fbpx

Yoga With Friends

If the yoga studio is your happy place, there’s one way to make it even better: rope in a buddy to downward dog with you. Here are five great reasons to recruit a friend to be your yoga partner:

1. You’ll be sharing the love
If you’re a regular at your favourite class, you’ll know that your yoga practice helps you to de-stress, keep fit and stay flexible. These are pretty amazing benefits, and way too good to keep to yourself – so why not share the experience with your BFF?

2. You can motivate each other
We all have days when the lure of the couch is strong, and this is where a yoga buddy really comes in handy. You’re much less likely to give in to your inner sloth if you know your yoga partner is waiting for you. Sometimes, a little guilt can be a good thing.

3. You’ll have moral support
If you’re relatively new to this yoga thing, you might feel a little intimidated in class. You shouldn’t, but you might. There’s an easy fix for this. Get a friend to join you, so you can support and encourage each other as you find your feet and try out new poses for the first time.

4. You might even enjoy it more
If you love your time on the mat, you might enjoy it even more if you do it with a friend – and we’re not just saying that, there’s science to back it up. Research published in Psychological Science shows that sharing a positive experience with another person can make it more pleasurable. In the article, lead researcher Erica Boothby says, “A pleasant experience that goes unshared is a missed opportunity to focus on the activity we and others are doing and give it a boost.”

5. You’ll get healthier, together
Sure, you could get together for an after-work glass of wine and catch-up. Or, you could meet up at the gym and work up a sweat as you reap the many, many health benefits of a regular yoga practice – and then head out for that glass of wine and catch-up. According to this Huffington Post article, these benefits include better cardiovascular health, improved mood, reduced stress and anxiety, and sharper brain function.

If you’re going it alone

No luck getting a friend to practice yoga with you? No worries. Show up often enough at your favourite class and you’re bound to meet a friendly and diverse group of people who all have one important thing in common – a passion for yoga.

At Elixr, we offer a range of yoga classes at our Bondi Junction and Bligh Street clubs. Check out our class timetable and plan your yoga schedule today.