The New Era of Soulful Hen Weekends

Blessing a bride-to-be and her bride tribe with a gift of yoga no longer comes as a surprise. The times are changing and the wellbeing industry is seeing a growing need for more meaning, depth and connection in those once-in-a-lifetime type of events – hen-do’s and stag-do’s. Yoga can offer this and more, making the celebration truly special and memorable.

THE YOGI loves unique and original requests from clients. After all, they challenge our creativity and test how well we can accommodate and adapt to individual needs. Our highest reward are attendees leaving our yogic events with blissful smiles on their faces and rejuvenated spirits. Especially when there’s something a little bit more special to celebrate.

One of our pre-lockdown bookings took us all the way to Exmoor National Park in Somerset, UK. There, a giggly and connection building yoga event was seen as a cherry on top of a very sweet hen weekend. Before even the Sun Salutes, the weather invited us to go outside on a dewy grass to kick off a soulful yoga morning.

In the opening meditation part, instead of OMs we chanted sacred vows, visualised bride vibes and exhaled de-stressed bride. It was just the beginning. To the happy surprise of attendees, from this point, no single yoga pose name sounded familiar. Blind wife and Deaf husband poses initiated physical warm-ups, while Blushing bride, Toast, Butterflies in the stomach and Curious guest poses were their natural extension ?

Honeymoon pose (Seated hip twists and stretches) and Housewife pose (Seated straddle, if you like) gave a flavour of what the new chapter of life may feel like. With Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the sweetest of them all (as renamed from Revolving head-to-knee pose) and Gettin’ hitched on a highway (yoga for eyes), the session transformed into a naturally flowing laughter yoga class, resulting in even more physical and mental health benefits than a regular class could involve.

Love intent (Indian squat), Love match (Forward bend & chest opener in pairs) and various Heart openers (such as Lunge) created a foundation for a sequence of classic hatha yoga stretches, with poses such as Honeymoon suitcase (Forward bend) and Confetti (Back bend), as well as Love embrace (Eagle pose), First dance (Dancer pose), and Macho-man sequence (Cow-face pose). The most imaginative and therefore full of meaning were Love surrender (Warrior #1) and Love flight (Warrior #3). Judging by the response, no one will forget Pop the champagne (Side angle pose), Bride-on-top (Plank pose) and Mrs always right (Sphinx pose).

With Loveboat (Boat pose) and Proud groom (Reverse plank pose), and the peak in back bend poses such as Golden ring (Camel / Wheel pose), the class started to fade out towards gentle and mindful exercises, but not necessary any more sober – Beaching babes (Crocodile), Post-wedding night (Shavasana) and… Hangover (Restorative pose).

Only Goddess pose didn’t need renaming, and… Child.

Once this bespoke hatha yoga class was over, and the bride-to-be with her bride tribe were sitting still in a circle holding hands, we all noticed something special – we were all grounded in our own spirits, connected with each other. That was the time for authenticity of emotions, for holding space for one another, and strengthening the intent for the next chapter of life…

Are you looking for ideas for a soulful hen or stag party? It’s not uncommon to seek a deep and genuine connection with our fellow humans in these once-in-a-lifetime types of events. Yoga can offer this and more, making the celebration truly special and memorable. Get in touch with us at be@theyogi.co.uk or visit Contact to find out more.

Game, set, match (Namaste) ?