Butterflies In Your Stomach And Other Physical Feelings When You’re In Love

Love can be a truly fascinating and complex subject that can involve how we bond with one another and how those bonds can get us ready for a lifetime of commitment, whether it be the form of familial, platonic, or romantic love.

Romantic love can be especially interesting as it is one type of love that can result in a wide variety of outcomes that leave us wondering, "How did I end up feeling like that?" The brain is at the center of all this activity and dictates how we fall in love with people, and how we experience that love. 

Sometimes we may have a small crush or a basic physical attraction, and other times we may find ourselves head over heels for someone else. What is truly interesting is how it can affect us physically, like having butterflies, and how we can seemingly sense that we feel strongly towards another individual. 

If you are interested in learning more about how the body reacts when faced with something as strong as love, here is a guide to some of the physical feelings that are commonly experienced by many individuals.

The Connection Between Love and Sexual Attraction

The most obvious physical feeling that can indicate love might be that of sexual attraction. When we feel strongly for someone, sex may be intertwined in those feelings in some capacity. Some people will argue that intense sexual attraction is not true love, but things are typically not that simple, and that often sex and romance are found alongside each other. As such, you may experience feelings of sexual attraction if you love someone; often, you may have to gauge whether you are simply experiencing sexual attraction for an individual, or if there could be something more there. 

Other Common Physical Effects That You May Experience 

There can be plenty of physical symptoms, such as the feeling of butterflies, and this is because love can release many chemicals that affect the body. Some of these physical symptoms often include the following.

Love: What's The Meaning Of Feeling The Butterflies In Stomach When You Are With Your Partner

Have you ever looked at someone you were strongly attracted to, only to find yourself with a light, tingly feeling in your abdominal area? This can be a common symptom of love, and this is often because being in love with someone may also come with nervousness and stress, which can trigger the release of stress hormones that can cause you to experience these physical symptoms. 

Feeling High

For most people, being in love with someone might feel as though they are on a drug or experiencing a high. As such, people may go to great lengths for the ones they care about, and may exhibit strange behaviors as a result of experiencing such feelings. The reason? It turns out that love is very much a drug in its own right.

Feelings of love can affect the same parts of the brain that light up when addictive substances are used, and this can happen for a very important reason. When experiencing intense romantic love, two sections of the brain are activated. These two centers are responsible for associating with pleasure and recognizing pleasurable and life-sustaining activities. In other words, love can fill you with pleasure and joy-inducing chemicals, and can encourage you to maintain that attachment, as this was often important for the survival of early humans who depended heavily on their communities to care for one another and keep the species alive.

What to Do Next?

After experiencing love, for many, the next question may be, what am I supposed to do next? Generally, if you are not already in a relationship with the person that you love, you might want to start dating them and trying to enter a more serious relationship stage. If you're in love with someone and want to make sure you have plenty of time to enjoy their company and keep a relationship going, one great way to learn the skills needed and receive the proper support can be through relationship counseling. Therapy is designed to make your relationship easier to manage.

Reconnecting Through BetterHelp

Even the healthiest relationships go through rough patches. When you’re not feeling the butterflies and don’t know where to turn, a licensed therapist can help. 

Recent research has shown that online therapy effectively provides couples counseling to those experiencing difficulties. In a study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, researchers examined the efficacy of online therapy when treating relationships in distress. Researchers found that relationship satisfaction and communication improved after therapy programs were completed. The study also noted that online therapy could be done simultaneously to address personal mental health issues affecting troubled relationships. Through BetterHelp, you’ll be able to connect with licensed marriage and family counselors from around (and outside) the US—to ensure you and your partner are getting the best help for your specific relationship. Read below for counselor reviews, from those who have experienced similar issues.

Counselor Reviews

“Karen is great, honest, and straightforward. She helped me through some relationship issues I was having and did so in an effective and insightful way.” 

“I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Amy. She was kind and attentive, and made me feel comfortable talking. For the months that I was in counseling, I was negotiating some difficult relationship challenges, and Amy helped me through these patiently and without judgement. She equipped me with some very practical tools for coping with stress and anxiety, which I still use even after discontinuing counseling. Five stars.”

Takeaway

If you think that you and your partner need help and perhaps could benefit from therapy to strengthen your relationship and learn better relationship skills in the process, know that online counselors are there to assist you. You can once again feel the pangs of love you felt before—it may just take some work. Take the first step today.