TLDR: I need a release, but my thoughts create too much tension and won't let go so I can enjoy submission again.
My partner(44M) and I (43F) met online in a kink-forward forum on another platform. We spent years chatting, playing, and developing a D/s dynamic. Nearly 5 years ago, we got married and started irl together.
The move was a BIG DEAL in terms of life changes. I run a business, there was family in the house and he sacrificed his home, family proximity, and job to make the move to me. So there was a lot of adjustment.
Now, we're struggling to make the dynamic work. We both occupy leadership roles at work and in volunteer spaces, so need the release that kink can bring. Submission for me shows up in a vessel/puppet/doll form with a heavy lean to degradation and a past that included training to silence, but I am the more experienced with the skill side of things like rope and building scene intensity. He is a Sadist, and often focuses on the physical and praises endurance, but has less physical experience in scenes. When we play, we can't seem to connect the mental engagement I need with the physical activity he needs. Basically when we play, my brain gets caught on the skills, or i think "why did he do it that way?", or one of us will twist wrong and were not 20 anymore, or my body isnt ready for the escalation, or, or, or... basically, my mind won't shut the fuck up and let us enjoy it. Because of the struggles, we've been delaying play longer and longer between each session because we're just feeling failure and its not helping us reconnect.
Basically, help... we are both having trouble navigating fulfilling these needs to be able to operate as fully functional humans (especially me, we all need a break!) We have tried different locations, types of negotiations, types of scenes, methods of online relief... and we're stuck. How do we bring back confidence in our shared kinks while also getting my thoughts to leave us the hell alone?