About Partner Yoga

What is Partner yoga?

Partner Yoga is most often thought of as ‘Couples Yoga’.

While suitable for intimate partner, this practice supports everyone to explore interpersonal dynamics while deepening their understanding of Yoga.

Partner yoga posture highlighting mutual support and flexibility, a key element in couple yoga practices for emotional and physical harmony.

Principle-Based Partner Yoga

Principle-Based Partner Yoga™ is a visionary practice that expands the traditional practice of Yoga into the realm of relationship. Designed for two or more people, partner yoga utilizes the forms and principles of individual posture while incorporating the presence of another to deepen the impact of the experience. This particular style of partner yoga awakens our human potential through the integration of universal principles such as compassion, trust, balance, and creativity.

Partner yoga is not a substitute for individual Yoga practice—it is an accelerated path to experience directly the root principle of Yoga – union. To experience union, we relax into the present moment and our individual presence. From this primary connection with ourselves, we realize our essential sameness and unity with others.

During partner yoga practice, challenges arise and we often experience emotions and internal conflicts. As partners work together, supporting one another, a context is created for examining larger principles of our human nature in relationship.

The excitement, mistrust, anger, and love we feel reflect our interpersonal patterns outside of Yoga practice. Through seeing how we are in the practice, we are empowered with more choices in our lives. Principle-Based Partner Yoga™ integrates the body-heart-mind-spirit connection through the use of universal principles such as trust, compassion, and creativity.

Because partner yoga is nurturing and playful as well as instructive, it is accessible to a wide range of students. Couples yoga provides a pathway into Yoga that may have previously seemed intimidating or inaccessible.

While suitable for intimate partners, this practice allows everyone to explore interpersonal dynamics in ways that nurture all of our relationships—making it a powerful tool for teachers and counselors, corporate groups, parents and children, and all individuals seeking personal growth through partner or couples yoga.

Read more about Elysabeth Williamson, founder of Principle-Based Partner Yoga™