How do I experience more intimacy in my life?

Do you find it difficult to create intimacy in your relationships?  Do you cringe at the thought of being vulnerable with your partner? Being intimate in relationships requires a level of opening ourselves up to another person and exposing our vulnerable side.  If we feel like we will lose ourselves to our partner, we will cut ourselvesoff from an intimate experience.  There is nothing more profound than connecting with another human being and feeling completely safe and seen by another.  If we did not receive the love and nurturing that we needed growing up, we will find this loving place difficult to access and share with someone else. The key is to learn to be comfortable in our own bodies.  When we start to become aware of the feelings and sensations in our bodies, we will get in touch with long buried emotions which we have been shielding ourselves from our whole lives.  By breathing through the pain and expressing our feelings with the support of another who can witness us, we soften up inside and connect to our heart.  This process can be scary and anxiety provoking, but like a wave, we experience the intensity of the emotions and the pain and let it pass through us, feeling washed clean on the other side.  Part of the beauty of the human experience is to feel like we belong and that we matter.  With a loving and caring partner, best friend or trusted counsellor, we can open ourselves up to connection that can heal old wounds. With increased intimacy with another, we then become open to more profound relationships with others on our life's journey and feel an ever-present sense of belonging that becomes a part of our daily lives.  This is our natural state of being in the world and we all deserve to claim this natural birthright.