Couples yoga – the playful path to intimacy – is another arm of yoga that has taken the world by storm. In this particularly lighthearted and playful form of yoga, couples have the opportunity to truly connect with each other, while at the same time supporting each other in developing strength, flexibility and balance. The Beckhams do it for an hour twice per week and see it as a time for them to become one entity entirely. Stretching moving and breathing as one has them more in tune with each other than ever before. Brangelina’s relationship is said to be stronger than ever and they credit couples yoga as a contributing factor.
Our lives may seem a far cry from what Brangelina and the Beckhams experience but for a moment just consider how little time you and your partner take to play together. Something that was so familiar at the start of the relationship has often now, when you take stock, taken a back seat to all the other important day-to-day tasks. Your wife is now also a mother of three beautiful children, a working woman meeting ridiculous deadlines, a daughter to increasingly demanding in-laws, a best friend to someone going through a divorce and head of the local church initiative to clothe homeless children in winter. Your roles are of course as diverse, complex and meaningful, and while the stick figures on the back of the family Fortuner illustrate a happy family of five with varying interests and talents – those at the head of this family have hardly any time to spend together to strengthen the foundation from which this unit emerged in the first place. The primary role of partners, friends and lovers and a commitment to cultivating a deep sense of trust, communication, connectedness and playfulness seems light-years away.
Enter Couples Yoga – a whole new way of finding ways to connect with your partner, without couples therapy, long discussions about problems, and homework on how to ask for what you need, leave the toilet seat down and drawing up and keeping to a family budget! Couples Yoga is the latest addition to the schedule at Heal. Love. Yoga Studio and Wellness and was introduced in response to the strong family culture that exists in PE.
It’s the first of it’s kind on offer in PE and so naturally there will be lots of questions. Choose curiosity over skepticism and open up to something that could at best – really strengthen your relationship, and physical body all round, and at worst, just be a good laugh!
Couples yoga is born from the very popular acro yoga which combines yoga, acrobatics, performance and healing arts. The principles of trust, communication and playfulness have been found to be so valuable, especially for couples, that simplifying the movements to make this practice available to anyone and everyone, made a lot of sense. Couples now start off without having to be able to do any form of yoga or acrobatics…and there will be no ‘flying’ – at least for the first few sessions! There is no pressure and no competition here. Just pure fun and playfulness, with everything that fun and playfulness in a relationship brings.
What can you expect from couples yoga?
Odd as it may seem, trust me on the value of this: you will connect with your partner through at least a few minutes of complete silence together – breathing in sync and just experiencing a sense of closeness and connectedness that only such purposeful silence can bring. Regular eye contact, holding hands, supportive touching and massage are all weaved in, in a very natural way.
While for those less flexible – and very stressed – stretching can be likened to time in a torture chamber, it all begins to seem more bearable and (shock horror) enjoyable, when its your partner leading you into the stretch and supporting you to stay there – bringing that sense of release that comes when the tension dissipates, and you can just let go, relax and be. Even experienced yogis find a deeper sense of stretching in couples yoga so you can really count on expanding your flexibility to a whole new level.
You will learn to communicate around what you need, when you want more, and when you’ve reached your edge. You will begin to tune into the more subtle communication cues from your partner and they will learn to trust you to respond in the way that they need you to. You will laugh together at what you can and can’t do and work together to conquer new postures and reach new heights in your practice. You don’t do anything alone in partner yoga – every posture consists of two people. You’re back to being a team – on the same side. The aim is only to feel good, have fun, and feel great in your own body right there next to your partner’s.
Once you have navigated your way through a set of postures, some time is dedicated to a few Thai massage techniques which you can totally take home to take further in the comfort of your home. It’s another way to nurture and care for your partner and whatever you give, always comes back. There is no unrequited love or kindness in this setting.
- Expect to see your partner in a new way.
- Expect to feel closer.
- Expect to build trust.
- Expect to communicate and feel heard.
- Expect to be surprised about how much you needed that stretch!
- Expect to feel great in your body.
Nurturing the foundation of your family structure – the union that started it all off, is one of the most important tasks you have as a person. You’re a mother, a father and all the many titles and tags that have added on over the years – but first and foremost you’re a couple, a team, a union. Protect that role. Hold it sacred and do whatever you need to keep it strong.
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation” – Plato (Philosopher)
Contact Heal. Love. Yoga Studio and Wellness for more details and bookings
Author: Tanya Kemp
Website:
Latest posts by Tanya Kemp (see all)
- When did we stop caring? - 24 March 2014
- Yoga No-No’s (warning – read only with a sense of humour) - 10 March 2014
- What do you practice when you practice yoga? - 24 February 2014
- The Amazing Alternative Route to (swiftly) Healing a (severely) Broken Ankle - 10 February 2014
- My Controlling Nature – and how I intend to release It - 4 February 2014
