Partner Yoga and the Dance of Interdependence

Partner Yoga and the Dance of Interdependence

When I was growing up, I received praise for being independent, which, I suspect, was true for many of you. Over time, I came to believe that independence was good and dependence, not so good.  Our culture tends to reward independence and harbor a negative attitude toward dependence, and for the longest time, I assumed these were the only two options. Then I got into a long-term relationship and discovered things weren’t quite so black and white.

Lo and behold, I discovered there was a third option – interdependence. My interest tweaked, I looked up the definition in the dictionary. Part of the definition of independence is quite appealing, to be free of. The other part, however, involves not having needs, which really hit me; who doesn’t have needs? Dependence means to depend upon while interdependence implies a reciprocal relationship where needs are allowed and mutually met. It seems pretty clear that while interdependence might be more challenging, it is the better course because it is the one that really can lead to a fulfilling life.

This interdependence is one of the reasons I love partner yoga. The dance of interdependence gets to play out there because in partner yoga, I am able to go deeper into a pose than I ever could have achieved on my own. However, it is not because someone else is doing it for me. Rather, it is because of the trust, connection and reciprocal relationship that I find within myself, my true strength, and just as amazing, the same thing happens for my partner.