Couples Yoga by Dave Rosenblum

Couples Massages: We Eat Well Together, Do Yoga Together, Meditate Together, Why Not Rejuvenate Together?

Readers of this news site are interested in health. There’s just no way around that. And, if you’re married, or have a significant other, surely you talk together about health topics endlessly, poring over the latest health news together, going through study data to arrive at more intelligent health choices. That discussion is an important part of a health-oriented lifestyle; through discussion and intelligent discourse, we learn from one another, and arrive at answers.

A new syndrome has been coined called Orthorexia nervosa, supposedly describing individuals obsessed with what they eat. But if one’s health is provably tied into how you feel, is that at all off, in any way less than perfectly sane? Sattvic living, focused on living in a manner that is consistent with the highest Spiritual values, assuredly entails paying attention to what one eats. Admittedly, some may actually obsess about food, but when we intelligently approach a healthy lifestyle, it’s not obsession, it’s enthusiasm.

Couples Yoga by Dave Rosenblum

Couples Yoga by Dave Rosenblum

Of course, food isn’t the only part of a healthy, or Sattvic, lifestyle. There’s a lot more actually. Balance is key. Hatha yoga is a great way to keep one’s body, the very Temple that the Creator (or the Universe, depending upon your own ideas) made for us to live within, at it’s best. Stretching is a fad these days, but yoga stretching dates back to time immemorial. And the breathing exercises associated with stretching, called Pranayama, help as well. Our conscious states are strongly tied to the way we’re breathing. So, if we control our breath, we can exert some measure of control over our emotions, and thus state of mind.

Doing couples yoga is fun and brings two people together like nothing else can. Except maybe meditating together. If you’re new to all this, and have only heard about meditation in passing, know that there are many traditions, many methodologies and approaches toward meditation. Brain-wave scans conducted in the 1970s show that different forms of meditation bring different benefits. So, pick and choose what appeals to you, but remember, each form of meditation brings its own gifts.

Meditating with your loved one is fun and easy. And, it fosters a closeness that is unmatched. When we’re dating, we go to carnivals together,to the boardwalk together, to the beach and to the movies. All these activities are interesting and we have a good time, but how much greater is it when you’re sitting there, or lying in Corpse position, otherwise known as Savasana, with your beloved, slowly finding increasing levels of peace each day?

After a couples mediation session, you’ll both feel very different. Together. Your stress will begin to disintegrate. Together. Your self-understanding will grow. Together. All in all, meditation is probably the best way to bring two people together, aligned in a common goal that is wholly worthwhile and a good use of time spent together. At the beginning of each session, you’ll both be a little more stressed, a little less focused, and a lot more angry. Afterwards, it’s easier to feel loving and kind toward one another, and these are the cornerstones of a good relationship.

Well then, what about Couples Massage? Is that a worthwhile way to spend some quality time? In fact, it is. Massage Therapy is a means of releasing tension stored in our bodily tissues, tension and stress placed there from the trials and tribulations of life itself, be it work stress, family stress, or any other stress. When you have a massage therapy session alongside someone you deeply care for, it’s easier to relax and let go. It’s also a deeply moving shared experience, as like couples yoga, both of you will experience cathartic moments together.

While a session of individual massage therapy can be life-changing, it’s all the more significant when you have someone you love right there to share in it all. And of course, it isn’t just reserved for a couple romantically involved; it can be a couple of BFFs, sisters, or even a Mom and her daughter. Mommy and Me Massage is catching on. While it sounds cutesy and most can’t keep from thinking, “Awww!”, it’s actually a great way to bond with your child. Kids do get stressed, and kids do have Spiritual lives, experiences of the numinous that adults may not even be able to grasp.

A healthy lifestyle is important. There are various facets to it that cannot be ignored, and that includes proper diet, exercise, and a way of dealing with stress. When two people come together to share a future, or even share an afternoon, with the goal of helping one another reach their health goals, Couples Massage is surely yet another part of the puzzle. If massage therapy is new to you, or you’ve had limited experience with touch therapy, Couples Massage may be a great way to introduce you to the practice.

It’s always easier doing something new with someone you trust, and of course, disrobing, getting under a sheet, and having a perfect stranger rub your muscles with oil may be a bit intimidating. Unlike yoga, meditation, or seeking out healthier food choices, massage therapy may be more difficult to integrate into a healthy lifestyle. It’s not about adopting a new faith, or learning the proper Hindi terms for asanas or anything else. It’s all about adopting a holistic lifestyle, a life practice that encompasses understanding of oneself, the choices one makes, and how to better prepare for life each day, while mindfully experiencing it all.

Getting health is about having a healthy mind, a fit body, and a clear emotional state. It’s not about anything else. Certainly, I use the term Sattvic here, borrowed from India, but I do so with full knowledge that it connotes balance, a prerequisite for enhanced health. These days, as health becomes commoditized, everyone’s trying to see you something. Realize that good health comes form within, not without, enmeshed with the choices we make, approach we take, and manner in which we conduct our lives. The practices we adopt as a couple, or even a couple of friends, or a couple of family members, will ultimately determine whether we have a healthy life, or not.