Table of Contents
What is Partner Yoga?
Doing yoga regularly and including yoga in your personal routine can be very beneficial for your overall mental health, physical health, emotional health and spiritual health as well, it is wholly beneficial for your overall well being in life. But doing yoga alone can sometimes be very boring. Instead of doing yoga alone, one thing you can do is including some partner in your yoga session with you. So, here we have brought you some Best Partner Yoga Poses for Beginners that you can do to make your yoga session more joyful, entertaining, and of course beneficial for you and your partner as well.
Doing Yoga with any partner does not mean that you have to find any romantic partner like a girlfriend or wife. A yogic partner can be anyone with whom you can simply practice your yogic exercises with. It can be anyone like your mother, father, wife, girlfriend, best friend, or even your kids too. It doesn’t matter that you don’t have any romantic partner, I mean it is super fantastic if you have one but if you don’t, then also you don’t have to worry about it much.
Benefits of Practicing Yoga with a Partner
Doing Yoga whether solo or with a partner is itself very beneficial and there is no question or doubt about it but, practicing yoga with a partner not only gives you a quality company in your yogic session to you but also adds more physical, psychological and emotional benefits to it.
First of all, when you perform yoga with a partner, one of the basic benefit that you get is the physical help and assistance that you get from your partner while performing several simple as well as the complex yogic poses. The physical help and assistance that you get while performing your partner yoga poses correctly also prevents you from several types of injuries that might occur when you try to perform some of the complex yoga poses all by yourself alone. Adding more to this, a very strong bond of trust is also built between both the partners.
Today, people all around the world are facing many psychological and emotional traumas due to various adversities occurring in life whether it might be loneliness, depression or lack of a person to whom you can pour out your heart to.
The Psychological and Emotional benefit that you get while performing partner yoga is that you build such a strong bond with your yogic partner that you can’t even imagine at the first place. Partner yoga also establishes immense trust and connection with your yogic partner and this connection, trustworthiness and the relationship with that particular person becomes a forever going deep bonded relationship and in turn you get a person who will surely going to stand by your side no matter whatever the hardship you pass through in your whole life.
How can Performing Yoga with a partner helps in enhancing Trust, Connection and Communication between you and your Partner
As we have discussed above that practicing yoga with a partner also helps in building trust, connection and communication between you and your partner. But how??? The answer lies in the type of practice that you are doing in yoga. Unlike working out in the gym or somewhere else or doing some other form of exercise, in partner yoga, you perform yogic postures that demands the assistance of someone as it includes leaning, lifting, holding and different types of stretching along with the synchronic breath work you do. All of this requires proper trust, connection, communication otherwise these poses can’t be performed correctly and in turn they might cause you some injury if not done properly.
Partner Yoga Poses Explained in Detail
1. Seated Partner Twist
The Seated Partner Twist is just as same as the solo seated twist but just includes a partner with you while performing the yoga pose. This Pose not only helps in making the spine and waist more mobile but improves your balance too when especially done with a partner. It also helps in improving your neck and shoulder mobility and stretchability as well.
Steps for performing the Seated Partner Twist
- Sit both the partners in a cross- legged position facing away from each other and put your backs together supporting each other.
- Try to press and support your back against your partner’s back.
- Now both the partners should inhale deeply.
- While inhaling, try to hold your right knee from your left hand and through your right hand try to hold your partner’s left knee while twisting and looking backwards to the direction of your partner.
- Your partner should do the same as you do but from the opposite direction at the same time.
- Hold this position for a while and then repeat this position from the other side as well.
2. Double Tree Pose
Double Tree pose is a great pose to increase your overall body balance and when done with a partner it becomes more challenging as you then have to distribute your body weight along with your partner’s body weight uniformly without falling apart. This pose also builds immense trust, connection and communication with your partner and moreover when you will perform this yoga pose with your partner, you and your partner will also feel more light-hearted, playful and joyful as well.
Steps for performing the Double Tree Pose
- Stand straight next to your partner by joining your hips to your partner’s hips sideways and maintain approx. 1 feet distance from your feet to your partner’s feet.
- Now if you are standing to your partner’s right hand side then you will lift your left hand and your partner will lift his/her right hand up in the air above your heads.
- Now while lifting your hands both of you will join the hands making a namaskar hand gesture.
- Now with both you and your partner’s remaining outside hands or free hands you will make another namaskar or prayer mudra by joining both of your hands on your chest levels.
- Now lift your right leg and your partner will lift his/her left leg and fold it and tuck it in your shins and now both try to stand and balance on both of your only remaining one legs.
- Now inhale deeply and try to balance this pose for a while feeling yourself and your partner and then relax and reach back to your normal position.
- Repeat this whole process for a couple of times more.
3. Double Boat Pose
Double Boat Pose when done solo might be a bit challenging and difficult for you to perform because you have to balance all of your body weight on your hip joints and hip bones but with performing it with a partner it becomes a bit easy because of the supported form, you and your partner’s body weight gets distributed between each other and both of you become more stable and balanced to the ground becoming it more easier to perform. This pose also very effectively works on your core area as well and also builds trust between you and your partner as well.
Steps for performing Double Boat Pose
- Sit on the yoga mat facing your partner.
- Now tightly hold your partner’s hands and try to lift your left leg and your partner will lift his/her right leg off the ground and after lifting your legs high above your bodies join the sole of your feet with the sole of your partner’s feet.
- Now as you balance this position, both of you try to lift your remaining legs high above your bodies and join the soles of your feet making a double boat like pose.
- Engage your core fully and breathe.
- Remain in this position for a while and then relax and come back to the normal position.
- Repeat this pose few times according to you and your partner’s capacity.
Why is Synchronized Breathing important for doing yoga with a partner
Synchronized Breathing is very important in partner yoga because it helps you to build a proper rhythm and flow while doing the asanas because in yoga, the breathing pattern and the breathing rhythm between you and your partner plays a vital role for the overall body posture synchronization which in turn helps in doing all the yogic poses perfectly so that you both can get all its proper benefits.
How can Partner Yoga helps in enhancing your Relationship?
Partner Yoga can help in enhancing one’s relationship because first of all in today’s hectic schedule and lifestyle, unfortunately most of the people don’t have the time to spend with their family and friends, whether it might be their parents, siblings, spouse, kids or friends. This lack of time creates a gap between the bonds of a relationship which in turn puts people apart even when they are living in the same house or in the same room only. The lack of communication between people creates misunderstandings and lack of trust which makes the situation even more worse resulting in frequent arguments and fights as well.
When you perform yoga with your partner, the first and the foremost thing that happens is that you spend more time with your partner. Adding more to this, when you perform the yoga poses, the different types of touches, holds and lifts that you do with your partner also builds immense amounts of trust and connection between the two. You tend to start understand each of you in a more profound manner which helps to build your emotional and mental connection more strong. And of course the physical benefits that you both get are also there in the list.
Common challenges that mostly beginners face while doing Partner Yoga
While performing yoga there are some common challenges too that people might face and should be properly kept in mind and should properly be taken care of. This includes-
- Asynchronous bodily movements
- Asynchronous breathing patterns of both the partners.
1. Asynchronous Bodily Movements
When you tend to perform partner yoga poses at the first place, the most common challenge that you might face is the lack of oneness and synchronicity of your bodies that should two people have as a must while doing partner yoga.
2. Asynchronous Breathing Patterns of both the Partners
Asynchronous breathing patterns is also a major challenge that two people face at the first place because unless and until your breathing doesn’t becomes one and comes in rhythm with each other, the bodies and the fundamental energies will also not align between you and your partner.
Tips to overcome these challenges
To overcome the challenges discussed above there are certain tips that I am giving to you from my experiential knowledge that if followed properly will surely help in overcoming these challenges.
- Communication between both the partners.
- Proper Synchronic and rhythmic movements of the body.
- Synchronic and rhythmic breathing patterns of both the partners.
1. Communication between both the partners
While performing partner yoga having a proper communication between you and your partner about how to perform partner yoga pose properly and understanding your partner’s body is super important as it will assist both of you to reach to the fullest benefits of the yoga pose and adding to this, it will also prevent you from having any kind of injury.
2. Proper synchronic and rhythmic movements of the body
It is very essential while performing partner yoga that your bodies move in a synchronic and rhythmic pattern along with maintaining the proper alignment and form of the yoga pose to achieve its fullest benefits.
3. Synchronic and rhythmic breathing patterns of both the partners
To align your physical body in synchronicity you first had to have a synchronic and rhythmic breathing pattern also so that all your fundamental energies get aligned with each other. When you will breathe in alignment with your partner both of your bodies will align automatically without any effort.