Dan's Papers - July 4, 2008 - The Y-Factor with Christian McLean

How does preparing for what is supposed to be one of the greatest moments of your life become so stressful? With flower arrangements, venue selection and seating charts it's easy. Planning a wedding can be a nightmare. To cope with the stress, some couples seek counseling, others grin and bear it and some just call the whole thing off. But there's another option. Wedding yoga is a completely unique form of preparation for your blissful day down the aisle.

For those who practice yoga, you already know some of its mental and physical benefits. By helping to regulate the pituitary and thyroid glands, yoga can calm anxiety, and increase energy and oxygen to the body. Believe it or not, certain poses can even help release locked or suppressed emotions. Partner yoga in particular encourages bonding, connecting, trust and openness. With all these perks, it's no surprise that it could help keep bridezilla at bay.

Yoga Means Union takes it one step further by personally tailoring each class for soon to be I-doers. You wouldn't walk into a doctor's office and assume the doctor is going to help you if you never tell him what ails you, the same goes for this program. The more you explain in your pre-session conference, the more you will get out of your classes.

The mastermind behind Yoga Means Union is Hamptons/NYC based yoga instructor, Emily Weitz. The impetus occurred during her Anusara teacher training when she was asked to examine her innate strength in yoga. After great thought, she came to understand that it was her rich connection to the heart and emotions that set her apart. This relationship led her to examine the human condition in extreme ways, centering her attention on events such as marriage, loss, and love. These aspects of our life make for an emotional rollercoaster. To compound the situation, the emotional stresses manifest themselves physically, creating a rather toxic environment, which generally gets worse before it gets better.

Acknowledging this, Weitz began a particular focus on weddings, devising a plan that would allow everyone to get the most joy out of marital bliss. Her philosophy is to help "clear out the unnecessary aspects (stress, fighting, petty things) and focus on the essence, which is love."

The Lovers' Series is an eight-session program that offers the bride and groom-to-be an oasis from the chaos of planning a wedding, giving them weekly re-focusing, understanding and time for themselves. Each class is tailored to the couple based on interviews leading up to that week's session. A goal of the program is to allow you and your partner to refocus on what this time in your life is all about - each other - and get your mind of whether or not to make it black or white tie or whose parents are paying for what. (An added bonus is that two months of yoga is going to strengthen your core, firm your muscles and make you look pretty fit come wedding day.)

While Yoga Means Union is meant to celebrate the coming together of two people, it doesn't necessarily need to involve both the bride and groom. Not into hitting Vegas or watching men grinding in thongs for your bachelor or bachelorette party? Then try something that's going to give you a little more to focus on than a shot of tequila. Sessions for the bridal party allow you to share some time with the people that mean so much to you.

Wedding yoga doesn't even need to include the bride or groom. A group yoga class the morning before or the morning of is a great way to get guests in the right mindset for the big event. "We had everyone from grandmothers to little kids," Laurie Gutmann Kahn says about her wedding yoga experience. "Weitz based the session on the theme of 'joining' and it really did bring people together. Everyone loved it."

This summer, as the days dwindle down and the guest list piles up, maybe it's time you carve out a little piece of the day for you and the one you love. Get back to the reason you proposed in the first place. Open your heart, release your worries, and say "ommm" before you say, "I do."

For more information on Yoga Means Union please visit www.yogamatized.com or contact Emily Weitz at (631) 278-0037.