Partner Yoga Poses: The Power of Connectivity
Want to heighten your yoga experience? Deepen your practice through body and mind with partner yoga: Partner Yoga Level One and Partner Yoga Level Two, led by instructor Pedro Franco, are perfect for yoga lovers. Partner yoga is a practice for any level of yogi. It can be done with a friend, loved one or acquaintance. Through this fun and connected series, you will learn to strengthen and amplify your practice by creating a greater sense of awareness in your own body while also paying close attention to the presence and movements of your partner. Partner yoga poses are great if you want to try something new or to spice things up in your relationship with more intimate couples yoga poses.
Things to Keep in Mind When You Start Your Partner Practice
- Partner yoga does not have to be complicated to be beneficial
- Partner yoga can simply be sitting back-to-back with your partner and breathing. It can be meditative. It can be as simple as massaging your partner’s sacrum after a stretch or wiggling your partner’s legs after a flying pose
- Partner yoga works on the same principles as individual yoga: Listen to your body and do what feels right. Challenge yourself, but only to a healthy limit
- If you’re new to partner yoga, take time to build strength, stability and flexibility in order to grow in the practice. Remember that in any form of yoga, there is no competition. For as many times as you stumble, you have just as many opportunities to try again. It is the act of connecting that matters most, not reaching a pose
Start with a Simple Partner Yoga Pose
Partner yoga can be a challenge for even the most advanced practitioner: It doesn’t matter how many hours you have spent on your mat, how many downward dogs or side crows you have done in your life. Maybe you are focused and resilient but need to work on your strength. Maybe you are strong and advanced in your movements but need to work on the act of giving yourself to your partner in a selfless manner.
Partner Seated Spinal Twist (Janu Sirsasana)
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Begin by sitting back-to back in a comfortable cross-legged seated position
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Each partner places their right hand on the other’s partner’s left thigh just above knee
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Put your left hand on your own right knee
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Coordinate your breathing by lengthening through spine on each inhale
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During each exhale, twist a little more
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Come back to center seated and repeat on other side
Learn the Art of Balancing with Your Partner
Partner yoga is not just about you. It is about the other person, too. Partner yoga poses exist to teach yogis and anyone interested in the practice how to gain better awareness and alignment of the body through precise adjustments and articulated movements.
Partner Boat Pose (Navasana)
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Start by having each partner sit at the end of the mat facing each other
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Each partner will bend their knees and press the soles of their feet together
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Connect by clasping each other’s hands
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While keeping the soles of your feet together, lean back slowly
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Lengthen your legs and reach your feet upward to a bent-legged boat pose
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Continue to breathe while you work on your balance
Create Greater Intimacy with Your Partner
Partner yoga can be as intimate as you allow it to be. Partner yoga is for anyone and everyone. It is about trust. It is about connection. It is about feeling the electric sensation between you and another person. It has the power to strengthen bonds between friends, unite strangers and fuse couples together in a new and stimulating way. Partner yoga has the powerful ability to create a profound level of intimacy between two people. The combination of breath, balance, trust and connection create for a unity that is unlike any other. It is assumed by many that partner yoga is purely sexual. This is not true. Yes, partner yoga can be a sensual experience if you want it to be, especially in couples yoga poses. It can also be an experience of unity in a completely different way. It can be whatever you want it to be. That is the beauty of the practice.
Partner Dancer’s Pose (Nataranjasana)
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Start by standing up toward the back edge of your mat, facing your partner
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Grab your partner’s right hand
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Each partner will slightly bend the knees
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Shift your weight onto your right leg
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Bend the left knee and gran onto the inside of the left ankle or calf with your left hand
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Gently pressing your shin into your left hand, open your back
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Finally, reach your right arm up to balance
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Repeat on the other side
Connect with Your Partner
Partner yoga is not just about you. Partner yoga has the word partner in it for a reason. It is a practice for two and is a practice that focuses on the unity of two. This is the idea that we should be incorporating in our partner yoga practice. Listen to your partner’s needs. Are they comfortable? Do they feel supported? Do they feel capable of holding you in a pose? Are they calm and present? Through the power of breath and touch, you will be able to sense your partner’s physical and emotional state. Yes, you need a partner to fly. You need a partner to pull your legs and lift you up. But your partner also needs you. It all comes back to unity. In these partner yoga poses and couples yoga poses, we rely on each other and so we must move in a way that represents that.
Double Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana)
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Stand back-to-back with your partner
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Leave about 6 to 12 inches between you and your partner’s heels
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Each partner will bend at the waist and come to a forward fold
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Reach your hands behind you
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Grab onto your partner’s hands
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As you increase flexibility, you may be able to grab your partner’s forearms, elbows or even shoulders
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Walk your heels closer until your bottoms are touching and straighten your legs
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Lengthen the spine, head dangling toward the ground
Explore AcroYoga
AcroYoga is the combination of yoga, massage and acrobatics. As with partner yoga, which often includes acrobatic poses, shown in the Partner Yoga Level Two video, it is important to focus on the building blocks of your practice. Start with what you know and allow yourself to grow through continual practice, one step at a time. Motivation and repetition are the keys to helping you excel at AcroYoga. A common misconception about AcroYoga is that the size of your partner matters. This is not always true. Believe it or not, you have the ability to lift someone twice your weight. It is all about your technique.
As an extension of partner yoga, AcroYoga relies on the same principles: trust, communication and connection. Once you master these skills, you will be flying in the air and lifting people up with your feet in no time. Here is a fun beginner’s partner AcroYoga pose to test out your skills.
Flying Plank (A)
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Base lies on back
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Base places legs up in the air, heels over hips
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Flyer starts by standing facing the base, with their toes almost touching the base’s glutes
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Base bents knees slightly to bring feet to the hipbones of the flyer
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Base and flyer connect hands, palm to palm and fingers interlaced
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Flyer leans forward into the base’s feet
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With flyer’s body in a single line, the base will receive the weight of the flyer in their feet
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Base will then straighten their legs and stack their heels directly over the flyer’s hips
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The flyer should have an engaged core, and the base should have straight arms and shoulder blades firmly grounded into the mat for maximum support and balance
From Flying Plank, yogis can work into the variation below: the flyer leans into the base’s hands instead of feet.
Flying plank photo credit: Amy Goalen
Just as we protect our family, friends and loved ones, we must protect each other when practicing partner yoga. Emotionally and physically, we must rely on each other to reach the ultimate goal of unity and connection.
Thank you to Amy Goalen for providing the beautiful main article image!
About the Author
Hatha Yoga Poses
Swami Svatmarama’s Hatha Yoga Pradipika (Light on Yoga) is one of the most influential early texts on hatha yoga practice. Written sometime between the 14th and 15th century CE, the text includes descriptions of 16 hatha yoga poses, eight pranayama (breathing) techniques and a number of different seals (mudras) to be used to redirect prana (energy) during meditation.
Swami Svatmarama believed that the regular practice of Hatha Yoga asanas could give “steadiness, health, and lightness of body.” As such, he recommended that the practice of yoga asana should be performed as the first step in the practice of Hatha Yoga.
Many of the postures in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika are variants on the full lotus pose, and as such are relatively advanced in nature. This article includes a brief survey of 10 of these hatha yoga asanas, an overview of their benefits and instructions for their practice.
Virasana
Benefits
Virasana stretches the ankles, gluteal muscles and other smaller muscles in the hips.
Notes
In modern day practice Virasana is performed with the shins facing downward with both legs parallel to the sides of a yoga mat. In contrast, Swami Svatmarama’s description of Virasana much more closely resembles the modern day for of Gomukhasana, (Cow-Face Pose). Instead of folding the legs back near the sides, this pose is done with one leg crossed over the other.
While the modern day equivalent of this posture includes specific positioning exercises for the arms, Swami Svatmarama only includes instructions on leg positioning.
The Pose
Come to Dandasana, (Staff Pose – a seated posture with both legs straight). Cross your right knee over your left knee, and draw your right foot back near the side of your left hip. To do the same with the other leg, lean to your left and draw your left foot back near the side of your right hip.
One you’ve wrapped your legs into the initial position, lean forward and use your hands to press your knees closer together. With practice, one knee will stack on top of the other. Draw your feet tightly back near your sides, ground both sitting bones downward into the floor, lengthen your spine upward, and forward fold over your legs to deepen the stretch.
Kukkutasana
Benefits
Kukkutasana, (the Rooster’s Pose) strengthens the chest, shoulders, arms, and wrists, and improves balance. Full performance of the posture requires the ability to comfortably sit in Padmasana (the Full Lotus pose)
The Pose
From a seated position, draw your right foot into the half lotus pose by placing the blade edge of your right foot in your left hip crease. Lean back, grab your left foot, and draw it up and over your right knee in similar fashion. Continue sliding your left foot up the front of your thigh until the edge of the left foot rests near the right hip crease.
Once you’ve positioned your legs in the full lotus pose, thread your right wrist and forearm into the space between the muscles of your right calf, inner thigh muscles and hamstrings. Slide your left wrist and forearm into the same position on the other side.
To enter the final posture, rock backward slightly to get momentum. Next, rock forward quickly onto your hands and lift your buttocks off of the ground.
Uttanakurmasana
Benefits
Uttanakurmasana (the Upside Down Tortoise Pose) stretches the muscles of the hips and the back. The pose also tones the abdominal muscles.
The Pose
After holding Kukkutasana for some time, allow your hips to settle back down to the ground. Keep your arms threaded through your legs and roll onto your back. Belly crunch up, slide your arms even further through your legs, bend your elbows and hold your chin with both hands.
Matsyendrasana
Benefits
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists a number of specific benefits for Matsyendrasana (the Lord of the Fishes Pose). These benefits include increased appetite, the destruction of multiple diseases and the awakening of kundulini energy.
The Pose
From Dandasana place your right foot in the half lotus pose. Roll your weight toward your right hip and cross your left ankle over the top of the right knee as if you were going to do the full lotus pose. Allow your left foot to rest on your thigh, just near your right knee.
To initiate the twist, draw your left knee toward your chest so that your left knee faces upward and place your left foot on the floor. Twist your torso to the left, cross your right elbow over the leg and grab your left foot with your right hand. Place your left hand on the floor behind you to stabilize the balance, or alternatively, wrap your left arm behind your back to grab your right inner thigh.
Paschimottanasana
Benefits
Paschimottanasana (the Intense Back Stretch) is a deep stretch for the entire posterior chain of the body. The posture creates openness in the calves and hamstrings and can relieve tension in the back muscles as well.
According to Swami Svatmarama, Paschimottanasana is one of the most important hatha yoga asanas. He claims that the posture increases health, reverses the breath’s flow, improves digestive power and flattens the belly.
Notes
While the modern form of this posture is typically taught with a relatively straight spine, Swami Svatmara’s variation integrates strong spinal flexion for a deeper stretch to the back muscles. Because of this, the text directs the practitioner to rest their head on their knees as opposed to the shins.
The Pose
From Dandasana, straighten both legs. Grab the flesh of your buttocks and slide your sitting bones backward to tilt your pelvis forward. Internally rotate your thighs by rolling your upper thighs inward and reach forward to grab your big toes. Ground downward through your hip-creases, pull your belly in and elongate your spine. Forward fold, and allow your head to rest on your knees.
Mayurasana
Benefits
Mayurasana (the Peacock’s Pose) is a challenging posture that strengthens the wrists, chest, shoulders, back muscles, and the gluteal muscles. Regular performance of the posture also improves balance.
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika attributes a number of benefits to this hatha yoga pose. According to the text, this posture is said to be good for digestion and is purported to have the ability to overcome poisonous snakebites. It’s also credited with the ability to overcome numerous diseases, including enlargement of the spleen and enlargement of the abdomen.
The Pose
Come to a kneeling position on your shins. Sit on your heels and slide your knees apart until they’re slightly wider than hip’s width apart.
Place your hands on the floor between your legs, with your wrists facing forward and your fingers facing your waist. Lean forward, place your elbows on your abdomen and transfer your weight forward until your knees lift off of the floor. Maintaining the balance, straighten both legs as you continue to hover.
Dhanurasana
Benefits
Dhanurasana (the Bow Pose) stretches the hip flexors, abdominals, chest and shoulders. The posture also strengthens the back muscles.
Notes
In the modern day form of this hatha yoga asana, the arms are extended backward and the ankles are clasped in order to open the chest. The version in the Pradipika integrates a more challenging overhead bind into the posture for a much deeper shoulder opening.
The Pose
Lie down on your belly and prop yourself up on your elbows like a sphinx. Bend your legs and externally rotate your ankles so that your toes point outward toward the sides of your mat.
Rotate your torso to your right, turn your right hand upward, and clasp the inner arch side of your right foot with your right hand (or alternatively, your big toe). Press your right foot upward into your right hand and rotate your elbow outward and upward until your elbow points toward the ceiling. Continue to hold on, rotate your chest left, and do the same on the other side.
Bhadrasana
Benefits
Bhadrasana (the Auspicious Pose) stretches the the inner thighs and opens the muscles of the pelvic floor.
Notes
In modern practice, this hatha yoga asana is more commonly known as Baddha Konasana (the Bound Angle). While the modern form of Baddha Konasana often integrates spinal flexion with a variety of different forward folds, Swami Svatmarama’s variation is done while remaining upright.
The Pose
Draw your heels toward your inner groin and allow your knees to drop outward like the pages of an open book. Place your hands behind you on the floor, lean forward slightly and slide your hips closer to your heels.
Once you’ve positioned your hips and legs, reach around to grab your feet or big toes with both hands. Sit up tall and press your knees outward and downward toward the ground.
Padmasana
Benefits
Padmasana (the Lotus Pose) is an excellent pose for seated meditation because it makes it very easy to avoid slouching. The posture also creates openness in the hips and inner thigh muscles. In addition, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika mentions that this hatha yoga pose also clears blockages in the body’s energy channels (nadis) when done regularly.
The Pose
Come to a comfortable, cross-legged seated position with your right leg crossed in front of the left. Pick up your right foot with both hands, swing your right knee out to the right hand side of the room, and draw your heel closer to the front of your body. Continue pulling your right foot inward toward your belly and slowly swing your right leg to the left until the edge of your right foot rests in your left hip crease.
Once the right leg is in the half lotus pose, place one hand behind you on the ground and lean backward. Use your other hand to pull your left leg upward and over your right knee. Slide your left foot to the right hip crease.
Once your legs are in the full lotus pose, Swami Svatmarama recommends that you sit up tall, place your upturned hands on your thighs, and redirect your eyes to the tip of your nose.
Savasana
Benefits
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika mentions that Savasana (The Corpse Pose) is restful for the mind and good for removing fatigue.
The Pose
Lie on your back with both eyes closed. Slide your legs apart until your legs are positioned hip’s width apart or wider, and let your big toes fall outward toward the sides of the room. Slide your arms out from your sides as well. Your palms can either face upward or downward.
Close your eyes, and redirect your focus to your breath.
Please note, all asymmetrical postures should be done on both sides. A full overview of all 16 hatha yoga poses can be found in Brian Dana Aker’s translation of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.
