Partner Yoga- January 13

December 29, 2009 · Posted under Asana and Breath Review 

Have you tried partner yoga?  Partner yoga is a great way to share your practice with someone and to enhance your own practice.  It adds variety, depth, a wonderful human connection and fun!  I will be leading a partner yoga class on January 13 at balance yoga lounge and encourage all of you to make time for this session.  All levels of practitioners are welcome and I know you will find it very enjoyable.

Many people wonder who to partner with.  Your partner can be anyone, as long as you are both comfortable with partnering.  I have had fantastic partner yoga sessions with people I met only moments before the start of the class.  It is also really nice to plan ahead so you can partner with someone special.  Partnering with someone who is your size and level of ability can be nice, but I encourage you to keep an open mind and not limit your possibilities.  I regularly practice partner yoga with a man who is 25 years older, 70 lbs heavier and a good 8 inches taller.  What matters is your comfort level with each other, your ability to communicate freely, and your willingness to make the practice great.  A good teacher will guide you and use props to ensure injuries do not occur due to too much force or weight.                                                                                        

In partner yoga, we use our partner for stability, for extra weight, for pulling into a stretch and to assist us deeper in a twist.  Students often comment on the depth they are able to find in a posture with this extra assistance.  Most students have had the benefit of a teacher alignment, but many have not experienced a full assist, in which a partner stays with you throughout the length of the pose.  This is wonderful.  Partner yoga postures are performed three ways:  simultaneously, taking turns with a full assist, or with a pose/counter pose combination.  Read on for examples of each, with each explained for a variation of paschimottanasana (forward fold). 

An example of a simultaneous posture would be a seated forward bend where we face each other, feet pressing, and reach forward to hold each other’s wrists or forearms before folding.  The reaching helps to lengthen our spine and lift our torso up so our hips can rotate in the sockets.  As the sit bones release further behind us, we are able to increase the stretch by inching our hands further up each other’s arms.  Once we experience this pulling and reaching and lengthening with a partner, we are often able to re-create this essential aspect of the forward fold on our own.  This posture is made accessible to all partners by utilizing a strap when necessary to bridge the gap between the hands, and just wrapping the strap as you get closer.  Very flexible partners can also place a block between their feet to increase the distance.

Other partner postures require us to take turns, and this type is called an “assist”.  Here we help our partner into the pose, deepen the pose as indicated by the breath, stay with them throughout, and then assist them out.  Many people enjoy the connected feeling this type of posture brings.  Imagine your partner in a seated janu sirsana (left leg extended, right sole of the foot to the inside of the extended thigh).  Kneeling behind them, you press your partner’s hips down as they inhale and lengthen their arms upward, then as they fold forward over that extended leg, you roll their right thigh back while applying slight pressure to their back to help them fold.  Depending on your partner’s flexibility and comfort level, the weight on the back is increased, as well as the rotation on the thigh.  This assist helps your partner understand the opening of the right hip that is necessary in order to allow the forward fold to happen.  By listening to their breath, you apply the back pressure more deeply on the exhale and allow them to lengthen on the inhale.  After five breaths, you assist them back up to seated, take a cleansing breath and then continue with the other side.

Other partner yoga postures allow us to practice a counter pose while assisting our partner in their pose.  For example, begin sitting back to back with your partner with their legs extended straight and your knees bent with your feet pressing into the mat.  Coordinate your breathing, and as they exhale, you inhale and roll your weight back into them, pressing your lower back into theirs.  You are rolling them forward into a forward fold as you lift your hips slightly off the floor.  Depending on their comfort level, you can just press your lower back into them keeping your seat near the floor, or come all the way up and over so that you maintain a full back-to-back press in a table top position.  If you are stable, you can open your arms either above your head or out to the sides to add a heart opening element.  Either way, they get the added benefit of a deeper forward fold and you get a nice strengthening on your quadriceps, glutes and back.  After five breaths, we roll back to the starting position and exchange.  This sequence can continue with the partner’s legs in straddle, cobbler’s, lotus and easy pose positions.

I hope that reading this takes some of the mystery out of partner yoga and encourages you to try it for yourself.  I want to emphasize that the practice will be appropriate for all levels and new students are encouraged to attend.  Sign-ups are appreciated and please let us know if you need to be matched up with a partner.  You can sign up at the lounge or by calling me at 333.3112.  Thanks for reading and enjoy your practice!

Mary Lasky

Partner Yoga @ balance yoga lounge January 13th from 7-8:15pm

Included in unlimited monthly pass; counts as one class using pass card; drop-in for $15

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