Online Class Notes (Jesse) [29]

Vocabulary

you take everything for granted 

act entitled 

kiwi – people from NZ

catalyst 
eg. waking up at 6:30 was a catalyst for a lot of positive change

extract / extraction
eg. she will extract my tooth

fermenting / cultivating 

So, I, Heidi, choose you, Alex, my lovely little flower, to be my (husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, when you are both blossoming, and wilting, when your petals are bright and dull, when you are dormant in fall, and full of life in spring, I will love and cherish you, forever and ever until neither of us can do a handstand / until we both go to the next life / until our last shivassana.

To all my beautiful friends, my new family, and dearest teachers – thank you so much for being here. Welcome to our wedding.

Thank you to my mum and dad who couldn’t be here today. To my mum, thank you for trusting me enough to let me marry a guy who you have only said less than 10 sentences to over facetime and never even met face to face, she must think I’m marrying some alien or perhaps even a figment of my imagination. In all seriousness / but seriously, she said if we have decided to be together, we need to close the gap and be together in person… but I know my mum loves me and would be with me every day if she could, bothering me by barging into my room without knocking just to ask me how to download some app on her phone, so for her to encourage me to leave and follow my heart, is really special to me and makes me know how much she loves me. So it’s a bittersweet time for her and I want to thank her from the bottom of my heart. Thanks mum.

Richard and Mary, you are my dearest teachers, and guardian angels / my parents from another life. You guys like the things I like, and support me in everything I do, and give me space whilst keeping a watchful eye over me.

At a really difficult time in my life when I was both emotionally and physically injured and terrified that it was maybe going to be the end of my yoga career. I had a severe neck injury which meant that I couldn’t do many postures, and I remember one time I said to Richard that I was so scared that my yoga life was over… and he just said to me “yeah.. I’ve had that same thought many times before…” which in that moment was so helpful to me because I knew he could understand me and he had complete confidence that I was going to be fine.

The wisdom, sense of humor, and compassion that Mary and Richard inject into my life makes learning with them such a joy for me… they are always able to teach me so effortlessly, and know how to say the right thing at the right time.

Everyone knows I’m older than him and in Chinese we say: __________ , but everyone says I look younger, and I always tell him to put some moisturizer on his wrinkles because I only like fresh grass… (he thought he was getting a couger, and I thought I was an old cow getting fresh grass)

But seriously,

Alex, you have taken such a big step to allow me into your life, allowing us to be together. I know it’s not easy for you… you said to me once “Heidi, when I marry you I’m marrying a package which includes richard, mary, boulder, and most importantly, a dog”, you know what I want in life, and I can see you’re doing everything you can to give it to me, and I love you so much for that. You’re helping me to complete the puzzle of my life, slowly putting all the pieces together, combining a life being surrounded by nature, being relaxed, being able to practice yoga, whilst also being able to spend time in asia, building my career, and being close to my family.

In Astanga, there are 6 series, and it is said that the 7th series is family, the hardest one to attain. Neither of us are perfect, we’re a work in progress, but together we are stronger and can grow together to be better, kinder, and happier people. And I know you feel the same way, and want this for us too. For me, knowing you are there, listening to me, and working with me to build this life together gives me so much confidence and keeps me on track and moving in the right direction, and for that I am so appreciative and cherish your place in my life.