What is Partner Yoga?

Welcome to the Partner Yoga Show. So what is partner yoga? Partner yoga is classical yoga, working with poses, sequence of poses, flowing through poses, working with another. And so in some cases in these classes you'll have one person doing a pose and the other person assisting the pose, helping that person to go into a deeper expression of the pose or even try a pose that you normally wouldn't do by yourself right away, help to learn a pose. Other poses it's working together where you're both doing a pose that's either a symmetric or mirror image of one another and you're supporting each other through that pose and going deeper into that pose. And sometimes it's just creating beautiful shapes together where it's not so much about going deeply into a pose but it's experiencing each other's energy and the trust and the connection that you create with a partner. How might you choose a partner? Well it might be of course someone that you're deeply connected with already, someone who's a beloved, someone who's been with you for a while. You can also choose friends or other yoga enthusiasts to join you on this path. And it doesn't matter so much to the levels of ability. In the series of classes that we offer here on yoga anytime, it's all ranges of ability and it can be one person helping another through a lot of the poses. Where one person's maybe the yoga person and the other person's the challenged significant other and you're working together and it's a beautiful way to connect through this common practice of yoga. Through the practices too, there's ways to accommodate differences in height, differences in sizes, including differences in ability. And there's offered options for all of those different variations in a practice between two individuals. But really the practice ultimately comes down to working with a partner in a supportive way, building trust, connection, encouragement, and all of these poses. Part of the practice too is in the little connection with your partner. Some of the things that are important is the way that you connect through your hands, through the connection of the two bodies in the pose. For example, a quality of touch. You hold your partner in a way that's firm, that offers trust, that shows a connection that you can rely upon. But it's also something that creates a communication, a connection, a level of trust. So you want to even talk with your partner about what's the quality of touch that you need in that pose. What works, what feels appropriate, what levers yourself into the best possible pose. And communicate that about it as you go through the postures. Ultimately again, being supportful. The poses are not about one person trying to move someone to a place they don't want to go. You don't want to force in any of these poses. You want to go with the sensitivity, the breath of the other, and really the responsiveness that causes a playful experience of joy, laughter, smiles, giggles, laughter. And in doing so, acknowledge the other person. Acknowledge the trust that they've given to you. Acknowledge where you've taken this practice and show gratitude at the end of each practice. Acknowledging that person for working with you. Helping you to go deeper into your own experience of yoga. And recognizing too that some of these poses involve honoring courage and trying new things. So ultimately, in the highest form, this partner practice is a journey together. We're journeying into new possibilities in your yoga practice, new possibilities in your connection to another experience through this partner yoga. I really invite you to go deep into this practice, to come back to these classes over and over again, and learn new levels of connection to one another through this wonderful practice of partner yoga. Thank you very much.