Authors: Mark A Michaels and Patricia Johnson
Reviewed By: Jenne
Passion: a word that evokes many emotions and something that many who have been in a long term relationship are seeking to either retain or recapture.
Life partners often struggle with the concept of change, and in turn how to keep that initial passion that is felt by most at the start of a new relationship. Many seek that feeling which can be powerful feeling can be found seeking it in the form of an affair, rather than looking to recapture it closer to home.
This is where the book Partners In Passion can help. The Authors Mark A Michaels and Patricia Johnson are a married couple who are seeking to help not others understand how to recapture that feeling of passion, but also to maintain it within their own marriage.
As a 408 page volume, Partners in Passion, can at first seem like a somewhat daunting read, but the book itself is broken down into easy to read chapters that make sense. Each chapter can be read as a stand alone chapter on a specific struggle, chapter of the readers relationship, or as a powerful reminder of what is really important with a relationship.
The first chapter deals with new relationship energy and all that entails. There are some great descriptions and so many things I could identify within this chapter. Like all the chapters it is written in a non nonsense easy to read style that well simply put makes sense.
The second chapter deals with the top ten myths about relationships. The authors cover things such as the happily ever after myth that still prevails today, that you have one soul mate and only one, it’s just a question of finding that one, and there is a right way to be sexual to name just three of the ten.
Chapter three looks at these myths and societies perception as a whole of a long term relationship and turns the spotlight on how to change the way a reader may choose to reexamine these popular perceptions.
Chapter four was by far the chapter that resonated the most with me as the reader. It is designed to give you the tools to help you overcome the perceptions and talked about in previous chapters and put them into real life action. Being able to communicate with your partner is important, but as the authors point out connecting with your partner first is fundamental to being able to communicate. There are so many good pointers within this chapter it was hard to pick just one to be honest.
During chapter five we move onto the important subject of sex in a longer term relationship. I love how the authors tie their concepts into the first four chapters of the book, and made me realize as a reader that without letting go of the myths that surround long term relationships it’s all but impossible to obtain good sex long term within the context of monogamy.
Chapter six moves us to anatomy and how a little knowledge can take us a long way. It is not as basic as many books that I have seen that delve into the subject. The authors take the subject and make it easy to digest and there are several diagrams that also help the reader to understand.
Chapter seven delves into Tantra, and it quickly became obvious to me that this was where the authors true passions lay. As someone who has never tried or thought of practicing Tantra I have to say I am new considering taking some of the easier lessons within the book and applying them to my own sex life. Like many westerners I’ve been intrigued by Tantric sex but have always thought of it as somewhat mystical. My opinion of that has been somewhat changed whilst I was reading this chapter. The authors managed to make the seemingly mystical practice m