Couples Yoga: Get Connected On And Beyond The Mat
by Claudine & Honza
Couples yoga is a practice that brings two people together through yoga and touch. It includes physical postures, conscious breathing, connection, intimacy, trust, communication, compassion and play. The beauty is that this practice extends beyond the yoga mat and has the potential to permeate every aspect of your life.
Why do it?
This practice has the ability to transform through touch. Some of us are naturally more touch-oriented than others. This is usually a result of how we were brought up. We all need to touch and to be touched for optimum health and happiness. Though somewhere along the way, many of us have become wary of touching through fear. What we can hope to cultivate in a partner yoga practice is an acceptance towards better understanding of physical contact. In this practice we have an opportunity to observe our feelings and thoughts. There is no need to act on everything we feel and think. We can simply use these moments to learn more about the inner workings of how the mind and body operate. Couples yoga is a playground for learning to embrace the various aspects of ourselves.
What are the benefits?
Consider couples yoga as an amplified version of your solo asana practice. The beauty of couples coming together for yoga is that together, partners will learn more about their bodies, their breath and instead of using props to deepen their poses, they use one another. Creating a stronger connection to the breath, creates a stronger connection to the mind and our level of awareness. As partners greet one another with a traditional ‘Namaste’ the implication of this gesture can go quite deep. Imagine if everyday, you and your partner began your day with truly honouring the light in one another!
What is it good for?
Couples yoga can be an amazing practice in vulnerability. Practicing asana with your partner brings you closer together. From a softer mindset, we can allow ourselves to be seen, act with sensitivity and communicate our needs with honest integrity. This work is done by using your beloved as your anchor and support for counterbalances and for creating more depth in each posture. What beautiful metaphors for how we can show up with our partner on a daily basis! If you’re taking care of your partner on the yoga mat, you’re more likely to be nurturing and caring for your partner off the mat. Ultimately, we’re all searching for harmonious relationships. We all want to be heard, acknowledged and loved. When we share this intimate level of presence and care with our partner, the potential for depth broadens exponentially. As we balance on the graceful edge of what is possible in partnership, we can create an intimate dance of connection and intimacy.
About Claudine & Honza:
Claudine and Honza Lafond are the founders of YogaBeyond®, a brand built on the practice of yoga, trust and community. Their love story began from opposite corners of the world. True to their life philosophy of ‘following your bliss’, overcoming 10,000 miles apart simply meant another exciting adventure on their journey toward finding each other. They finally met in New York in 2007, and currently call Sydney, Australia their home away from home.
***
