With the increasingly fast-paced lives of today, coupled with a desperate need for us to feel more connected, partnering up in yoga is becoming an increasingly popular way to exercise and build relationships simultaneously. This article dives into the concept of partner yoga and the ways that you can use partner yoga exercises to help move forward in synchronicity.
Unlocking the Power of Partner Yoga
Yoga is more than just exercise, it is an expression—one full of movements, intentions, and energy. When you have a partner to work with, the yoga experience is enhanced to an even greater degree. Not only do you have the support and encouragement of a friend, but the combined energy generated together offers a platform for deeper, richer yoga practice.
Partner yoga is effective in helping us move forward in synchronicity because it allows us to find areas of connection, both with our partners and within ourselves. We do this through the connection of our poses, the seemingly effortless synchronizing of breath, and the ability to use our partner to support and challenge us in poses and transitions. This can be especially helpful for those who feel apprehensive about trying yoga or those taking advanced poses, such as arm balances and inversions.
The Benefits and Beautiful Power of Partner Yoga
When practicing partner yoga, there are three distinct and empowering benefits that come with being in a group of two.
- Safety and Communication – Partnering up with someone to practice yoga can provide us with a sense of safety, as well as an opportunity to communicate our intentions to our partner. A close sense of trust is necessary at all times, so both partners must be open and honest when communicating. This helps to ensure that both individuals feel fully supported and that their aspirations for the practice are met.
- Challenge and Balance – One of the greatest benefits of partnering up is the ability to challenge and balance each other. Working off of each other’s individual strengths, it is possible to reach new heights with the poses and positions. Partnering can also help to keep us grounded and prevent us from going too far in positions that could lead to injury.
- Emotional Wellness – When we pair up with someone, we can not only keep each other safe, but we can also bring more sense of connection and emotional wellbeing. Partner yoga can be especially beneficial for those who have stress-related issues or have difficulty in connecting to their emotions. However, partner yoga also brings with it the potential for feelings of vulnerability, so it is important to be aware of how we are feeling and to communicate our needs if necessary.
Taking Your Practice To The Next Level
Now that we’ve discussed the foundations of partner yoga, let’s explore some more advanced poses and how partnering up can help you take your practice to the next level.
- Arm balances and Inversions – Arm balances and inversions are an incredible way to challenge ourselves, both physically and mentally. Partnering up with someone makes these poses much less intimidating, since we have the safety of another person to fall back on if we become unbalanced. In addition, practicing with a partner can help us reach poses that could have been seen as impossible before.
- Movement and Flow – Partnering up with another yogi can help us start to move with ease and explore different ways of working with energy in yoga. Many times, when we practice alone, we can stick to a certain set pattern or have limited movement due to our personal limitations. However, partnering up gives you the opportunity to explore different ways of moving, and other possibilities of movement that you may be unaware of.
- Making Space – Highly engaged partner yoga poses often require a deeper awareness and understanding of your body’s nuances and the space it needs to inhabit a certain pose. To practice these poses, clear communication of the body’s needs and boundaries is necessary. This heightened awareness of the body allows for a better understanding of our physical capabilities and an exploration of movement in a safe and intentional way.
Modifying Asana To Meet Your Needs
Lastly, it is important to mention the importance of modifying poses to meet our individual needs. Partner yoga can be a great way to do this if we agree to both modify and adjust poses to fit our abilities and practice. Our understanding of our individual limitations in combination with respect for our partner’s needs is an essential part of gaining the most out of partnered yoga.
Practicing partner yoga comes with many benefits, ranging from an increased sense of trust with our yoga partner, to the ability to be more daring with advanced poses and attempt more difficult transitions. By allowing ourselves to get out of our comfort zone, partnering up in yoga can help us move forward in synchronicity with increased safety, trust, and awareness. So, next time you’re looking for an incredible yoga experience, partner up to power up!
