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7 Benefits Of Partner Yoga + 5 Poses To Get You Started

Lifestyle | Love

The word ‘yoga’ means union in Sanskrit, and this is exactly what partner yoga aims to achieve – a uniting of two people.

It is a fabulous medium for building stronger communication and intimacy in just about any kind of relationship, whether it is friendship, a family member, or your significant other. Postures and flow sequences are designed in an awesome way to create and nurture trust, strengthen communication and create a sense of laughter and light heartedness!

Partner yoga brings people together through movement, play, breath, touch and importantly, in this forum – through intimacy. Here are some of the benefits of partner yoga, and what it can bring to your relationship:

1) Enhances And Cultivates Physical And Emotional Support In Relationships

Both partners need to be fully engaged in the experience, and rely on each other for the very creation of poses, and to maintain balance, alignment and focus. This is a great way to heighten the connection you have with your special someone as you learn to let go, enhance your communication, be open and have full faith in each other for their full support in each of the poses.

2) Creating Shared Moments

Partner yoga is not just about basing and flying, instead it is about giving and receiving. Size doesn’t matter, intention does. Let go of the idea of big people picking up small people, because it works both ways!

Think about two people moving together. Give yourself the chance to let someone receive your weight. Take the opportunity for someone to create shared movement with you. Now tell me, what is sexier than that – creating a bond and fabulous moments together while flying high!

3) Learning To Let Go

Sometimes we all take life too seriously, and there is always the temptation after a challenging day to take this out on our partner. Partner yoga is about learning to let go and enjoy life! To create that childlike approach to life, and learning to live the life you love.

4) Playground For Intimacy

Practicing with your loved ones can help to bring you closer. Relationships all go through lulls or rough patches when the status quo gets challenged and you need to work through them together. Partner yoga creates a fabulous sense of fun, and a sense of letting go and allowing you to not take yourselves and each other, and whatever problems exist around you, too seriously!

5) Improving Self-Awareness And Trust

In learning to trust another person, you deepen your ability to trust yourself. Partner Yoga practices reveal the beauty of our interdependence. We see that when we take the risk to become vulnerable in the presence of another, we are empowered to go much deeper with much less effort.
This is also true in life. We can accomplish much more, with much more joy and ease when we support each other.

6) Power Of Touch

As in a relationship, touch is also an integral part of partner yoga. Leverage and kinesthetic awareness all heighten the body’s ability to perform and make it possible to go more deeply into poses with less effort. We touch and are touched by others. We use the touch that we receive to increase our awareness of each other, and to open ourselves to greater depths in our body and our minds.

7) Creating A Sense Of Balance

We tend to have a particular tendency in our relational patterns. On one end of the spectrum, we may be so overly sensitive and yielding to others that we lose touch with a healthy boundary of self. At the other end, we may be so guarded, emotionally and energetically, that we are unable to make an authentic connection with others.
There is no giver or receiver in a yoga pose within Partner Yoga. Both partners are fully engaged in their own experience, each with their own clear role of support for the other person – creating that perfect sense of balance.

5 Partner Yoga Poses To Get The Adrenaline Pumping

The following are kick ass poses for opens the hamstrings, the heart, strengthening the core muscles, calming the nervous system and boosting your libido! All of which are fabulous ingredients for a fun play date!

1. Partner Breathing

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  • Begin in a comfortable seated position, backs resting against each other.
  • Begin to breathe alternate with your partner, so as you inhale, he will exhale and vice versa.
  • Continue for 3-5 minutes.

2. Partner Twist

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  • Begin in seated position with legs crossed and backs resting against each other.
  • Inhale and reach arms overhead.
  • Exhale and twist to the right, bringing right hand to inside of partner’s left knee and left hand to the outside of your right knee/thigh. Your partner should mirror the movement.
  • Hold for three to five breaths, then repeat on the opposite side.

3. Double Downward Dog

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  • Start in a Downward Dog position, one in front of the other.
  • Walk feet and hands back until you are able to walk your feet to the outside of partners lower back, finding the back of their hips and coming to a stable and comfortable position.
  • Keep talking as you move through the pose.
  • Hold for five to seven breaths. Ask your partner to bend knees, and lower hips to tabletop, then Child’s pose, as you release feet to the floor.

4. Partner Forward Fold

7-Benefits-Of-Partner-Yoga-5-Poses-To-Get-You-Started4 Credit: elephant journal
  • Come to wide-legged seated position, facing each other, bringing soles of feet together.
  • Extend arms toward each other, holding opposite palm to forearm.
  • Inhale and lengthen through the spine.
  • Exhale, as one person folds forward from the hips and your partner sits back, keeping the spine and arms straight.
  • Hold for five to seven breaths.

5. Buddy Boat Pose

Partner-Yoga-Poses

  • Find a comfortable seated position facing each other, with knees bent and toes touching. Reach for partner’s wrists.
  • Walk soles of feet together, drawing knees into chest.
  • Keeping the spine straight and chest open, begin to straighten legs. This can be challenging; stay playful and try straightening one leg at a time.
  • Hold for five to seven breaths.

If you’re looking for a way to heighten your individual yoga practice while also taking your relationship with someone else to the next level, consider this approach to physical and emotional fitness. Grab a loved one, roll out one mat, and see what happens!

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