A Valentine’s Day Message from Marianne Wells
Without a doubt the most successful yoga workshops that I have conducted over the years have been couples / partner workshops. Too often the demands of our daily lives cause us to put on the back burner what should be at the core of every relationship. Being present – truly present – and aware of our partners in life is at the core of every healthy relationship. Oftentimes, it is one of the couple who is a yoga practitioner that signs up for the event. This is a great way for you to introduce your partner to the benefits of yoga…which are many.
My partner workshops have been so successful because women (especially) want intimacy on various levels that don’t involve intercourse. Just the act of physically touching another person provides sensations due to the energies that are exchanged between two bodies utilizing open communication and build trust between the partners. In Tantra Yoga, partners align their respective chakras, or energy centers to share what can be a very powerful energetic exchange to also connect emotionally and spiritually. It also allows the body to relax and the chemical GABA is released allowing your tense muscles to loosen, which always leads to more relaxed and connected partners.
One of the keys to a healthy and lasting relationship is to have a healthy and lasting sex life. Here yoga trumps everything, in my opinion. Most of my students are women, and they have figured it out from the energetic and physical perspectives. Yoga provides incredible toning of the diaphragm, the accessory muscles of breathing, abdominal muscles, the pelvic girdle and pelvic floor muscles – all important for childbirth, elimination, and yes sexual intercourse. Women’s Health Magazine crystallized it in an article titled. “Have Better Sex with Yoga”.
There are simple ways to introduce yoga to your partnership. Look for workshops that speak to you both – many couples sign up for my workshops as date nights. Always walking away with a better connection and more intimacy between them. However, it doesn’t always have to be outside of the home. Bring yoga into your home. It’s a comfortable, safe place to start. My husband and I will be married 40 years this year. We’ve practiced with each other, building intimacy is better with couples’ yoga – much better than over a dinner and glass of wine! Learning to communicate and trust each other brings an honesty and openness to the relationship!
Men’s Health Magazine cites that the emphasis on breathing helps you stay in the moment, which is a great skill to develop to intensify sex. They cite a study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine that men who practiced yoga an hour a day for 12 weeks had erections that remained harder for longer periods of time, had better staying power in the sack, and an overall 25 percent increase in sexual satisfaction. I’m surprised that more men don’t practice yoga!
The goal of yoga is not to have a toned body and great sex life – these are merely benefits of a regular yoga practice. However, the union of mind, body and spirit does liberate the practitioner to enjoy their lives with much deeper meaning and connection to their relationships, and the world as a whole. For once we understand the divine that exists within each of us, our relationships with the world will be divine as well.
XOMarianne
