By Brenlee Coates
It’s the same old story: you can either go the gym, or you can enjoy a warm summer’s day basking in the sun, eating delicious BBQ, drinking mimosas – and aligning your chakras?
With the motto to “take the party out of the bar and yoga out of the studio,” the trio of Bliss & Beatz rolled out its very first pop-up yoga pool party to a gung ho group of yogis.
As soon as you checked in, you were served a Dixie cup of pineapple mimosa, and then you passed through the gate to the secret location unveiled to you just the night prior.
A bean-shaped, luminescent pool opens to an expansive, epic stretch of grass for the yoga community to break a sweat on. It’s some dude’s backyard in Charleswood.
A cash bar was set up with pitchers of sangria and mimosas, and DJ Mama Cutsworth was already spinning funk from her booth.
A few neon floating tubes and animals decorated the pool.
The scene was set for a proper daytime pool party, and the perks were just beginning.
Savannah Joy, Liane Cherrett and Niki Trosky from Bliss & Beatz helped orchestrate the pop-up, and got heavy hitters like Chef Rob and the gentlemen from Green Carrot Juice Co. on board.
Free cold-pressed juice was offered to guests along with an elaborate menu prepped by the revered chef. A massage table was even set up offering 10 minutes of tranquility and opulence to guests.
It’s maybe not the kind of party people are used to hearing about on Monday, but it truly was a reinvigorating use of the weekend.
As your twenties begin to fade into your thirties, or your thirties start to include parenthood and babysitters, letting loose at the club just doesn’t seem to be the best use of your weekend anymore, or your babysitting budget.
Oddly enough, weekends are starting to be measured by productivity. I started using weekends to make up for too many rest days that should have been spent running down Wellington Crescent.
Priorities have shifted a little bit, but the urge to unwind after the workweek remains.
We’re at the age where it feels more important than ever to stay tuned in to your emotions and needs, ensuring you’ve got enough left to give to your work, your partner, your child and your health.
This mentality is probably why yoga has taken off so much, since people are finally allowing themselves time to quiet their minds and get down to what matters.
True to yoga, the rewards of the pop-up pool party were in its balance: meals were healthy but felt decadent, drinks were served but no one binged, and yoga was instructed at a reasonable Saturday pace, picking up difficulty in parts while always reminding us to listen to our own bodies and its limitations.
Yoga instructors Niki and Liane tag-teamed the practice, with Niki inviting us to quiet our inhibitions and let our hips and arms sway to the music, and Liane leading us through some sun salutations and vinyasas. Eventually, the clouds did part and the soft drizzling came to a close.
It was time to let go of anything standing in our way, find a spot along the pool’s edge, and jump in with our clothes on. With our skin warmed and minds opened, no one hesitated.
Bliss & Beatz programming throughout summer
August 8-10 Trout Forest Music Festival in Ear Falls, Ontario
August 16 Manitoba Electronic Music Exhibition
August 17 Rainbow Trout Music Festival
August 30 Grand Beach lululemon wrap-up party
September 7 Prairie Love Festival (Niki and Andre Clement)
Follow Bliss & Beatz on Facebook to learn more about events.