Mother-of-three claims to have transformed her marriage and sex life by repeating simple 30-second mantra each morning
- Magazine editor Felicity Harley said her marriage had became monotonous
- A 'girlfriend' suggested that she listen to a TED talk by therapist Esther Perel
- She adopted a 30-second mantra to say each day which she claims has turned marriage to husband Tom around
A mother with a hectic lifestyle has 'transformed' her marriage by adopting a simple mantra that she repeats every morning.
Magazine editor Felicity Harley had found pressures of work and looking after three young children had taken a toll on her marriage to an Australian rules footballer.
Facing a tiring routine of 'monotony', she discovered a relationship expert's motivational speech that changed her a whole perspective.
Magazine editor Felicity Harley on holiday with husband Tom, who got engaged in 2008 and have been married for 10 years
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'I can be hard to be married to sometimes, especially on weekends,' Harley, who is editor-at-large of Whimn wrote on a Kidspot blog.
'The two days of the week when you’re supposed to be living your best life, I spend washing 33 pairs of socks; wiping putrid smelling wee from the tiles around the toilet; clearing the cluttered kitchen bench tops of paper.'
She has been married to fellow Australian Tom Harley, a professional Aussie rules footballer, since 2008 but the little things in life had worn away at their relationship.
'Over the course of doing all this household s***, I get crankier and crankier and then go silent. By that, I mean not talking to dad,' she added.
'The two days of the week when you’re supposed to be living your best life, I spend washing 33 pairs of socks; wiping putrid smelling wee from the tiles around the toilet; clearing the cluttered kitchen bench tops of paper,' she wrote in a blog post
Having hit a low point, she revealed that a friend had suggested she watch a podcast by a celebrated therapist, which would change her life.
The therapist in question? One Esther Perel, a 61-year-old relationship expert with over 20 million views on her videos and a New York Times bestseller to her name.
Mum-to-three Harley has praised Perel for her expertise, and said it has altered the way she views her family and relationships
During one of her TED talks, Perel said: 'The survival of the family depends on the happiness of the couple.
'Actually go about achieving them [your goals] by investing the time, patience, and space necessary with our partners.'
She also listened to the author's relationship-changing podcast Where Should We Begin?
Mum-to-three Harley has praised Perel for her expertise, and said it has altered the way she views her family and relationships.
'Her [Esther's] hours of podcast wisdom can be summed up in a few sentences: marriage is damn hard, but every day is new and fresh and can be sweeter,' said Harley.
'You're the fly-on-the-wall during her [Esther] client's therapy sessions which cover everything from infidelity, to intimacy, sex and romance. It's actually changed how I act in my marriage
'So, now every morning, especially Saturdays, I repeat my new mantra - "it's up to me to make my marriage sweeter",' she said.
Harley joked that while husband Tom might never be the one to clean up 'the banana or wee', he does get her a coffee to wake up to in the morning.
'And for that I am forever grateful,' she said.
Esther Perel is a 61-year-old relationship expert with over 20 million views on her videos and a New York Times bestseller to her name
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