While many couples will spend the days leading up to Valentine’s Day scrambling for dinner reservations and buying the traditional (and expected) flowers and chocolates, a few will be doing things very differently.
(Courtesy of Virna Lichter)
They’ll provide balance for each other, meditating, and learning how to give soothing hand massages.
Energia Wellness Studio in Wesley Chapel is having a couples yoga class Feb. 13. The class, which is limited to just 10 couples, will include a one-hour yoga session, followed by meditation and hand massage instruction.
Virna Lichter, who owns the studio and will run the meditation portion of the class, said that making yoga and meditation part of a couple’s schedule this week will provide a more interactive experience than the traditional Valentine’s Day routine.
“One of the things, of course, is connecting with each other,” she said. “It’s a time when people are going to be relaxed and they’re going to be having fun, and they’re going to be helping each other.”
In contrast to a crowded restaurant, the yoga and meditation session will only have up to nine other like-minded couples in a relaxed setting.
Lichter also explained that previous yoga experience is not necessary, and couples shouldn’t rule out participating because of poor flexibility. In fact, flexibility issues should be more incentive to consider trying yoga.
“A lot of people say ‘I can’t do yoga because I’m not flexible.’ Well, that’s one of the reasons you should do yoga, so that you can become flexible,” she said. “This is a good opportunity for them to see that anyone can do yoga.”
Yoga instructor Nancy Sayle, who will run the physical yoga portion, also believes that couples will not only get to experience something different together, they’ll also learn about each other by interacting in a yoga setting.
“You’ll see your partner’s strengths and weaknesses, and you’ll surprise each other,” she said. Couples will be in constant physical contact as they distribute weight in order to achieve balance, and work together to complete the pose correctly. Both partners also will have a chance to give and receive hand massages, learning techniques that they can take with them when they leave the studio.
There can be even more benefits if one person has yoga experience but the other is a novice, Lichter said. An opportunity to see a partner doing something in a comfortable setting allows them to view each other in a different light, no matter how long they’ve been together.
And Lichter knows from experience: Although she has been a yoga instructor herself for six years, her husband of 15 years saw her in a class for the first time just last week. The experience, she said, was enlightening and positive.
“He saw me in a very different light that he had never seen before,” Lichter said. “He was so thrilled. He said ‘Wow, you’re so good at this!’ It was a really interesting connection.”
The idea is to feel connected with a partner and comfortable with the idea that they tried something new together, Lichter said, but mostly to leave with a positive state of mind and a degree of happiness they might not have had before.
“You don’t have to have a reason to be joyful,” she said. “The meditation and the yoga, together, it teaches you how to breathe again and to be joyful.”
The class starts at 6 p.m. at the studio, located at 3836 Flatiron Loop, Suite 101 in Wesley Chapel. The cost is $35 per couple if reservations are made in advance, and $40 per couple if made on Feb. 13.
Couples should bring yoga mats and wear comfortable workout clothing when participating.
For more information, visit EnergiaWellnessStudio.com, or call (813) 973-7300.
Published Feb. 12, 2014
