Couples Yoga Poses
If you are sick of sitting on your couch and deciding whether to watch Dancing with the Starts or Jersey Shore together then connect soulfully and playfully with your sweetie with couples yoga poses. No need to be a contortionist or wear a loin cloth, these are poses that all body types, from the unathletic and inactive to the stiff and inflexible can do. Remember that it is yoga practice and not yoga perfect so let go of the need to do the pose perfectly. You’re not going to be photographed for the cover of YogaJournal so let go of expectations and judgements that you might have for yourself and for your partner.
Start by sitting back to back in a comfortable cross-legged position and just start to notice your breathing. Then start to notice the rise and fall of your partner’s breath. See if you can can synchronize your breathing pattern with your partner’s breathing pattern.
Let your head tilt back and lean back on the crook between their neck and their shoulder. This is a small but powerful stretch for your neck so don’t be aggressive or move quickly here. Repeat on the other side.
Here are some of my favorite couples yoga poses.
Standing up grab onto your partner right forearm and start to walk your feet towards then and then start to lean away. Reach your left arm up into the arm behind you and lean back. Men should let the women lean back first and then modulate your weight around her so she can be balanced. Come back to center and change arms and repeat on the other side. Do this sequence a few times and you will start to be able to lean back farther. This pose almost feels like you are flying if you can lean back far enough. You’ll start to trust and find your partner trusting you more with their body in this pose. It’s a very liberating pose.
Be seated on the floor facing your partner. Have your legs bent with your feet on the floor. Grab onto their hands or forearms with a firm grip. Have your legs inside of your arms at first. Press the soles of your feet together and press them straight up into the sky for boat pose. You might have your legs bent here and if there is a big leg length discrepancy then you might have your feet on their calves.
For the next variation of this pose, have your legs outside of your arms but close to your arms. If you legs are farther away then this probably will not end up feeling too good for your hips. Press the soles of your feet together so and extend your legs straight up into the ceiling. Keep your legs near your arms. If you want a more advanced variation then grab your right hand to their right hand and reach back with your left arm. Bring your left arms to their left arm, get a nice firm grip and reach back with your right arm. This is a challenging pose but most people can do this pose if they don’t overthink it.
For DVDs of my favorite couples yoga and partner yoga moves, read this blog post.
Jasmine Kaloudis teaches many budget couples retreats near Philadelphia as well as romantic poses for couples and is the author of the best spiritual websites list.