Your partner is somebody you see all the time. But when was the last time you really “saw” them? Taking a moment to genuinely connect with your loved one is precisely what the partner yoga sessions from Soul Y Luna are all about. As you come together on the mat, you and your partner support, touch and move each other through an hour or so of shared asanas that gently encourage openness and closeness. Guiding you through the class are two healers: San Francisco-born yoga teacher Flor and her real-life partner Yazan, a dancer and massage practitioner from Damascus. Even over Zoom, you feel the pair’s own intimacy when they invite you to join them as they move together in their Potsdam apartment. Although yoga should never be goal-oriented, there is a clear, simple intention behind Yazan and Flor’s sessions: “Feel your body, free your mind”. In one of the exercises, you are asked to stare straight into the eyes of your partner for an extended period. The experience feels awkward, funny – and deeply emotional.
The couple started the project at the beginning of 2021 with the goal of giving people an opportunity to reconnect. “It can be really difficult to make space for intimacy when you’re busy with life and work,” says Flor, who views yoga not as a sport but as a tool for exploring ourselves – whether it’s our strengths or traumas. The duo plan to offer in-person sessions as soon as conditions allow, but until then you can join them for digital drop-ins every Saturday at 11h starting in April. If you are worried you need to be in a relationship to join in, don’t: partner yoga is just as beneficial when done with a friend or flatmate. Whoever you choose as your companion, you both end the session feeling calm, aware and curious – and what more could you want in a relationship?
Text: Benji Haughton / Photos: Rhys Anderson Media & Artem Podrez
Soul Y Luna – Yazaan and Flor will hold online partner sessions on Saturdays starting 03.04.2021, 11h–12h15.
To book a place and to enquire about private classes and massages, send an email to soulylunayoga@gmail.com
@soulyluna_living