Joe Fornabaio for The New York Times

At 8:46 this past Wednesday morning, I was well into my daily yoga routine at the Houstonian in Houston, Texas, and far, far away from the fax, computer and iPhone email, and quite deep into a twist that had taken me perpendicular to the floor. I listened for further direction from Rie Congelio, my blithe and breezy “Yoga Body” instructor.

Actually, in the last four years of yoga practice, Rie had said many instructional and inspirational things in her class, yet in the next few seconds she would utter one word that would possibly influence thousands of WeddingWire brides, not to mention change lives, bodies, minds.

So, I listened and over my measured inhale, I heard: “Your next move will be counterintutive.” Say no more. Get me out of here, I have a message for my brides. I packed up my Manduka professional mat and rolled out.

“Counterintutive,” became my mantra. Listen, yoga, at its heart, is about the balance of opposites. The balance in Life. The juxtaposition of Ying and Yang; breath in, breath out. So for brides, who are on what seems a non-stop, life altering twelve month marathon to the alter, or Cabos, the opposite life approach in life would be most welcomed.

Simply stated, brides need to be counterintuitive, they need yoga. As Julia Roberts found in ‘Eat Pray Love,’ we need balance in our lives. She traveled to India, you can get it in your own hometown.

Why yoga? At its core, it is a weight loss technique and stress management, with calming a meditative side. It also makes a bride look good, no great. It does not take two seconds in a studio of several seasoned Yogis with long, willowy, graceful, slender bodies to convince any bride that her guests will be mesmerized, not only by her wedding dress, but by her long, willowy, graceful slender limbs and body. Her new transformation, inner and outer, will be evident as she makes her way down the aisle.

Another salient point: It does not take long to realize the conventional bridal weight loss approach of random starvation 45 days before the wedding is not a sensible, healthy, or effective choice. The end result might be less pounds, but the bride will forgo the potential for that incredible body and calmer mind that only yoga can reward a dedicated follower. There is one caveat: weight training, diet and cardio will help heighten and speed up the visual effects of a yoga-body.

Yoga is everywhere. The New York Times must think it is something to write home about. In August alone, it has had several main news articles, including a Sunday Magazine feature story by  Mimi Swartz, the executive director, Texas Monthly Magazine, on David Friend, the megastar and founder of Anusara Yoga. In addition, on a proceeding Sunday there were two book reviews on yoga in the Book Review Section including Stefanie Syman’s ‘Yoga History’ on how yoga has become a fitness routine for American athelets, C.E.O.’s, movie stars and soccer moms.

David La Spina for The New York Times

Yoga has made its way into the everyday 21st century consciousness: 16 million Americans practice yoga regularly. Yoga studios abound up and down Main Streets from Summit, New Jersey, Hattiesburg, Denver to St. Helena, Napa Valley, and especially major metropolitan cities like LA and NYC.

Yoga classes, or workshops, you’ll discover an appealing array of choices from the 100-plus degree Birkam practice to classes aptly named, “Yoga Flow, Yoga Body, Yoga Heat, and Yoga Stretch.” Rese and PrAna yogawear is worn in class and on the streets. Yoga is a lifestyle. Women get it. A healthier lifestyle is not a choice, but a life commitment.

No yoga class nearby? then download the yoga app, iPractice2, for iPhone and iTouch from Yoga Journal, the bible of the yogis.

Brides, yoga is a counterintuitive answer to your 24/7 text, Twitter, Facebook, iTouch, iPad, iPod, I-have-no-time-for-myself lifestyle.

As practiced in the ashrams of India, one question is asked to occupy the mind, so that one ultimately becomes mindless. So, to you, I pose one thought so you become mindful of your life as a bride and beyond: Live counterintuitive. If not now, when?