After nearly a decade of marriage, Jenna Dewan Tatum and Channing Tatum manage to keep the romance alive, but their marriage is far from perfect. In fact, Jenna despises the term "perfect marriage."
"When people say you guys have such a perfect life, I want to scream and tell them no one’s perfect," the candid actress and dancer tells Health.com. "I think there are such things as great fits. It is a great fit as long as you are growing together, and I think up until this point we’ve really grown together."
For Jenna Dewan Tatum and husband Channing, chemistry sometimes takes effort and hard work.
"We fight like other couples, we disagree about things, we have days where we don’t really like each other," she admits in the interview.
The couple, who are both amazing dancers, first met in 2006 on the set of the hit dance movie Step Up. They tied the knot in 2009 and welcomed their baby girl Everly in May 2013.
Over the years, they have been charmingly candid about marriage, including their sex life. Moms and dads can surely learn a lot from them when it comes to keeping the passion burning!
5 Romantic sex tips from Jenna Dewan Tatum and Channing Tatum
1. Make time for sex even when you're busy parents
Yes, your kids are a priority. But that doesn't mean intimacy should be less important!
"We have not yet scheduled sex, but we do schedule time together, so maybe that is sort of scheduling sex," Jenna tells Health, explaining how they go away on weekends to get time along together, but they have "no real regimented schedule."
"I have friends who do this [schedule sex]; it’s on the calendar. We’ve never done that — it might actually be a good idea," she muses.
2. Sex should be an enriching way to communicate
Both Jenna and Channing don't shy away from talking about sex. Jenna describes herself as a very "sensual" person. And Channing has proudly called himself an "animal" in bed.
But the value they place on having hot sex goes beyond the physical pleasure.
“It’s not a means; it should be something that enriches your life," Channing told Vanity Fair in 2016. "It shouldn’t be the only reason you’re in a relationship."
He goes on to explain how he's learned that a good sex life is coupled with deep intimacy, but it also has to have excitement and adventure. Most of all, it means listening to your partner's needs.
"It’s one of the clearest ways that we can communicate. It boils things down to just a primal level," shares Channing. "If you can find one way to communicate — even if it’s sex — then you can communicate the rest of the ways."
3. It's all about being in-tune with one another
Both Jenna and Channing have said time and again that they have to be "in a good place" before getting intimate.
"That was one of our biggest connections. It’s just always been there. We’re not those people who can just say, screw it, let’s be sexual. We have to be connected in the right way. But I’ve always been a very sexual person. We definitely have a very happy and healthy [sex life]," says Jenna in the January 2017 issue of Cosmopolitan.
"Something about being a dancer connects you to your physical body. It’s primal, earthy, sexual energy by nature. You feel your body in a certain way. Channing is very much the same way. He’s very in tune with that. It just worked."
4. Don't use sex as an escape from issues
While others use sex to patch up, what works for Jenna and Channing is to address whatever issues they have before having sex.
"We don’t have sex [to get us] back into our happiness. That’s how we know there’s something we haven’t talked about, or we have to solve whatever’s in between us energetically before we get down," Channing told Vanity Fair. "We don’t, for lack of a better term, hate-fuck each other. That’s not what we do."
5. There will be times when you're not in the mood — and that's okay
Sure, Channing Tatum has starred in the sexy blockbuster Magic Mike and he's also been named People's Sexiest Man Alive, but this doesn't mean Jenna is always "in the mood."
"Anyone who says that doesn’t happen is absolutely lying," Jenna tells Cosmo. "There are times when you’re too busy, too tired. I think the difference between women and men is that men are physical — gotta get it done. Me, I have to feel emotionally connected. I have to be in a good place."
Channing also shared how sometimes, having good sex takes effort.
“We have truly all different kinds of sex,” Channing tells Vanity Fair. “Sometimes it’s like, ‘We gotta get this done. We gotta work.’ . . . Sometimes we have full-on, completely, wholly connected, otherworldly connection sex.”
It's easy to see that being in tune and communicating with each other is an important part of their marriage. Their intimacy goes beyond the physical.
These hands-on parents may be excellent dancers, but it seems they have also managed to find the right rhythm (and choreography) when it comes to marriage and keeping things grooving in the bedroom.
Sources: Vanity Fair, Health, Cosmopolitan, E! Online
Republished with permission from: theAsianParent Singapore