Couples Yoga poses Virginia

Couples yoga is so much more than a simple yoga practice. When you merge your practice with another’s, you fall into sync with that person. Your breath, movement, and body positions find a rhythm together. Because of this, practicing couples yoga can lead to some of the most intimate and fulfilling times you’ll spend together.

Yoga Creates Unity

The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, which means “to yoke” or “to join.” When you practice yoga, you celebrate the union of your mind, body, soul, and spirit. As a practice, yoga naturally creates unity. The practice of breathing together, and using orchestrated movement and relaxation with your partner, causes a phenomenon called entrainment. Entrainment happens when people or nature unite in a similar rhythm. For example, when a baby is close to a mother’s breast, her heartbeat will fall into rhythm with the mother’s heartbeat. Similarly, when you focus on the breath, body, and movement of another person in yoga practice, your physical body will entrain with the other. It’s a beautiful practice that creates harmony within the couple.

Couples Yoga Builds Trust

When you and your partner practice together doing Asanas (yoga poses), you must trust each other in every pose. You rely on your partner to hold onto you, stay put, or stay balanced. This total reliance on the other creates a sense of trust and reassurance as you realize your partner is there for you. These small successes in a couple’s practice are different than in daily life but they create a special bond. A partner pose is give and take and you learn that sometimes you can and should relinquish control.

All of the lessons learned in a yoga practice can and often do transfer to life off the mat. Since there’s no real cost if one of you messes up a yoga pose, you learn to accept mistakes gracefully. These feelings of trust and support tend to grow throughout your practice and beyond.