5 Tips for Building Healthy Relationships

Valentine’s Day brings everyone’s thoughts to relationships and feeling love in their lives. Maintaining healthy relationships in your life, whether that’s with friends, roommates or romantic partners has been shown to increase happiness, improve your health and reduce your stress. Here’s 5 tips on how you can build a healthy relationship:

Communication
Communication is key in any type of relationship you might have. Make time to talk through things and genuinely listen to others. Ask questions to understand the other person’s feelings, opinions, and interests. Whether living with your best friend or someone new, living together is much different than just hanging out. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or frustrated LMU offers you resources to maintain a communicative, healthy and peaceful space. Spring semester is a great time to check-in on how things are going with your roommates, maybe even take a look at your roommate agreement. First-year students can check this one of off of your LEO path under Practice Ignatian Values.

Be Honest
Candid, truthful conversations are the cornerstone of healthy relationships. Even if you think it’s simpler to hide your feelings, being honest establishes an innate level of trust and respect. It might look like everyone on our campus is connected, however many students share concerns about if they get along with others or if they fit in. Relationships take time to build as you meet people and get to know them.

Practice Self Care
Being healthy as an individual can be equally helpful to building a healthy relationship. Find ways to focus on your own mental health and well-being whether that’s activities that focus on your physical like taking a Group Fitness class, relaxing on the bluff or taking a walk on a beach nearby. Need some ideas? Visit lmu.edu/LionWellness for all kinds of activities to practice self-care this spring.

Be Vulnerable
“Although it’s often misconstrued, vulnerability is a key to fostering a closer, deeper, and more authentic connection for any relationship — familial, intimate, or just friendly. The core of vulnerability is consciously choosing to share emotions and/or desires with others in an authentic, unfiltered manner. It’s those moments of sticking your neck out, knowing there might be negative reaction and accepting that you can’t control the outcome. These are the times that bring us closer to others, and encourage them to be vulnerable in return.” Read the “Be Vulnerable” article from LMU CARES Online here.

Healthy Boundaries
Having healthy boundaries can improve relationships and self-esteem. They allow us to consume emotional energy and give us space to grow and be vulnerable. One person cannot meet all your emotional needs. Watch Brené Brown talk about how the most compassionate people she has interviewed tend to have the most boundaries in this video on LMU CARES Online.

Want to strengthen your relationships?
Try out the game SuperBetter made by Jane McGonigal. “Playing SuperBetter makes you more capable of getting through any tough situation. It’s a terrific tool to help repair broken relationships and strengthen social connections.” Play the game here.