Isabelle Wang

Couples yoga is another way to become closer to a significant other.

Many fans have been asking us to do couples yoga poses, so we decided that it was time to give the people what they wanted. 

On Jan. 20, 2:14 p.m., Isabelle pulled up to Divya’s house. Outfits were perfectly coordinated: a white top and black pants for Isabelle and an AJ Tutoring black top and white pants for Divya. It was the perfect yin and yang combination for us to begin our zen journey. One yoga mat, four legs, four arms, two minds, but only one soul.

Before starting our journey, we set our grading criteria for these intimate couple poses. Ranking these in order of intimacy and difficulty on a scale of 1-10, we have cultivated the top yoga couple poses to do with your friends or significant other. Bonus: set up a romantic atmosphere with candles and calming yoga music!

Boat Pose

We started off easy with Boat Pose. At least, we thought it was going to be easy, until we were humbled by the yoga gods. Starting the pose by sitting and holding hands, we lined up our feet on the ground and pushed upwards at the same time. *Warning: not for ticklish individuals.

It is important to consider that our yoga abilities have been dormant since Intermediate P.E. during sophomore year. Thus, stretching our legs to their maximum capacity proved to be more difficult than anticipated. However, the pose was a nice way to ease into the more difficult positions. 

One con of this pose is that you don’t feel your partner’s warm embrace or connection. While we were able to hold it for more than 15 seconds, our only spiritual connection was through our fingertips and toes.

Intimacy: 2/10

Difficulty: 5/10

Flying Pose

Imagine gliding through the clear blue skies as the air ruffles your hair with your partner by your side. With this pose, we simulated exactly that experience — kind of. 

While we figured out how to get into this complex position, we couldn’t execute it as well as our models. If you have the leg and core strength of a WWE wrestler, by all means go for it. However, we lacked those exact strength points, so we chose to execute the simplified version of it.

With Isabelle on the bottom, Divya pushed her hands on top of Isabelle’s hands as Isabelle pressed her feet against Divya’s thighs. While we weren’t able to reach the full position, our variation had levels in its difficulty. We attempted certain angles and pressure that increased our intimacy along with prolonged eye contact. Thus, intimacy was a 10.

Intimacy: 10/10

Difficulty: 10/10 (With modifications: 7/10)

If you’re feeling a little canine (we know we were), this might be your pup of tea! 

It’s important to note that this pose is best suited for partners with similar heights. We found ourselves coordinating distances based on our leg lengths — which, on the bright side, strengthened our communication.

We Shih Tzu not, this couples yoga pose likely won’t have you going: “I love you, fur real!” When you’re on all fours with your back hunched, the emotion incited is not exactly intimate, but worth the calorie burn.

Intimacy: 2/10

Difficulty: 5/10

Twin Tree

Video by Isabelle Wang 

Twin Tree by Divya Vadlakonda and Isabelle Wang.

Have you ever looked at a tree and said: “Twin, where have you been?” Well, this Twin Tree pose will have you embodying its spirit in no time.

The intertwining pose keeps you feeling connected with your partner, both spiritually and physically. The pose emphasizes this connection more than physical strenuousness — we would rate this pose the least difficult of them all. Additionally, you have the option to turn your heads toward each other to increase the difficulty and stare deep into your partner’s eyes. The pose is also easy to get into and hold for a while, giving you a good stretch in your legs.

Intimacy: 5/10

Difficulty: 1/10

Toad on Toad Pose

Yes, we made the name up, but you can’t tell us we don’t look like two toads. While the name may be fake, the feelings of companionship we felt were all too real. 

While this pose may look simple, with two lazy toads lounging on each other, maintaining it was much harder than getting into the position.

The person on the bottom (Isabelle) had an easy time resting on the ground and taking some deep breaths. However, Divya ran into some difficulties after putting her hands up to her back — without anything to balance herself on, she fell down frequently. Finally, we were able to hold ourselves up for about 10 seconds without falling. 

Intimacy: 7/10

Difficulty: 4/10

Heart Pose

The most romantic of them all. Not only will you have each other’s hearts, you will make your own heart to treasure. Though, it was a very trial and error process — we toyed with many variations of arm and leg orientations, making sure that our hamstrings were stretched in order to adhere to the original yoga pose’s intention.

This one is pretty self-explanatory, with intimacy and difficulty level ranging depending on how serious you take them. For us, we focused more on the symmetry of the heart.

Intimacy: 7/10

Difficulty: 2/10

Back to Back Pose (with a twist!)

Video by Divya Vadlakonda 

Back to Back Pose (with a twist!) by Divya Vadlakonda and Isabelle Wang

The original pose was originally too boring for passionate love birds like us. It was also too difficult. After holding the wall-sit position for a few seconds, we had enough. We collapsed on the ground and were ready to give up. However, we had a thought. A stroke of genius hit us. If we fell down together, could we get back up together? This was the ultimate metaphorical couple’s test. 

The journey was much like our relationship. We fell, but we fell together. While it took a few trial and error and words of encouragement, we ultimately came up with a game plan. Reaching a conclusion to push with a precise force of 100 newtons on each other’s backs, we rose up, both in our position and in our relationship.

Intimacy: 10/10

Difficulty: 8/10

Backward Bend/Forward Fold

We prefer to call this the Forward Fold as we took it as a sign of us moving forward in our relationship and our yoga strength. We were able to figure out the logistics quite quickly — however, this pose had an emotional hold on us. We held this pose for a record time of two minutes. A perfect position to hold a conversation (which we did — we talked about everything from yoga to more yoga) while also getting the perfect stretch. 

Intimacy: 10/10

Difficulty: 2/10

We learned couples yoga is not for the weak. But we do guarantee this: Once you experience it, you will come out stronger — in your body, your mind and your connection with that special someone.