Yoga is a great activity to do together. You learn together, have fun together, help each other get better. But what is better than one person doing yoga? Two-person yoga! This is the same as plain yoga, except that two people do it together, supporting one another as they do. Most yoga courses have these poses due to their added benefits. Plus, people love to do things together and it makes yoga even more interesting. Yoga poses for two people are usually variations of the normal yoga poses. So, if you know the original, you should have no problem doing these.
What Partnered Yoga Can Teach You
Partner yoga is done not just for fun: it has a lot of benefits too. It can teach you a lot of things you will not be able to learn alone. Some of the advantages of yoga for two people are:
Partner yoga teaches you to learn to trust your partner. The entire support of your body remains in their hands. Two-people yoga poses works to develop that level of trust between you.
An essential lesson of yoga is to let go of old grudges and learning to accept what is beyond our control. Yoga moves for two people are the perfect way to teach that physically.
When you have someone supporting you, you are able to go further and deeper into the pose. This amplifies the benefits of that particular pose.
Two-person yoga poses also releases the tension in your muscles and the stiffness in your joints better. As you become more comfortable in a difficult pose with support, your body learns to do the pose by itself.
2-Person Yoga Poses: Easy
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Holding Forward Folds
Sit facing one another and stretch your legs wide apart. Prop the soles of your feet against the corresponding ones of your partner. Hold each others’ hands firmly by the wrist. One of you will lead and that person will slowly pull the partner to fold forward as they themself lean backward. Hold for some time and switch.
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Seated Alternate Forward and Backbend
Sit cross-legged with your backs to one another. The leading partner will now raise their hands and fold forward fully, keeping the hands stretched over the head. The other partner will, simultaneously, fold backward on their partner’s back while keeping the hands stretched outwards. Keep the pose for a few breaths and then switch.
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Temple Pose
Stand a couple of feet apart as you face each other. Stretch your hands above your head and slowly bend forward from the waist till your palms touch. Now bend your elbows and bring your forearms and hands to touch, even as you keep bending forward. Continue till your torso is parallel to the ground, pushing against each others’ arms. Stretch and hold a while and then move back up.
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Double Chair Hold
You can do the double chair pose either facing each other or with your backs to each other. In the former, stand a couple of feet apart, hold each other firmly by your arms and go into the squat position, keeping equal pull on each other. In the latter, again, go into the squat position, but this time, find support by pushing on each others’ back. You can also interlink arms for greater support.
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Two-Person Boat Pose
This looks difficult but is easy to get a hold on. Sit facing each other a couple of feet apart and firmly grasp each others’ arms. Stretch out your legs, fold, and place your soles together. Walk the soles against each other up till they are stretched out. Find the right sitting position for optimum balance.
2-Person Yoga Poses: Hard
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Double Dandasana
The base person will sit in the staff pose or dandasana while the top person does the downward dog with their hands on the partner’s ankle and their legs on the partner’s side. The base partner then holds and lifts the legs of the top partner up slowly over their head into an L-shaped handstand.
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Double Downward Dog
The base partner does the downward dog pose. The top partner then does the same right in front of them, facing the same direction, hands on the base partner’s hands or vice versa, and legs on the sides of the base partner. They then raise their legs up to place them on the hips of the base partner, keeping the downward dog pose.
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Wheel
The base partner takes the cobra pose. Then the top partner holds the ankles of the base partner and goes into a handstand, facing the opposite direction. They will slowly lower their legs back until the base partner can hold their ankles.
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Back-to-Back Pose
This looks easy but is effort-intensive. Stand close back-to-back with one partner straight and the other in a handstand. The straight partner will hold the ankles on the one in a handstand. Now both will push out their chests, hollow the backs and fold the knees, letting the crests and troughs of their bodies fit into each others’.
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Partner Plank
The base partner does a high plank. The top partner holds their ankles facing the opposite direction and raises their legs onto the base partner’s shoulders. They form their body into a high plank too.
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Eager to Learn Yoga Together?
This is only a taste of the awesome things possible with yoga for two people. If you want to learn more, join yoga teacher training in Rishikesh in the Aadi Yoga School with your partner, and explore the world of partner yoga even more!
