We are lovers of love & revelling in the essence of love, connection & sensuality this month. When it comes to gifts of love, we've created a guide to getting it right this Valentine’s Day.
Love is one of the highest vibrations on the emotional scale, and possibly one of the most revered of emotions.
It comes in many forms; an awakening love that transforms us to be the best that we can be. A love that speaks of devotion to oneself or a beloved. A deepening of sensuality that unfolds into bliss. Passion that can invoke higher states of connection and euphoria. Or a simple yet omnipresent understanding of connection.
The Gift Of Love
We feel that love is a gift within itself. Yet when it comes to gifting love, Valentine’s Day for a lover, or Galentine’s Day for a friend, we know from experience that gifting from your heart is the guide to getting it right. Galentine's Day was coined to celebrate friendship, and for those flying solo, to be able to experience the day-of-love previously enjoyed by lovers only.
We all feel and recognize love in a different way, and have shared our love gift guide pertaining to the unique way we’re ignited by love and our senses. The Five Love Languages speaks of gifting the ones you love, by aligning to the way they prefer, or recognize, to receive love.
What Are Love Languages?
As we all communicate, express, give and receive love differently. The Five Love Languages speaks to love categorized by words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. This is the work of Gary Chapman, Ph.D as conceptualized from his lifetime of work as a marriage counsellor.
We’ve aligned our Valentine's Day gift guide through these five categories:
Words Of Affirmation
Write a note to your beloved and decorate with rose buds. Share your inner adoration of their essence with tender words. To awaken this state our tantric ceremonial cacao can open the heart to expression.
Acts Of Service
Perform an act that touches your beloved with gratitude. Learn of aphrodisiac and sensual acts of service. Lend your hands to massage with a rose quartz infused massage oil.
Receiving Gifts
Gift eros with a rose quartz wand and yoni egg for the lover of rose and sensuality. For the earthy, connect with palo santo scent and protection.
Quality Time
Create romance with candles and scent. Run a bath and decorate with rose and blue lotus petals. Awaken the senses with Foria Intimacy CBD bath salts (In-store only.) Mix a rose mocktail for the lover of passion and flowers; or an earthy bitters with holywood & cardamom to ground and open.
Once the scene is set. Time together can be re-imagined.
Physical Touch
To awaken the senses to connection introduce herbal aphrodisiacs of bliss and euphoria with blue lotus & damiana infused into tea. Or try our lotus flower capsules.
Touch can be heightened with our Twisted Thistle blends of Spicy Nights, Cacao XOXO, Male Essence & Roots. Celebrate on a deeper level with Foria Intimacy Arousal Oil. (In-store only.)
Journal Prompts For Couples
Whether you’re with a friend or lover, we've shared fun prompts to create more intimacy with the ones you love. Valentine’s Day celebrates romantic love, while Galentine’s Day celebrates friendship and connection. Either or, we’re on board.
Mix a mug of ceremonial cacao to awaken the senses to connection with blissful blue lotus & damiana. Or opt for 100x blue lotus flower capsules. Scent and protect the space with Palo Santo. Get comfortable and be open to sharing the answers that arise:
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What was the very first record, album, CD, or tape you bought?
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What has been your favorite sunset?
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And your fave sunrise?
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Tell me about a trip that still says with you today?
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What’s the funniest experience of your life?
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Is romance important to you, and why. And what does that look like?
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How do you feel your life differs from the one you imagined as a child?
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What’s next for you in life, do you have any surprise grand plans?
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How would you do it, if you had to do it all over again?
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What childlike wonder do you still bring to your day?
10 Qualities To Make A Relationship Great
Love is one of the most beautiful human experiences, yet often it’s not easy to express this journey in words.
It’s an unspoken energy that can often only be understood by being felt. We wanted to speak to 10 qualities that make a relationship great, and share how we can reach, adore and celebrate our loved one/s for who they truly are.
1. Listen
Have you truly listened to your partner? Learned about their day, or where their mind is at? Active listening is key to understanding what your partner is saying, or perhaps what they’re not. Being present in their presence is one of the most thoughtful gifts you can give your loved one/s. We understand this to be listening with your heart.
2. Share
It’s common to feel deep feelings but not be able to put them into words. People can often think that verbally sharing what's in our heart is much harder that it is. Try whispering the one thing that makes your partner unique, in their ear. Or write a handwritten note and place it somewhere they will find it throughout the day. If you want to sit and consciously learn about each other, try ceremonial cacao to open your heart to share your inner most feelings of love.
3. Gratitude
They say that being thanked can switch our mind into a more positive state. Try thanking the one/s you love for small, everyday acts, and build to expressing deeper appreciation for the role that they play in your life. Ask if they feel seen and appreciated with an open mind and heart. Thankfulness can also lead to more abundant connection on all levels.
4. Presence
Try making yourself fully available in the moment with your partner. Honoring that when are you not focused on the past, or the future, the moments you spend together can be savored. Try switching off your phone, and any other distractions, and look your partner in the eye to connect a deeper level. Damiana can be a great herb to help find deliciousness in every moment. It’s one of our favorite herbs for this reason.
5. Time
Many people shy away from effusive acts of affection or generosity, and are more aligned with quality time together in its purest form. As with the act of presence, being in the moment means you can deepen the experience together. Try finding a mutual activity that you both deeply enjoy. Or taking time away from your every day life, even if just for an afternoon. Try Box Breathing as a way to slow down the mind, and find presence of time together. Breathe in for four counts, hold for four; breathe out for four, hold for a further four and then repeat. The idea being to get out of your mind, and into your heart.
6. Touch
Touch can be as gentle as a light brush on the arm, or a sincere arm around the shoulder. To bridge intimacy and deepen sensual energy we're inspired by Aphrodisiac as a guide to explore intimacy on all levels and savor connectivity as a whole. Try a gem essence massage oil to bring magic to your experience. Or add an essence to a warm bath for gentle sensuality on the skin. Try candles, ritual scents, rose buds and blue lotus petals to set the scene.
7. Growth
We honor self growth and know that to grow alongside the one/s you love is a great blessing. As well as a responsibility. We believe to flourish in relationship, we must tend to ourselves first, and then to the relationship. We all have differing attachment styles and grow in different ways. Space is an unspoken gift we can give our partner. To reconnect to themselves at times of need, before coming back to the connection of mutual growth in the relationship. Space can also deepen the next phase of growth together. 100x blue lotus flower capsules are our suggestion for inner growth, and for discovering growth, together.
8. Spontaneity
They do say that spontaneity is the spice of life. Trying new things creates new neurological pathways which can broaden and deepen connection as the years go on. Try cooking your dinner but taking it to the water’s edge to eat as the sunsets. Or packing a bag for a surprise trip for your loved one/s. Swap a glass of wine for a can of Recess Mood to bring about a new level of connection. Initiative can be a turn on! And if you want spice in the bedroom, then our Spicy Nights, Cacao XOXO, Male Essence & Male Roots will certainly do that!
9. Ask
Have you tried asking your loved one/s if they feel seen, felt and heard? Asking our partner what we would like more of, or asking more for ourselves, can be daunting but it can also be exhilarating. Find ways to bring in curiosity and playfulness as a way to get to know each other better; no matter how many years you have been together. Aphrodisiac is a journey to unfurl to our inner desires and live a more confident, creative, and joyful life.
10. Give
Thoughtful gifts are a beautiful way to express love and appreciation. This Valentine’s Day why not try something new. Think of where you want to be in your love life, and then share a gift that could get you there. We suggest a rose quartz yoni wand and egg to awaken a new level of intimacy, and then creating a scene with the above notes to brings it all to life.
As with all things, if you give from your heart, you can’t really go wrong. Enjoy celebrating love everyday!
All our love,
The Twisted Thistle Team