How Yoga Can Improve Your Relationship

Bharat Sharma

06/10/2018



Our existence is not in isolation like islands floating in a vacuum. Our thoughts and actions find meaning and resonance in relation with those around. The more we stay in sync with our loved ones, more fulfilling will existence become.

Do you often feel stressed or angry in your relationships? Maybe you don’t know how to channelize your aggression in the right way or express your feelings with clarity?

Relationships should unfold like a beautiful dance where your partner is so deeply intuitive about you that he/she can tally his/her own thoughts, words, and movements accordingly.

And, at the core of every relationship, there must be only love and purity. If you feel a lack of such qualities, yoga can help.

Mark Whitwell, the well-known author of ‘Yoga Of Heart’ and a yogic disciple of Sri Krishnamacharya defines the worth of yoga in maintaining a good relationship in these terms -

“There are the pain and burden of an assumed separation in the minds of living beings. This separation is from its own nature. Finding a partner with whom one can share an intuitive relatedness reduces that trauma. Realizing this relatedness, the sameness of one’s innermost self found in the being of another is what creates authentic, deeply intimate, and sustainable partnerships.”

Yoga can affect your mind, body and soul positively. Read on to know how yoga can improve and benefit your relationship too.

Healing From Within

The asana and meditation techniques employed in the practice of yoga are just not about reclaiming fitness. The method instils confidence, awareness, and sensitivity towards our individual needs.

There could be a lot of opposites and contradictions within our own skin but when one learns to be self-aware, self-accepting, and self-responsible, these factors cease to create conflict.

Healing comes from the very inside when we learn to identify mental projections stemming out of our childhood-issues, trauma, loss, and insecurities. Someone who has suffered intimate partner abuse in the past can have projections of the trauma making its way into a different relationship.

The inability to come to terms with the loss of a loved one can damage a person to the extent of alienating them from others in the family. When the root of anger, resentment, sorrow, and ill-will is personal, it is hard to think clear-eyed and objectively.

The practice of yoga lets us disassociate at a soul-level from the drama of life and remain loving, compassionate, and forgiving despite all.

Affectedness is replaced by a simple acceptance with yoga.

Reconciling With Contradictions

At the heart of yoga lies the worldview of ‘yuj’ that ‘You’ and ‘I’ are one and we are united with the universe that’s constantly in a flux, where differences are not fundamental lies in different manifestations.

This worldview opens up a horizon for reconciling differences of opinion, religious faith, and intellectual standpoints.

It is an effective discipline to truly come together through introspection. Just how partnering up in the synchronized dance of performing the 'asanas' allows one to be an extension of another’s body and spirit without losing their individuality, so should be relationships.

Science has proven that Yoga reduces stress so it becomes the ultimate activity that partners can enjoy in the company of each other.

Mindfulness as a Positive Problem-Solving Approach

An inherent element of the yogic discipline is mindfulness. This is the art of bringing your body, mind, and being focussed upon the reality of the present moment.

There must be acceptance and opening up to the present, but staying clear out from the entrapments of elaborative thoughts and emotional reactions.

Often in relationships, there is a vile way of keeping score from the past which overshadows the merits of present moments. Mindfulness practices let our mind focus on the present with a deft problem-solving attitude rather than the tendency of getting stuck in the useless mire of blame games and crippling emotional reactions.

Yoga furnishes one with a positive outlook and necessary mindfulness to maintain the quality of a relationship. In the intense moments of awareness, you can delve into the obscurities of your subconscious and route out what you identify relationship quality-depleting habit.

There is always room to be a better person.

Uniting With a Higher Purpose

Disorientation and a lack of purpose are the greatest causes of depression and discontent. On the other hand, there is a great joy to be of service in the world and that joy redoubles when shared.

Humanity needs more attachment than detachment today to grow, flourish, contribute, progress, and yoga sustains such a mindset.

Navigate towards a higher purpose hand in hand with your beloved and give your union a greater meaning with yoga. Practice it daily and you will feel the rejuvenation in your relationship.

With yoga, you can be better, together.

Over to You

Yoga enables the faculties of the participating ones to rise above the perceived conflicting differences between people and enables them to connect soulfully.

Will you be willing to embrace the yogic way of life? How about joining a yoga class near you with your partner!

We hope this inspires you to practice Yoga with your partner and strengthen your bond forever.

Further Reading

The How and Why of Learning Yoga as a Hobby

6 Yoga Poses to Boost your Immunity

How to choose the right Yoga training school

Author Bio

Bipin Baloni is a passionate Yogi, yoga teacher and a traveller in India. He provides Ayurvedic Treatment In Kerala. He loves writing and reading books related to yoga, health, nature and the Himalayas. You can learn more about him here.