Keys for Cultivating an Epic Relationship: Michael Gibson

What would it be like for us to use the tools that we learn in workshops to create a life, and a partnership, that is not just ordinary but extraordinary? 

This is the big question driving the work of this episode’s guest, relationship coach, Michael Gibson. 

For example, he says, fighting between partners is “ordinary.” This is not to judge the realities of relating between two humans. Difficulty is totally normal! But Michael is most interested in what we can do to digest that ordinary reality and create the possibility of a wonderful alternative. 

He has been on this journey with his own partner, ISTA Lead Facilitator Laurie Handlers. Years ago, they began guiding people with the tools they discovered to be effective in their own lives. They give people homework on how to be juicy, and how to be in love again…

The main thing they teach people is how to return to love. 

“It’s when you know that you can say something hard to your person,” Michael says, “and they can say it back to you, and you can return to love even if it was painful. That’s really what we practice.”

It’s about letting the walls we often place between us melt. 

One of the key reasons to be able to return to love is so that you can speak your truth. It’s not just about being mean to one another and then being able to be loved after that. But rather, to speak our truth. When we can speak our truths, we are not holding onto little resentments and pain that can hold our relationships back. 

And your sex life is going to benefit as well! 

In this candid conversation, Ria and Michael also talk about: 

• The famous “Bubble” technique for creating sacred space
  
  
  
• Hitting the pause button on judging our partners
  
  
  
• What happens when we fall into resentment, resistance, and revenge
  
  
  
• The choice between being right or being in a relationship!
  
  
  
• How couples seem to be an endangered species
  
  
  
• How our values are what underpin our boundaries

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