Close Encounters. Ready to connect?

A shared space for two to slow down, notice each other, and enjoy a moment together. Then close it, and go be with each other.

Add-on

Just you, or the two of you.

Included in Embody. On Deepen, $9 / month per person, with a 3-day free trial.

	Just me	With my partner
Do Together
One Thing I Noticed · Same Question · Plan an Adventure	✗	✓
Plan a Rendezvous	✓	✗
Settle Together & The Relational Almanac
Every practice and every read	✓	✓

When you pair up, you each add Close Encounters to your own account, so whatever happens between you, your space stays yours. You can start on your own and invite a partner later.

Do Together

Small, playful things to do side by side: a couple of minutes to notice each other, share an appreciation, or plan a little adventure. One of you starts, the other joins, and you take turns. Nothing to fix and nothing to score. Just a moment together.

For two

One Thing I Noticed

A short appreciation, back and forth, about one small thing you noticed about each other lately.

For two

Same Question

You each answer the same question privately, then see both answers side by side at the end.

For two

Plan an Adventure

Pick a few preferences together, or plan it as a surprise, and get three ideas for time together.

Just you

Plan a Rendezvous

Planning time with someone you're already seeing? Get three ideas for an outing, each time you ask.

Settle Together

Quiet, guided practices for slowing down, side by side or on your own. Some are just breathing together, some are gentle touch, some are simply being quiet in the same room. Each one can be read or listened to with a calm narrator, in English or Spanish.

Breathe together

Let your breathing find the same pace.

Settling Together · In Sync · The Long Exhale · Nose to Nose

Gentle touch

Slow, simple contact that isn't going anywhere.

Hand on Heart · The 20-Second Hug · Hand Massage · Palm to Palm · Back to Back · and more

Say it out loud

A few warm words for each other.

Three Things · Something I Appreciate · One Good Thing · Grateful for You

Quiet together

Just being in the same room, without needing to talk.

Quiet Together · Soft Eyes · The Held Pause

Moments of the day

Small practices that fit where life already is.

A Morning Minute · Coming Home · Winding Down · After the Hard Part

Keep your favorites

Star the practices you come back to, and they're kept together, ready for next time.

The Relational Almanac

Short, plain-language reads on how connection works, drawn from established relationship research, especially the work of Drs. John & Julie Gottman, along with Dan Siegel, Esther Perel, Sue Johnson, and others. Each one names its sources.

Everyone in Your Life

Bids for connection · Turning toward, away, or against · Rituals of connection · Attunement · Repair attempts · Flooding · Taking a real break · Co-regulation and the window of tolerance · Assuming good intent · Holding space vs. fixing

Partners & Intimacy

The 5-to-1 feeling · The soft start-up · Solvable and perpetual problems · What quietly wears on connection · Responsive and spontaneous desire · The pursuer and the distancer · Novelty and safety · Touch that isn't going anywhere · Emotional and physical closeness · The lens you look through

One more, in The Space

Every plan · no add-on needed

Reach & Reconnect

Looking for ways to connect beyond a partner? Reach & Reconnect, in The Space, offers gentle ideas for connecting with other people or with yourself, three at a time, with nothing to buy and nothing to sign up for. See The Space →

Close Encounters is for adults. It isn't couples therapy, and it isn't built for working through conflict or a crisis. If either of you needs more support, Reach Out and Leave now are always one tap away.
The Space is independent and non-clinical, and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by the researchers named here.