What Is Deep Love?
Does deep love sound like a fantasy? If you've struggled in relationships, you might feel this way about deep connections. However, genuine, open, and healthy romantic relationships can benefit mental health and are possible to obtain for those who dedicate themselves to finding them.
Deep love takes time to build
The definition of deep love
There may not be a concrete definition of deep love for everyone. You may find many examples and descriptions online or from friends, but the term is not defined in the dictionary. Similes for deep love may include:
- Intense love
- Twin flames
- Soulmate
- Healthy relationships
- Unconditional love
- Healthy love
- Lasting love
- Connection
In many cases, people can experience multiple stages of love. The first stage is often called the honeymoon phase, puppy love, or infatuation. It's the chemistry that you might experience in a new or budding relationship. You might feel excitement, obsession, and intensity when together.
However, your relationship may not sustain early love forever. Other stages could occur as your relationship grows and your love begins to deepen. People may leave their relationship searching for the infatuation stage or stay in their relationship and find commitment, long-term connection, and satisfaction.
Signs you’re feeling “deep love”
Lasting love may not look the same for every couple, so try not to compare your relationship to others. There are a few signs you may be in the deep love stage, including the following.
You accept their flaws
When your relationship started, you may not have seen the flaws in your significant other or decided to ignore them. If your relationship has progressed to a lasting love stage, you might accept their flaws, even though you see them and understand how you and your partner differ. Though power couples in tabloids and social media may seem perfect for each other, they too exert effort to accept the strengths and weaknesses of their partner to make the relationship strong.
You enjoy quality time together
You may find that it doesn't matter what you're doing with your partner and that you enjoy their company and love spending quality time together. If this is the case, it may signify that you're deeply in love with them.
The benefits of deep love
Many people find benefits in loving deeply and healthily. Having someone to stand by your side and support you through difficult times can be valuable. Below, see studies about the benefits of love and healthy connections.
Health benefits
An article in the Harvard Gazette titled "When Love and Science Double Date" describes the benefits of love after the initial infatuation stage wears off. They state, "that [infatuation] period is followed by an upsurge in the hormone oxytocin, a neurotransmitter associated with a calmer, more mature category of love. Oxytocin helps cement bonds, heighten immune function, and begin to confer the health benefits found in married couples who are inclined to live longer, have fewer strokes and heart attacks, be less depressed, and have increased survival rates from major surgery and cancer."
When you experience deep love, you might also experience multiple other health benefits. The following are health benefits that couples in love might experience:
- Visiting the doctor less often
- A lower chance of experiencing substance use dependency or depression
- Lower blood pressure
- Reduced anxiety
- Less pain
- A more significant ability to manage stress
- Fewer colds
- Faster healing
- Longer life span
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Financial benefits
Not only does being in love potentially come with a long list of health benefits but there are also financial benefits. Marriage brings tax savings, savings on healthcare, and tax-free marital gifts.
How do you love deeply?
If deep love excites you, you might want to know how to love someone deeply. However, love cannot often be forced. Love may sometimes be a choice, but love is an emotion, and a close connection is often formed over time. If you want to improve your connection with your partner, you might try the following activities.
Try new things together
When you try new activities together, you might create a new type of bond with your partner. Consider bringing along a camera to document the memories. Some couples enjoy scrapbooking or creating photo albums to remember their moments together.
Utilize your partner’s love language
In the popular book, The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, there are five different ways that people experience love. When you identify how your significant other feels love, you may use it to shower them with love and affection. Additionally, they can consider your love language to show you love.
The five love languages include:
- Words of affirmation
- Acts of service
- Spending quality time together
- Gifts
- Physical touch
Take an interest in what they enjoy
You might not have everything in common with your partner. However, your differences could still bring you together. Consider taking an interest in or asking your partner about their hobbies and goals.
If your partner has an interest you don't understand, try to be open-minded as long as it aligns with your boundaries and values. Try to ask open-ended questions and be engaged as you participate in the activity to show interest and care.
Spend time laughing together
You may have heard the saying, "Laughter is the best medicine." Based on studies, laughter can benefit your health and relationships. A study by the University of Kansas found that humor is essential in romantic attraction. While you might not build your entire relationship on attraction, it can be an integral part of a healthy relationship. Try to find ways to laugh together and reduce stress.
When love hits a rough patch
Deep love can feel meaningful and powerful. However, relationships may still experience challenges when love is present. Love can be complicated, and life's changes may bring ups and downs. Stressors like bills, raising children, or finding time to spend together can feel like roadblocks.
Studies have shown that online therapy platforms are valuable resources for couples or individuals experiencing relationship difficulties who want to increase healthy patterns. For example, in a report by the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, researchers stated that couples could benefit from online therapy. Online therapy is widely considered a more flexible alternative to face-to-face therapy, remotely providing resources and allowing couples to attend therapy on their schedule. With online couples counseling through a platform like BetterHelp for individuals or Regain for couples, you can be matched with a counselor that meets your preferences.
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“Mark has been extremely attentive to everything that I talk. He’s not only supported me but insight and encouragement to let me know I’m on a good path to self-improvement and discovery. Furthermore, Mark has provided me valuable insight into my romantic relationship, specifically with learning more about the relationship dynamics and how to build a stronger, healthier relationship.”
Takeaway
What does deep love mean?
Deep love can mean different things to different people, and there is no one right or wrong way to define it. For some, it indicates a profound connection between individuals that includes a desire to safeguard and care for each other. For others, deep love has a more romantic connotation where individuals have a desire to be together forever, and live each other’s lives with common goals and aspirations.
Deep love is typically unconditional and may involve putting a partner’s needs and desires above one’s own. It is often associated with longer-term relationships vs. fleeting feelings of love at first sight.
What does deep love feel like?
In relationships, individuals experiencing deep love may feel as if they have a strong, sympatico relationship where both partners feel they can be autonomous yet remain intrinsically connected with one another. For many, deep love feels powerful but effortless and can be fulfilling on multiple levels.
Deep love may take your breath away at the sight of the person you love, or it can make you smile for no reason. It may cause “butterflies” when you hear their name, or you may have dreams about them every night. Regardless of how it emerges, many say it’s a powerful feeling that can be life changing.
What is the deepest form of love?
Again, the deepest form of love may be different for different people, and there is really no wrong way to define it. It may take the form of Agape, cited in the bible as God’s love, or the love a parent has for their child. Others feel the deepest form of love is committed love with a romantic mate. Regardless, authentic, deep love fills us with inspiration and the motivation to do good things in the world.
How do you express deep love?
Expressions of deep love typically include acting selflessly towards another with a focus on caring for them and their needs. This may include caring for a loved one during sickness, comforting a loved one, or providing safety and reassurance during difficult times. Some people express their true feelings of deep love with gratitude, thoughtful gestures, and regular displays of appreciation.
What is true and deep love?
True and deep love transcends the superficial and provides a sense of peace for those in the relationship. It can be a healing type of love, creating profound bonds. Many feel that true and deep love is the love most worth fighting for. If you’d like to explore the concept of deep love more thoroughly, there are many deep love quotes to inspire you.
Why is first love so deep?
It isn’t uncommon for people to feel that their first love was the deepest, but that typically changes with time and perspective. However, that doesn’t mean that first love doesn’t feel so deep at the time. First love may seem so deep because it’s a novel experience, or because some people idealize their first love. Neuroscience also indicates that changes in the brain play a large part in the release of neurotransmitters when we fall in love. Regardless, many people say they’ll never forget their first love.
What is the strongest version of love?
Some argue that the most powerful kind of love is self-love, while others believe it’s parental love. The strongest version of love is typically different between people and changes with time and circumstances. At the end of the day, the strongest version of love is one that allows you to rest easy knowing that your relationship is strong and you’re able to walk together in the world with confidence.
What is the highest word for love?
Many believe that the highest word for love is the Greek agape, a term used in the bible referring to the type of eternal, unconditional love used to describe God’s love for humanity. For some, this is the deepest love that exists.
What are deep feelings?
There are many types of deep feelings, from rage to euphoria to the intensity of love we have toward the people which we feel grateful for in our lives. In the context of deep love, they are the emotions we have for another when we experience true love. Deep feelings provide us with the emotional capacity to love and be loved by others.
What is deep soul love?
When we think about soulmates, we often think in terms of an individual we feel perfectly romantically matched with that we can live with happily over time. While this is the typical idea of deep soul love, finding one’s soul mate is often a different experience for each person. Our soul mate may be someone we fall in love with right away, after getting to know them for a while, or who we love more with each passing year. When you’ve found your soul mate, you may find you no longer turn to others for fulfillment because you have everything you need through your love for that person and the love you have for yourself.
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