Wedding Yoga: For Couples
Partner yoga brings couples together through movement, play, breath, touch and most importantly - intimacy. By embracing a yoga practice with one another, we not only lean on each other for support – literally and metaphorically – but we also exercise our vulnerability with one another. I like to think about wedding yoga for couples as a physical counseling session. It is a fabulous medium for deepening relationships - whether it is friendship, a family member, or your significant other. Postures and flow sequences are designed to nurture and create a sense of laughter and light heartedness!
So how does yoga help with this exactly? In Sanskrit, “yoga” comes from the word yuj, meaning “to yoke” or “to unite”. It’s only appropriate to mirror that definition with a partner, and in essence, begin to unite two people as a whole. Most of the couple sessions I do are with premarital couples. And isn’t that joining together another way to look at marriage? Partner yoga also has its roots in building trust and communication, which are cornerstones of a healthy and successful relationship. So the practice is also powerful for all brides, grooms and a friend or family member.
Here are FOUR benefits of partner yoga, and what it can bring to your relationship:
1) Playground for Intimacy
Practicing yoga with a loved one can help to bring you closer. Relationships all go through ebbs and flows and you need to work through them together. Connection increases both emotional intimacy, as well as the physical. As in a romantic relationship, touch is also an integral part of partner yoga. Kinesthetic awareness heightens the body’s ability to perform and makes it possible to go more deeply into poses with less effort. 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.
2) Learning to Let Go
Sometimes we take life too seriously. There is always the temptation after a challenging day to take it out on the person that’s closest to us. Partner yoga is about learning to let go - to create that childlike approach to life. It’s important to release your weight in order to get into full expression of some poses. So, in essence, partner yoga creates a fabulous sense of fun, and a sense of release. This allows you to not take yourself and each other - and whatever problems exist around you, too seriously! That all may come in handy when planning a wedding!
3) 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. Where to grasp hands in order to stand together without falling. 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. I know, deep! However, we all know that we can accomplish much more - with much more joy and ease - when we support each other.
4) Creating Balance
Mentally and emotionally, you can use partner yoga to acknowledge that sometimes balance is not even and fair. Maybe one person is dedicating more attention to the relationship than the other, or one person is acting a little more sensitive (or insensitive) than usual. Playing with balance is found in every yoga practice. However with the lifts and support in partner yoga balance is essential. There is no giver or receiver in a yoga pose within partner yoga. Both partners are fully engaged in their own experience – hopefully creating that perfect sense of balance.
Which of these 4 benefit of partner yoga resonates the most? Which do you find to be the greatest challenge? Can you take the benefits off the mat, and find other actions that satisfy the same need? Feel free to add your thoughts or ask questions in the comments below.