Do you know you can maintain a healthy relationship with your partner through yoga? Here are great, symbolic postures you can try together.

Over the weekend, I received a beautiful note from one of my former students in yoga. She already moved out of state, where she eventually became a teacher herself. She e-mailed me to let me know she’s getting married to her boyfriend of 2 years. What melted my heart was when she told me how I helped her cultivate the love for yoga and in turn shared it with her partner. Through yoga, they were able to maintain a healthy relationship, she said. I know you’re interested to know how yoga does it, so here’s my post:

Maintain A Healthy Relationship With Your Partner Doing These Yoga Poses

6 Captivating Postures That Promote Trust, Love, And Kindness

Some of these asanas are easy, others challenging–pretty much any kind of relationship. You don’t get to eat cake all the time, right? What I want you to take away, however, from this post is not so much the techniques but the meaning of every pose, which should enrich your partnership off the mat.

1. Double Tree Pose

A Tree Pose is one of the awesome ways to open your hips, improve your balance, and clear your mind. However, the pose itself is tricky since it takes a lot of effort to achieve equilibrium in the body. The good news is having a partner makes it more convenient. Best of all, you are reminded you will always have someone to count on to make sure you can stand straight and tall.

Directions: There are many ways to do a Double Tree Pose. You can do it individually then hold one of your hands together up in the air, or you can copy the image above. Stand side by side with one of the arms wrapping around the hips of the other person. Lift the outward legs and press them firmly to the opposite leg. Press opposite palms together.

2. Double Plank Pose

Trust is definitely one of the ingredients of a healthy relationship, and to know if a person is trustworthy, he or she should be strong enough to help you carry the weight. Take this in a figurative sense, although you can imply that whenever you both perform the Double Plank. To do this right and safely, both should have an excellent core, balance, and focus.

Directions: A plank involves getting into a push-up position with the arms not too far from the shoulders, back straight, and abs engaged. The base should be stable to allow the partner to climb and perform the same pose.

3. Hangle Dangle Pose

Hangle Dangle may appear so easy in the picture above, but it’s actually one of the most difficult acro yoga poses you will ever do together. It requires immense leg strength and flexibility, among others, to do it correctly. Yet isn’t just like a relationship? You need to go through a couple of difficult things along the way. The greatest reward comes when you conquer them and emerge even stronger.

Directions: As in acro yoga, you have the base and the flyer. The base is usually the person who’s stronger and thus is able to carry the weight of the flyer. The flyer’s role, meanwhile, is to be flexible enough to “dangle” on the raised leg while maintaining balance.

4. Dancer Pose

One of the elegant yoga poses couples can do, the Dancer’s Pose encourages excellent balance, relaxation, and flexibility. It is also good stretching pose for the lower torso, particularly the legs and thighs, and a great symbol of a loving relationship: both of you have enough room to grow together without having to be apart from each other.

Directions: Stand across each other. Raise one of your legs as if to form an arc, holding it firmly with one of the arms. While doing this, stand erect, engage your abs, and keep your chest and shoulders open. With your extra hand, hold each other.

5. Standing Forward Bend

“Don’t worry, I’m here to hold you when things don’t go your way”–this is basically my thought when doing the Double Standing Forward Bend Pose. On the other hand, this is an excellent posture when you want to remove the tension off your shoulders, prevent compression of the spine, and stretch the back.

Directions: Stand opposite your backs. With your feet planted firmly on the ground, slowly bend your body forward toward the knees. Then reach out to your partner and hold each other’s arms.

6. Child Pose Lounge

You know, my husband doesn’t do yoga, but we actually do this pose once in a while, especially when I feel like I’ve been sitting for too long in front of the PC. He gets it: he gets down on his knees and curls himself like a ball while I lie supine and stretch myself as far as I can. Feels really good! But it feels even better when I know my husband is willing to sacrifice his time and body for me.

Directions: The base gets into child pose, where he gets down on his knees and moves his body forward until he can place his head on the floor or surface. On the back, the partner lies with the body facing upward, stretching the arms and the legs.

Use yoga to develop a healthy relationship with your partner! Begin your asanas with stretch workouts from Stylecraze Yoga: 

It takes more than yoga to build and maintain a healthy relationship. There will be a lot of tears, pain, problems–the works! But yoga is an excellent way to communicate, show trust, give love, and shower your partner with kindness. Wouldn’t your relationship be amazing when you get to do all these?

Do you have more secrets to a healthy relationship? Spill them in the Comments section below! You may also want to try these together. 

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Featured image via feedyweedy