Yoga practice is traditionally something aimed at connecting with oneself. Mainly an inner journey of an individual nature.

But this is not an obstacle to connecting with our partner by practicing together certain yoga poses (asanas) and energy control exercises through breathing (pranayamas).

Also, many of us Yoga practitioners, would like to introduce our "non-yogi" partners to this discipline, but we do not know how to do it in a "non-intimidating" way for the less flexible (important reminder here: Yoga is for all regardless the degree of flexibility. Flexibility is a by-product of certain exercises, not a goal by itself).

Performing easy but effective techniques like the ones we want to share with you, can help you introduce your partner to Yoga while he or she starts experiencing the benefits. Furthermore, it is always great having one more activity added to the list of pleasant things that you can do together!

0. Partner conditioning

LIMITATIONS / CONTRAINDICATIONS:

People with severe arthritis shouldn’t stay for long sitting in Sukhasana. People with clinical depression can do the conditioning standing, keeping their feet together and their hands in front of their chest in namaste (in the “standing prayer pose”, Stitha Prarthanasana)

EXECUTION:

Before starting any Yoga practice it is always good to take some minutes to bring our mind to the present moment and prepare for the practice. This is known as conditioning.

For that we will sit cross-legged on the Yoga mat, facing each other. We will keep our back straight, our chin parallel to the ground and our shoulders slightly rolled back. We will place our hands on our thighs (fingers together), keeping our elbows relaxed (Sukhasana).

We can look into our partner's eyes for a moment and then gently close our eyes. We start feeling our breath trying not to modify it.

Then we stay in the pose watching our breath for some breaths or some minutes, as per comfort.

1.Balance posture on one leg (eka padasana), in partners

LIMITATIONS / CONTRAINDICATIONS:

People with ankle or knee injuries, severe arthritis, sciatica, unresolved slipped disc or vertigo will avoid this pose.

EXECUTION:

We will stand one beside each other, side to side, facing the same direction. With our feet together, and the back straight, we will focus on a point in front of our eyes to help us keep balance. Then we will put our weight on the leg which is farther from our partner.

With the help of our hand, we will take the leg which is out and place the sole of our foot either on the inner thigh of the supporting leg or on the calf (either above or below the knee). We open the hip of the leg which is up so the knee points out to the side of our body.

Then we join our palm (the one of the arm that is out) with our partner’s, so we can help each other to keep the balance (or if we want to get a little playful, we may challenge his or her balance a bit)

If we are comfortable in the position we can try to raise our inner arm up (vrksasana, or tree pose, in partners).

2. Straight angle pose, standing (samakonasana)

LIMITATIONS / CONTRAINDICATIONS:

Avoid this pose in case of shoulder injury, recent abdominal surgery, hernia, severe piles, peptic ulcer, cervical spondylitis, unresolved slipped disc, cardiac problems or hypertension. It is not recommended also for women in an advance state of pregnancy.

EXECUTION:

For this pose, we will take turns to assist each other.

We will stand facing our partner, with our feet together, at a distance that allows us to touch each other’s hands with the arms extended.

With our partner’s help, keeping the back straight and stretching our arms, we will move our chest ahead, bending forward from the hips while exhaling, till our trunk is approximately on a 90 degrees angle with our legs (according to our flexibility).

Our partner will help us throughout the movement by pulling our hands ahead very gently, while offering the support of his / her hands.

3. Standing twisting posture (standing Vakrasana)

LIMITATIONS / CONTRAINDICATIONS:

This pose is to be avoided in case of abdominal inflammation, hernia, ulcer, recent abdominal surgery, sciatica or knee injury.

EXECUTION:

We will position ourselves standing back to back, keeping approximately 2 to 2 and a half feet of distance between our own feet, with our feet parallel, and our toes pointing forward.

We let our arms drop to our sides and we interlace our fingers with our partner’s.

Exhaling, without moving the legs out from their place, we will twist our torsos to the right side, moving together as a block.

In a synchronized manner we will come back to the center inhaling, and then we will rotate to the left side exhaling.

Back to center while inhaling. This makes one round.

4. Auspicious pose with forward bending (Bhadra uttanasana)

LIMITATIONS / CONTRAINDICATIONS:

This pose is to be avoided for people with knee or hip injuries, or severe arthritis. The forward bending part will be also avoided in case of recent abdominal surgery, hernia, peptic ulcer, cervical spondylitis, unresolved slipped disc, cardiac problems, hypertension or advance state of pregnancy.

EXECUTION:

To perform this pose we will sit on the yoga mat facing our partner at a distance that will allow us to extend our hands and bend forward.

We will keep the soles of our own feet together (doing “namaste” with our feet), and we will hold them in place with our hands (interlocking our fingers). We will keep our back straight.

Then we can start by gently flapping our thighs up and down in a “butterfly movement” (Titaliasana).

After that, while exhaling, we will do the action of pushing our thighs towards the ground, keeping the back straight. While breathing normal, we wild hold the pose, known as the auspicious pose or cobbler’s pose (Bhadrasana).

From here we will take turns with our partner to support each other with the forward bending stretch (Bhadra Uttanasana). In order to do so, we will extend our arms and we will hold our partner’s hands.

Next, while exhaling, we will start moving our chest ahead, stretching our back and bending forward from the hips.

Our partner will assist us throughout the movement by holding our hands and helping us to go a little bit deeper in the pose, in a very gentle and gradual manner.

5. Camel pose (Ushtrasana) in partners

LIMITATIONS / CONTRAINDICATIONS:

Avoid this pose in case of recent abdominal surgery, abdominal inflammation, ulcer, knee injury or unresolved slipped disc. It is to be avoided also for pregnant women in an advance state, that may however practice the individual version without wall support.

EXECUTION:

For this pose we will kneel down on our Yoga mat, facing each other so our knees are touching our partner’s.

We will also try to maintain our thighs in contact with our partner’s, till the hip level.

The we will place our hand on our lower back, with our elbows pointing back, and our chest open.

From there, trying to keep our thighs and hips always in contact with our partner’s, we will activate our calves muscles and our glutes and will start extending our back upwards and backwards, in a soft arch. We will keep our shoulders gently rolled back and our chest “open” while doing so.

Podemos extender también el cuello suavemente. Es importante que en la postura no recaiga mucha presión ni en la zona lumbar ni en la cervical.

We can gently extend our neck too. It is important not to put excess pressure in the lumbar and cervical areas. 

If we are more flexible and want to take the pose deeper, we can try to touch our heels with our hands, while keeping our thighs and hips in contact with our partner’s.

A “less romantic” version may be done by taking turns against the wall.

Our partner will place his or her foot on our sacrum bone (approximately the space between the end of our glutes and the lumbar area, but never on the lumbar), to help us keep our thighs and hips in contact with the wall while we perform our back extension.

6. Open legged forward fold (Pada prasara paschimottanasana)

LIMITATIONS / CONTRAINDICATIONS:

This asanas should be avoided by people with hernia, hip or knee injury, recent abdominal surgery, peptic ulcer, cardiac problems or hypertension, cervical spondylitis or unresolved slipped disc. It is also not recommended for pregnant women in an advance state of pregnancy.

EXECUTION:

For this pose we will sit in our Yoga mats, facing each other with the legs open and stretched, so our feet are in contact with our partner's and pointing to the ceiling.

We will adjust the width of the legs to suit the degree of flexibility of the less flexible partner.

Then we will hold each other’s hands with our arms extended and, taking turns, we will bend forward while exhaling. We will do so by moving our chest ahead, flexing the trunk forward from our hips and stretching our back.

Meanwhile, our partner will follow our action staying in his /her place or leaning backwards, and pulling very gently our hands, supporting them throughout the movement.

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7. Reclining hand to toe pose (supta Hasta Padangusthasana)

LIMITATIONS / CONTRAINDICATIONS:

People with severe arthritis or hip injury will avoid this pose.

EXECUTION:

We will do this pose taking turns to help each other.

We will start lying down on our back on the Yoga mat, with our legs stretched out, our feet together, and our arms and hands by the side of the body with palms facing down.

For a better comfort, if we are not so flexible, we may place our left foot sole on the mat with our knee flexed.

Then we will rise our right leg straight up to the ceiling in a vertical line and as back as possible (as per comfort).

In this variation for 2 people, instead of holding our big toe with our right hand, our partner will kneel down beside us and will help us by holding our leg or ankle with his or her shoulder.

Very carefully he or she will assist us to slowly take the pose to a deeper stretch.

We will proceed in the same way with the left leg and then change the roles.

BONUS: Bumble bee breath (Bhramari Pranayama)

LIMITATIONS / CONTRAINDICATIONS:

People suffering severe ear infection may experience discomfort while doing this pranayama.

EXECUTION:

This pranayama will help us finish our partner session much more relaxed.

It is also known as “bumble bee” pranayama because of the noise produced while performing it.

In this version, we will take turns so when one finishes his / her round, the other will start, till the both have done 3 to 5 rounds each.

To start, we will sit cross-legged on the Yoga mat facing each other, placing our hands on our thighs with palms facing up. We keep our back straight, the shoulders gently rolled back and the chin parallel to the ground (Sukhasana).

Then to perform the pranayama we will take a long and smooth inhalation through our nose.

After the inhalation, with our lips together and our teeth slightly apart, we start producing the humming sound (“mmmmmmm”) till the exhalation is completed.

Then we will feel and listen to the vibrations produced by our partner’s “echo” till he or she finishes and we start with our next round, as an “answer”.