Partner Yoga with Namaste Heather
I saw this lovely post on partner yoga while I was blog-trawling on Heather's blog. There are great pictures and it genuinely looked like folks were having fun. As previously mentioned, I've never led a partner class before, so this post is something I plan on filing away. Heather and I did a blog trade this week, so you can see a post I wrote on her blog, as well. This is unlike anything else that's been posted on this blog, so I highly recommend checking it out... you can figure out who the partner can be later!
Thanks, Heather!
Partner Pose Sequence
This partner sequence has many standing poses and is appropriate for partners of all kinds - classmates, friends, siblings, parents-children, boyfriend-girlfriend, and spouses. Some of the poses are demonstrated in the following post: http://namaste-heather.com/
1. Pranayama for partners - lying side by side, feet opposite directions with hands on each others bellies. Sense breath. Synchronize breath if possible.
2. Namaste connect - sit in Easy Pose (Sukhasana) facing one another. Connect through eyes and hearts.
3. Warm up - seated Easy Pose (Sukhasana) back to back. Arms out and up together. Seated Crescent. Gentle backbend/forward bend. Gentle twists. Flow together with breath.
4. Standing. Namaste. Bow toward one another. Forward bend while partner gently assists forward with hands. Switch partners.
5. Standing Tower. Partners face one another in Mountain Pose (Tadasana), then connect through hands overhead pressing gently, back stays straight, forming 45 degree angle forward from sit bones to top of head.
6. Partner Chair Pose (Utkatasana) - holding hands.
7. Move into Partner Squat.
8. Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II) Partners hold hands, inside heels connect, opposite feet move away.
9. Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II) Back to back.
10. Exhaulted Warrior - back to back.
11. Flow with breath between 9 and 10. Inhale move. Exhale hold.
12. Triangle (Trikonhasana) Back to back.
13. Extended Side Angle (Utthita Parsvakonasana) Back to back.
14. Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I) Side by side with inside hand around partner's back.
15. Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I) Back to back. Join hands at top, if able.
16. Low Lunge - back to back. Join hands if able and open hearts.
17. Wide Legged Forward Fold - bottoms connected, looking at each other under legs.
18. Tree (Vrksasana) Side by side and back to back.
19. Dancer (Natarajasana) Facing each other, connecting through top hand.
20. Partner Wheel/Child's Pose Combo
21. Partner Seated Twist - back to back
22. Savasana - connecting at Crown Chakra. Traditional arms or opening up to hold hands again.
23. Seated meditation. Closed eyes, taking one hand to own heart and other to partners heart.
24. Namaste closing. Reconnecting with partner through eyes and heart to finish.