Partner Poses: Kids Yoga Teacher Training, Asheville NC

Too many of us could use a little more help, encouragement, support and human touch in our lives.

In Yoga, practicing poses with a partner allows the body to connect with another's breath and strength. Sometimes this can awaken places within your own body that were hiding. With the gentle pull of another's hand, the slight pressure of their feet or even the warmth of their laughter, something allows you to go deeper into yourself.

Now imagine this with a room full of wonderful female yogis, gathered in this room to share their love for bringing yoga to kids. A playful and fun bunch for sure.

Rewa and Lisa make triangle look like it should be in a major dance production here. In this pose you may not be able to see your partner, but the increased stretch in the outer body and soft back support reassure you that you have a friend back there.

Cody introduced the "squish" pose, a favorite of her young students. Here the ladies took the squish to the next level, throwing in a backbend for the squisher. By using a connection in the hands both partners get a better back stretch from crown to sacrum.

From here, the top yogi can even lift her legs straight to the sky for a more challenging balance inversion. The bottom yogi gets the benefit of an even greater release of the hips toward the ground.

I think song birds should be released behind the partner pair that opens up their hearts to the sky in this pose. They clasped their hands and began to rotate up, using each other to open up the side waste more than anyone could do alone. At that moment, there was a uniform sigh-of-beauty from the audience. Everyone creates beauty in themselves withyoga.

From an assisted down dog to a flying partner balance. These ladies took a common partner yoga pose and mixed it up a bit. The great part is, there are no rules so anything is game!

Try simply flipping a normal yoga pose and balancing it on your friend's head. Here, Laura and Bonnie just turned staff pose upside down.
Suddenly your staff is floating in the air and those sit bones don't extend away from the crown of the spine as easily as when your friend gravity is there to assist.

Lisa, my partner for supported cobra pose, became my new best friend in only a few short minutes. Not only did she show me space in my lower back that I hadn't been able to reach, she lowered me to my mat with a gentle, yet exquisite shoulder/neck/back rub. Again, I love you Lisa.

Your arms are shaking, your legs are about to collapse and you are no where close to having your belly in the air. Then suddenly your partner rises beneath you. While supporting your back as she rounds hers to the sky, you are suddenly lighter and begin to feel your own strength again as you finally come into full bridge pose.

This is the narration I would have given if this partner pose were to be done in a dramatic, lifetime mini-series.

More than 2 friends? Easy. Here we just arranged ourselves equally and played with where we could balance ourselves using our neighbor's position. Add in a twisting, heart-opening stretch to the sun and there are instant smiles all around.

Jana isn't trying to knock down her friend Jessica here. Leg and core strength translate into a greater heart opening in this inversion. This opening can be difficult to feel when also concentrating on the balance and focus needed for a hand-stand. But that's what friends are for.

A confusing game of twister? Or just 5 creative yogis looking to incorporate everyone into the pose.

With many possible variations in hand and leg placement, even number of people, this pose could really go anywhere.

Bottom line: Grab a friend and see where you can go beyond your personal practice!