I led my first yoga class last week. Kind of. Blair’s sister asked if I’d do a class on the morning of her wedding. Though it was more like me doing the poses up front while giving the odd cue, it gave a small taste into what teaching would feel like. I was a little nervous – after all, this is my newfound passion and I was scared to suck – but once I started, the nerves faded. It wasn’t perfect but no one expected it to be and that’s what I had to remember.
This is the second time in my bridal party experience that the girls’ morning activity has been yoga and I’ll forever preach its virtues. There’s nothing like this sacred movement to energize for the big day and iron out the crinkles. Everything moves more fluidly, our breath becomes effortless and we reconnect to ourselves as tension melts away – perfect prep for the day’s anticipation. The bride (and/or groom) and their friends have the chance to come together and just be. To be surrounded by the company of each other with no planned agenda for one precious hour that weekend. It’s the chance to start the day with a fresh slate, grounded in the reason that we are all there – the union of two people.
How perfect is it that both yoga and marriage generally symbolize the same thing? Yoga means yoke, or in other words, union – the coming together of any two objects, the body & mind or more philosophically, the individual self with the higher self. That morning, we celebrated two people with the deepest sense that they’re in for a loving and lasting marriage. We connected silently with a knowing that they’ll grow together in the most complementary of ways. We recognized a bride whom we’d never seen so happy. Being a bridesmaid for that kind of love felt good & easy. <3
The playlist
1. Feist: Cicadas & Gulls
2. Alexi Murdoch: Breathe
3. Iron & Wine: He Lays in the Reins
4. Bon Iver: Minnesota
5. Ray Lamontagne: All the Wild Horses
6. Bon Iver: Wash
7. James Vincent McMorrow: Higher Love (Savasana)
