Partner Yoga
Welcome a loved one into your yoga practice this month
By Julia Levitt
Background: We often put a lot of pressure on our relationships, setting a high bar for how we look and act, and obsessing over how to keep our loved ones and ourselves healthy and happy. This Valentine’s Day, why not try breaking new ground? Get close to someone you care about with a partner yoga practice, and see how you can use this dynamic exchange to deepen and heighten your connection in a way that’s both meaningful and fun.
Partner yoga, a form of Hatha yoga in which partners support one another in modified asana sequences, encourages that interplay and exploration. The increasingly popular concept has been interpreted in a variety of ways — from AcroYoga to Couples Yoga to Mom-and-Baby Yoga — and each offers a unique opportunity to relate deeply to another person, whether it’s a new friend you’ve just met in class, or someone with whom you plan to share your life.
Working with a partner can also help you move beyond your own self-limiting ideas of what you can and can’t do, says expert teacher and healing artist Mishabae Mahoney. Mahoney, who lives and teaches on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, has developed a system of partner yoga called Balance Arts, a flowing vinyasa practice focused on strengthening bonds between couples. Her newest book, Lovers’ Knot: The Art of Sensual Partner Yoga (due out in fall 2009), will be full of individual and partnered practices that explores yoga and sex as powerful healing arts.
What to expect: If you’re new to partner yoga, try to keep your expectations to a minimum, and come with an open mind and heart. The teacher will usually begin by facilitating introductions, often with group-focused talking and listening, breathing or physical movement. Once it’s time to find a partner, it’s wise for beginners who have come solo to seek another student of similar height and weight — though Mahoney points out that as you get used to the practice, learning to adapt the postures to two different body types is a rewarding challenge.
As a supportive partner, your role is to listen as well as share openly, and to treat the person you’re practicing with as you’d like to be treated. Sound familiar? By exploring physical give-and-take, you and your partner can dive deeply into the principles that govern successful, supportive friendships and loving relationships. Stay present… and try not to take anything too seriously, cautions Mahoney. “Take a deep breath and relax. Laugh together. Partner yoga is full of the hilarious and the divine.”
Signature Poses: Child’s pose is a simple favorite to explore with a partner, Mahoney says. “Everyone loves the deep release that the partnered variations give the sacrum and lower back. Child’s pose can also serve as a solid base for other heart openers such as Camel pose.” For a simple but delightful massage, she describes the following:
Begin with one partner resting in Child’s pose. The active partner stands between the resting partner’s outstretched hands, and the resting partner takes firm hold of the active partner’s ankles. The active partner leans forward and walks hands down the resting partner’s back until you come to an Upward Dog-like position with hands resting on the lower lumbar or sacral area of the back. From here, the active partner moves weight forward into the hands to give the resting partner a deep low-back release. Then the active partner shifts weight back into his or her heels, releasing the pressure. Repeat several times. Very, very nice!
