as well as maximum personal attention, attendance is limited.
The retreat’s all-inclusive pricing includes private bed and bath suite accommodations, all meals, training, private sessions, all activities, and post-retreat support to ensure lasting, positive change.
You married this person for a reason. Now is the time to make a positive change for your marriage. If you’re looking for marriage retreats in San Antonio, choose LIFE Marriage Retreats.
Reasons Why LIFE Marriage Retreats Work
A new study reveals startling statistics about divorce in the U.S. According to the Minnesota Population Center, divorce rates are higher than previously imagined among older people. Baby boomers who are on their second or third marriages are divorcing at a high rate. However, “two thirds of divorces can be prevented with education and intervention.”1
Where will you be educated? What intervention will make the difference in your relationship?
LIFE Marriage Retreats—as opposed to other marriage retreats in Dallas, Texas—offers comprehensive marriage retreats to help couples create lasting change and a lifetime of growth.
LIFE helps couples achieve their marriage objectives by being dedicated to these Training Retreat principles:
• Time
• Place
• Learning
• Support
• Commitment
The four-day format provides couples with the focused time needed to reconnect and to begin using the principles and skills being learned. The location and environment are also crucial to fostering an atmosphere where healing occurs, trust grows, and communication flourishes. In our beautiful locations you will experience a sense of harmony and feel peace and connection come into your lives and relationship.
But no matter how beautiful the locale, the couple’s success will depend upon what is being taught and the processes used. Participants will discover, learn, and internalize the principles and skills that define every successful relationship, delivered through the finest curriculum and innovative experiential training techniques that allow the couple to experience and practice the principles and skills on a hands-on level
Plus, LIFE offers ongoing support, first through personal support in private sessions during the retreat, then through post-retreat coaching that helps ensure continued accountability, permanent change, and ongoing relationship growth. The couple’s dedication combined with LIFE’s support leads to a lasting commitment to the relationship in the long-term.
If you are looking for marriage retreats in Dallas, check out LIFE Marriage Retreats close by.
Resources:
1 Minnesota Population Center http://guidedoc.com/does-marriage-counseling-work-statistics-facts
4 Things You Can Do Every Day to Strengthen Your Marriage
Whether you’re at a point in your marriage where searching for marriage counseling Fort Collins offers is your only hope, or you’re newly married and wanting to build a strong foundation, these four things can help you create a marriage that will make it through those difficult times:
1. Exercise. Believe it or not, exercising is an important key to having a healthy marriage. When you exercise, you have more energy, you feel better about yourself, you boost that feel-good serotonin chemical in your brain, and you alleviate stress and tension in your body. Consider walking or biking together for an even stronger positive connection. The results will be more positive emotions to your marriage, you will be more inclined to feel compassion, kindness, and happiness rather than anger, irritation, and despair.
2. Touch. A simple shoulder squeeze, hand on the arm, or caress on the cheek can sometimes speak louder than words when it comes to expressing love. Simple physical touch can go a long way in a marriage because it shows that you’re aware of your spouse and that you’re there for him or her. It’s a reassuring, comforting gesture that many couples forget is important.
3. Talk. Talking is one of the most fundamental and essential elements of strong marriages. However, talking is more than just a one or two-word exchange a day. It’s sitting down, looking each other in the eyes, and genuinely sharing and listening. It’s a way of reconnecting in our busy lives.
4. Be accountable. Take responsibility not only for your actions, but also for how you manifest your emotions. Avoid blaming your spouse for your negative feelings and behaviors. If you want change in your relationship, work to change yourself first. This will be the best way to invite appropriate change from your partner.
If you have been trying these things and your marriage is still struggling don’t give up hope. LIFE marriage retreats are designed specifically for couples that feel like their marriages are hanging on by a thread. Give our retreats for couples a chance by calling 877-376-7127 or by visiting lifemarriageretreats.com and booking a retreat today.
5 Benefits of Marriage Retreats for Any Marriage
5 Benefits of Marriage Retreats for Any Marriage
Some people think there is a stigma for marriage retreats that requires couples to be at risk of divorce or beyond reconciliation without intervention. While many couples who seek help from LIFE Marriage Retreats are in a state of high relationship distress, others are simply seeking the higher and happier ground that every marriage can attain with some effort and know how. Marriage Retreats from LIFE can benefit any marriage—providing benefits that can serve you and your spouse for the rest of your lives together.
Here are 5 benefits of marriage retreats for any marriage.
Marriage Myths-Part 4: The Fallacy of Falling Out of Love
Recently a friend of mine was asked to perform an arrangement written for a clarinet, viola, and the piano, at a public function hundreds of people would be attending. A part of him was thrilled, flattered by the offer. Another part of him, as he put it, sent him “screaming into an inner closet!”
You see, though my friend had in his teenage years mastered the clarinet having played in the orchestra, the marching band, the concert band, and the jazz band, he had since neglected the gift of talent he had once rejoiced in and, except for an occasional moment or two of nostalgia, had not played in more than 40 years.
After accepting the gracious invitation he found that his attempts to play were slow and painful, interrupted by the most horrendous and nonmusical of sounds. While sympathetic with his situation I must admit to enjoying a little laughter at his expense. But reflecting on his plight, I started thinking of people who had lost a gift they once possessed in their lives. Even more telling, I have heard people speak of having lost the love of a spouse or for a spouse, saying they have “fallen out of love.”
So had my friend “fallen” out of talent for playing the clarinet? I think through neglect and thoughtlessness he had not kept it tuned, and had lost his edge, but I submit not his talent. He had not practiced and nourished his musical gift. Just as it was the musical squawks and squeaks that brought to him the sounds of rusty abilities, is it not to be expected that a neglected relationship will produce its share of painful off-key notes evidenced by fighting, criticizing, and complaining?
At LIFE it is our firm belief that love and relationships take practice, fuel, and care. Perhaps you have sometime resumed a long neglected hobby, sport, or task and have felt the screaming of long-neglected muscles.
Do you remember during your courtship the hours you spent on the phone, the obsession, the meticulous care you showed to your appearance and behavior as you created a loving caring, and exciting relationship? The dedication must have paid off for you at one time, or you would not be looking for that same feeling again!
Though the hormones may have been in full bloom at the time, they did not account for the success. The creativity and effort you put into building a warm and trusting relationship was rewarded. You might now be relating to the pain my friend felt for neglecting his music, or the pain you felt as you realized the time that had lapsed since your last encounter with your muscles; and realize these truths also apply to the disappointment and loneliness you are perhaps now be feeling in your marriage.
At LIFE we believe in miracles. We believe that with new skills, sound principles, and some fun and dedicated time together you can once again hear and experience the sweet harmonies that once defined your earlier years of marriage. You can find new wisdom and gain the power that will allow you to forevermore nurture your relationship and keep it strong and healthy.
At our Trainings and Retreats we create an environment within which couples heal, reestablish trust, and communicate from their hearts. Our couples experience the joys of reconnection and discover a new and vibrant melody in their lives.
Oh, by the way it is our experience that the hormones are still there, perhaps rearranged and somewhat dormant, but none the less there. With new trust and a reawakening of forgotten or deeply buried feelings, the deep attraction to one another and feelings of closeness will return. A depth of love you have only dreamed of will emerge and you will enjoy the fruits of your “practice” and commitment.
Lessons Learned: The Secrets of a Happy Marriage (Humility)
2. Humility makes all things possible
You might be wondering, “What the heck is Neil Diamond doing on a LIFE Marriage Retreat blog?? The guy has two failed marriages to his credit!”
Maybe it was his painful failures in marriage that inspired him to pen some of the truest words ever sung for his song, “Husbands and Wives.” Listen Here
Two broken hearts lonely looking houses
Where nobody lives
Two people each having so much pride inside
Neither side forgives
Angry words spoken in haste
Such a waste of two lives
Its my belief
Pride is the chief cause in the decline
In the number of husbands and wives
Pride is one of the absolute indispensable elements in any unhappy relationship. Certainly there can be many circumstances surrounding the erosion of a marriage, but we have yet to work with a couple in distress where pride was not a component in their unhappiness.
Think of the many places that pride can raise its ugly head in a relationship. To name just a few:
- The need to be right. We humans seem to come equipped with this need already installed and just as powerful as our need to eat and sleep. (I can hear a lot of you saying right now, “But I AM right!” My point exactly.)
- The inability to forgive. Somebody once said that refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
- Narrow perspective. Our perspective is our reality. When we forget that there are other perspectives we try to force our reality on everyone else.
- Not admitting our own legitimate needs; or not recognizing the needs of others. (or selfishly focusing only on our own needs)
The opposite of pride is Humility. Please don’t mistake humility for ‘humiliation’ or groveling. Humility is possessed only by those who are secure enough in themselves to be open to possibilities; open to other points of views, open to the reality that none of us have all the answers.
People who are appropriately humble in their relationships validate their partner and acknowledge them and their point of view, even when they don’t necessarily agree with them. They do their best to forgive when they have been offended, certainly not inviting abuse, but recognizing that we are all human and we all appreciate it when others cut us some slack.
Allow me to give you a very valuable tool. But first I must define a very broad word: Enmity. Enmity is described by many feelings and emotions such as hate, irritation, anger, feelings of superiority, bitterness, frustration, etc. The tool is this: Whenever you feel enmity toward another person you have stepped outside of humility and into pride.
This is crucial because all problems can be solved from a position of humility–and no problem can be well-solved from a space of pride.
Truly, Humility is real Power in a relationship.
Lessons Learned: The Secrets of a Happy Marriage (Authenticity)
Rule #1- Be Authentic Remember the story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” in which a vain and gullible King is tricked into parading in front of his loyal subjects in his birthday suit, believing he is really wearing the latest in high fashion that only the most refined eyes will be able to see? As everyone does their best to pretend that they see him dressed in a gorgeous royal costume (because how traumatic would it be to admit they are less perceptive than their neighbors and see only a naked fat man?) it is left to a young boy to finally shout out incredulously, “Hey, that guy doesn’t have any clothes on!” and bring the facade to an embarrassing end.
Marriage and other close relationships can feel like that. Sometimes I’ve done my best to wear just the right mask or project a particular image that I hope will fool the important people in my life. This has been about as successful as if I had poked a geranium into my hatband and tried to pass as a potted plant. My attempts to “control my own spin” are even less successful than that of the latest Hollywood hottie who pays thousands of dollars for the right press and photo ops, and wonders why they keep getting lampooned in comedic Top 10 lists.
At our Marriage Retreats we often see people who have exhausted themselves and those they love by attempting to hide and keep others at arms length. The truth is that any attempts to fake out those who love and care about us are, thankfully, doomed to failure. They might play along with us for a while, but they know us too well and our costumes never fit quite as well as we might want to believe. Plus, since it is impossible to truly love an illusion, they will sooner or later tire of being in relationship with a wisp of smoke or a desert mirage and will demand something more substantial to hold on to, even if that substance includes some warts and weaknesses.
In my moments of foolish belief that I have my loved ones fooled, the inevitable collapse of my stage set has been perhaps momentarily painful, but also enormously liberating. I call these times my “Lucy Moments.” Remember the great “I Love Lucy” episodes where Lucy tried desperately to be something she wasn’t whether cabaret singer, chocolate maker, or pitch-woman for Vitameatavegamin She never could quite pull off the deception, and after embarrassing herself was soon back to being the authentic Lucy that Ricky and her friends could truly love.
In my attempts to pretend and hide behind my perfect and self-sufficient John Wayne facade I too hit bad notes, make a mess of the bon-bons and call the health drink migaveetametaman, and soon discover that the walls I have built and the masks I have worn have effectively only kept me from experiencing the exquisitely nuanced feelings and emotions of a healthy relationship.
The good news is that being “found out” isn’t nearly as bad or painful as an emperor suddenly feeling the chill in his nether regions and hearing his kingdom laughing at him. Instead, it is liberation from self-imposed chains and a new opportunity to connect with what really matters. In my experience, those who care about me only love me more when they know the real and vulnerable me. From that safe and firm foundation I can then move on to building a better me and a better relationship.
It is easiest to be our authentic selves when we feel safe in our relationships, knowing that we are not being judged or being offered only conditional love. We will talk about creating that safety in later postings.