Wow! Life is wonderful! And how much more so when you share it with someone. Sunsets are beautiful…but how much sweeter are they when you watch them with a loved one?
Yoga is wonderful…and it is even more magical when you share the practice with a partner. Yoga works on many levels, and is a journey of discovery, of ourselves and our interdependence. Each one of us is a whole universe.
In partner yoga we connect to each other in new and fun ways, we touch and are touched, we stretch farther than usual with our partner’s help, balance in ways we could not by ourselves, breathe deeply together and dive into tranquility while we stare into each other’s eyes.
A partner yoga class can be a romantic experience… or just a way for family or friends to connect or simply to make yoga a more fun practice.
Yoga
Yoga is an ancient science which helps to create health and well-being by building awareness, strength, and flexibility in both mind and body. Yoga is an egalitarian practice, bestowing its benefits on every practitioner, regardless of his or her physical abilities. Yoga poses, or asanas, are practiced by people of all ages and in many different states of health and fitness.
Practitioners have long attested to the benefits of yoga including stress and pain relief, improved circulation and digestion, better body alignment, increased concentration, deeper, more relaxed breathing, and a sense of well-being and inner peace.
Yoga is a holistic practice, with an inner as well as an outer focus. But most importantly, it can be and should be fun!
How Partner Yoga is Different
“Traditional” yoga is an individual practice, but this new yoga is a way to expand our hearts and minds to include another person. In some parts of the class the practice becomes a communal one…it is community yoga.
If in the “traditional” yoga we withdrew within ourselves to find this inner joy discusses in the yoga scriptures, in this new yoga we learn to expand ourselves and discover that yes, happiness is within but it is also all around us. The more we expand ourselves to include others, the more fun and meditative the feeling is. Contraction is limiting and narrowing while expansion is freeing.
This is also where Tantra can come into the picture… in Tantra we learn to see our partner (and eventually everyone) as the God or the Goddess; we worship them with our body, each one of our senses, and with our mind.
Life is relationship, and those who have mastered the art of communication have mastered life. In partner yoga we learn to communicate in non-verbal ways (we communicate verbally too) through which we can many time connect on deeper and more profound levels.
In any relationship we serve as each other’s mirrors; we can see our reflection in the other and better understand ourselves. In partner yoga there is constant feedback between partners; as someone helps us to stretch, we not only enjoy a fantastic sensation, we also learn how to help them stretch in a better way. As we experience our partner’s touch we learn how to touch them. As we watch them listening and responding to our sensations, we learn to listen and act in response to theirs.
Benefits
We live in a fast moving world… so partner yoga is a great way to spend quality time together, enjoying a fun and healthy activity. Practicing yoga together helps strengthen the bonds between a couple, while supporting each other and having fun. These classes are especially pleasurable when taught as a private class.
Partner yoga is a great way to bring two people together because in relationships everything is reciprocal: the more we respect, our partner the more they respect us; the more we give, the more we get; the more we listen, the more we are being listened to. Even one or two hours of practicing consciously in a partner yoga class can serve as a great bridge over gaps that were created in the past.
In partner yoga classes we spend most of our time touching each other. Touch is the strongest and simplest way of giving and receiving love, support, warmth and trust. Babies who don’t receive touch do not survive, and kids, even adults who don’t receive enough touch might suffer from different special, emotional or mental challenges as well.
By practicing asana together, we learn how to touch, how to be gentle and kind, we learn acceptance and compassion, how to be respectful and trusting, and how to connect, communicate, and cooperate. It’s a great opportunity to open the heart and overcome past conflicts, as well as create new friendships.
When doing partner sequences, the pair is encouraged to breathe deeply throughout the joint practice and try to coordinate their breath. If the partners listen to each other breathe, they can better help each other to stretch further – on an exhalation the muscles relax more profoundly and the stretch can go deeper. The couple is also asked to connect more deeply by looking into each other’s eyes as much as possible. It’s a wonderful practice!
When we stretch together we can:
* Stretch further than usual
* Practice balance and counterbalance skills
* Move with more awareness, realizing that our movements affect our partner
* Get a constant feedback to our actions by communicating with our partner as well as by experiencing how it feels when they stretch us
* Enhance communication skills using words, facial expressions, touch, breath and even thoughts
* Develop trust and compassion
* Touch and be touched in a safe way
* Deepen our connection to our partner/parent/child/frien
When we help each other do yoga it is very important that we compassionately communicate how the stretch feels to us, and observe and listen to how it feels to our partner – if we fail to do this we might get hurt or hurt someone else.
In yoga for two, the partners are encouraged to communicate using questions like:
* How does it feel?
* Is it too much or would you like me to stretch you a bit more?
* Please tell me if I’m pulling/pushing you too hard/far.
Non-verbal communication is as essential, and partners are guided to notice the little changes in their partner’s breath, facial expressions and body reactions. You can also create a non-verbal language - for example: One squeeze with the hand means “that’s enough”, Two squeezes means “take me farther”
Partner Yoga:
* improves strength and flexibility
* increases self confidence and builds a positive self-image
* increases emotional strength
* nourishes creativity
* helps to balance body and mind
* teaches self-acceptance and self-love
* increases sensory awareness and also general body awareness
* builds coordination and balance
* expands self-awareness, and awareness of others
* develops self-discipline and self-control
* helps build concentration
* helps us to stand more erect and feel taller by supporting a long and flexible spine
* fortifies all bodily systems: the skeletal, nervous, circulatory, digestive, respiratory, hormonal and muscular systems
* increases awareness of breathing and deepens the breath
* is non competitive
* encourages cooperation and teamwork
* teaches how to relax and reduce stress
* encourages compassion, generosity, and respect
* teaches how to find inner peace
* is fun!!!
Yoga is wonderful…and it is even more magical when you share the practice with a partner. Yoga works on many levels, and is a journey of discovery, of ourselves and our interdependence. Each one of us is a whole universe.
In partner yoga we connect to each other in new and fun ways, we touch and are touched, we stretch farther than usual with our partner’s help, balance in ways we could not by ourselves, breathe deeply together and dive into tranquility while we stare into each other’s eyes.
A partner yoga class can be a romantic experience… or just a way for family or friends to connect or simply to make yoga a more fun practice.
Yoga
Yoga is an ancient science which helps to create health and well-being by building awareness, strength, and flexibility in both mind and body. Yoga is an egalitarian practice, bestowing its benefits on every practitioner, regardless of his or her physical abilities. Yoga poses, or asanas, are practiced by people of all ages and in many different states of health and fitness.
Practitioners have long attested to the benefits of yoga including stress and pain relief, improved circulation and digestion, better body alignment, increased concentration, deeper, more relaxed breathing, and a sense of well-being and inner peace.
Yoga is a holistic practice, with an inner as well as an outer focus. But most importantly, it can be and should be fun!
How Partner Yoga is Different
“Traditional” yoga is an individual practice, but this new yoga is a way to expand our hearts and minds to include another person. In some parts of the class the practice becomes a communal one…it is community yoga.
If in the “traditional” yoga we withdrew within ourselves to find this inner joy discusses in the yoga scriptures, in this new yoga we learn to expand ourselves and discover that yes, happiness is within but it is also all around us. The more we expand ourselves to include others, the more fun and meditative the feeling is. Contraction is limiting and narrowing while expansion is freeing.
This is also where Tantra can come into the picture… in Tantra we learn to see our partner (and eventually everyone) as the God or the Goddess; we worship them with our body, each one of our senses, and with our mind.
Life is relationship, and those who have mastered the art of communication have mastered life. In partner yoga we learn to communicate in non-verbal ways (we communicate verbally too) through which we can many time connect on deeper and more profound levels.
In any relationship we serve as each other’s mirrors; we can see our reflection in the other and better understand ourselves. In partner yoga there is constant feedback between partners; as someone helps us to stretch, we not only enjoy a fantastic sensation, we also learn how to help them stretch in a better way. As we experience our partner’s touch we learn how to touch them. As we watch them listening and responding to our sensations, we learn to listen and act in response to theirs.
Benefits
We live in a fast moving world… so partner yoga is a great way to spend quality time together, enjoying a fun and healthy activity. Practicing yoga together helps strengthen the bonds between a couple, while supporting each other and having fun. These classes are especially pleasurable when taught as a private class.
Partner yoga is a great way to bring two people together because in relationships everything is reciprocal: the more we respect, our partner the more they respect us; the more we give, the more we get; the more we listen, the more we are being listened to. Even one or two hours of practicing consciously in a partner yoga class can serve as a great bridge over gaps that were created in the past.
In partner yoga classes we spend most of our time touching each other. Touch is the strongest and simplest way of giving and receiving love, support, warmth and trust. Babies who don’t receive touch do not survive, and kids, even adults who don’t receive enough touch might suffer from different special, emotional or mental challenges as well.
By practicing asana together, we learn how to touch, how to be gentle and kind, we learn acceptance and compassion, how to be respectful and trusting, and how to connect, communicate, and cooperate. It’s a great opportunity to open the heart and overcome past conflicts, as well as create new friendships.
When doing partner sequences, the pair is encouraged to breathe deeply throughout the joint practice and try to coordinate their breath. If the partners listen to each other breathe, they can better help each other to stretch further – on an exhalation the muscles relax more profoundly and the stretch can go deeper. The couple is also asked to connect more deeply by looking into each other’s eyes as much as possible. It’s a wonderful practice!
When we stretch together we can:
* Stretch further than usual
* Practice balance and counterbalance skills
* Move with more awareness, realizing that our movements affect our partner
* Get a constant feedback to our actions by communicating with our partner as well as by experiencing how it feels when they stretch us
* Enhance communication skills using words, facial expressions, touch, breath and even thoughts
* Develop trust and compassion
* Touch and be touched in a safe way
* Deepen our connection to our partner/parent/child/frien
When we help each other do yoga it is very important that we compassionately communicate how the stretch feels to us, and observe and listen to how it feels to our partner – if we fail to do this we might get hurt or hurt someone else.
In yoga for two, the partners are encouraged to communicate using questions like:
* How does it feel?
* Is it too much or would you like me to stretch you a bit more?
* Please tell me if I’m pulling/pushing you too hard/far.
Non-verbal communication is as essential, and partners are guided to notice the little changes in their partner’s breath, facial expressions and body reactions. You can also create a non-verbal language - for example: One squeeze with the hand means “that’s enough”, Two squeezes means “take me farther”
Partner Yoga:
* improves strength and flexibility
* increases self confidence and builds a positive self-image
* increases emotional strength
* nourishes creativity
* helps to balance body and mind
* teaches self-acceptance and self-love
* increases sensory awareness and also general body awareness
* builds coordination and balance
* expands self-awareness, and awareness of others
* develops self-discipline and self-control
* helps build concentration
* helps us to stand more erect and feel taller by supporting a long and flexible spine
* fortifies all bodily systems: the skeletal, nervous, circulatory, digestive, respiratory, hormonal and muscular systems
* increases awareness of breathing and deepens the breath
* is non competitive
* encourages cooperation and teamwork
* teaches how to relax and reduce stress
* encourages compassion, generosity, and respect
* teaches how to find inner peace
* is fun!!!
For photos of people practicing yoga together visit the following page:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7373&id=100001016832315
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