Partner Yoga

Doing yoga with a partner provides a whole new way to experience yoga, as it incorporates trust, kindness, touch, connection and fun. There are at least four different ways to partner.

1. One can work with one other individual or in small groups to help one another gain confidence in getting into challenging or restorative poses.
2. People can do the same pose in an integrated manner.
3. People can even do entirely different poses in an integrated manner, each one reaping the different benefits of the different poses as they each take their turn.
4. One of the most amazing forms of partner yoga is acro-yoga, which adds the element of integrated balances. One person plays the role of “the base”, the other “the flyer”, with a third person there as “the spotter” to ensure safe practice. It is critical to properly align joints to ensure structural stability and strength. Like all yoga practices, it is important to warm up the body by moving in easier poses before attempting more challenging poses. It is also extremely important to show respect and compassion for one’s partner.

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In doing a challenging double pose like Double Headstand (Yugalaka Sirshasana), usually one partner goes into a pose first and then, once that person feels stable, the other partner gets into position to prepare to go up. Here, Jenny prepares to go into Headstand after Ian has already assumed the pose, on Abbott Ridge in Glacier National Park, B.C. (Photo by Erin Minor).

Ian and Jenny in Double Headstand Pose (Yugalaka Sirshasana), on Abbot Ridge in Glacier National Park, B.C. (Photo by Erin Minor).

Jenny and Ian doing Front Lift Pose in Paradise Valley, Banff National Park, Alberta. Ian, as the base, lies on his back, rooting through his sacrum and lower back, bending his knees and bringing them off the floor. Jenny, as the flyer, stands in front of him and places his feet just inside her hip bones. (Photo by Gwen Smiley).

Jenny and Ian doing Front Lift Pose in Paradise Valley, Banff National Park, Alberta. Here, she begins to lean her weight forward into Ian’s feet as she reaches down to meet his hands. As Jenny leans her weight into his feet, Ian allows his knees to bend and his thighs to move towards his chest (Photo by Gwen Smiley).

Jenny and Ian doing Front Lift Pose in Paradise Valley, Banff National Park, Alberta. As Ian’s feet align over his hips, he begins to straighten his knees and lifts Jenny off the ground (despite the trail mix she had consumed that day) (Photo by Gwen Smiley).

Jenny and Ian doing Front Lift Pose to Lifted Cobra Pose (Bhujagasana) in Paradise Valley, Banff National Park, Alberta. Once Ian’s legs are straight, he keeps his feet flat and his legs and arms perpendicular to the rock, with his hands directly over his shoulders and feet over his hips. Jenny then works to straighten her arms by pressing her hands into Ian’s hands (Photo by Gwen Smiley).

Jenny and Ian doing Front Lift Pose to Lifted Cobra Pose (Bhujagasana) in Paradise Valley, Banff National Park, Alberta. Jenny continues to slowly lift her head and chest and extend her legs and feet. (Photo by Gwen Smiley).

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