5 ways to use the quarantine to strengthen your relationship, according to a relationship and intimacy expert

Share gladness for your physical safety, for good memories of your first date, for the way your partner laughs. Tell one another what you love and admire about one another. Many couples never take the time to name what's good, and doing so is always very heartwarming.

Whether it's taking a warm bubble bath, doing an online yoga class, journaling, reading a novel, or just taking a nap, spending time replenishing yourself is essential for showing up and joyfully interacting with your partner.

In my work as a relationship and intimacy expert, I find it helpful to start very simply with something that is comfortable, and expand from there. This will mean different things for different couples. Some options include learning sensual massage, reading love poetry aloud, or sharing a sexual fantasy. I find it very helpful to have one partner be the one determining what occurs one night, and the other partner the next. That way there is an opportunity for each person to create an experience and share it, without one partner having the responsibility of reading the other partner's mind in order to figure out what they would enjoy.

Do a puzzle together. Practice a new language. Make a movie of your life with your pets. Create a Facebook page and share information about a topic that interests both of you. Watch every comedy on Netflix. Or get a relationship book and work through the exercises together. Good options include "Getting the Love You Want" and and "Uncompromising Intimacy."

The point is to pick something you are both excited about and can do together. Having a shared project will enhance the good energy between you.

While much of what is going on in the world can feel overwhelming and uncertain, spending all day with your partner does not need to. After all, having a fantastic relationship is a learnable skill, and if you and your partner aren't yet masterful, the time at home is perfect to work on it.

Alexandra Stockwell MD is a relationship and intimacy expert who shows couples how to build beautiful, stable, long lasting relationships. A wife of 24 years and a mother of four, Alexandra helps men and women infuse pleasure and purpose into all aspects of life — from the daily grind of running a household, to clear and intimate communication, to ecstatic experiences in the bedroom.