One night, over dinner, my husband said “Bridget! You have to name this thing!” “What should I call it, I said?” Sitting there for a moment, he said “NATIVE.” He went on to talk about the fact that I am part Cherokee Indian and that a feather is the symbol of your connection to a greater force. It is a beautiful sign of gratitude and has commonly been thought of in most cultures to be a symbol of higher thought and spiritual progression; or a new beginning coming into our lives.
Soon after my husband and I were playing golf together and as we pulled to a stop on the course, I looked down and found this fantastically large black and white feather. It was perfection and I took it as a sign. After I got home I started researching what type of feather it was. I came to find that it was a turkey feather. I had never seen one so large and I loved the contemporary lines of it. I found out that it in fact it was a favorite feather of the Cherokee Indians. They believed that it was a symbol of protection, and a sense of balance between the physical an spiritual world. It was also a sign of hope.
I choose the Native Barre feather because I wanted a more contemporary symbol of balance between the physical and spiritual with its center shaft representing the skeleton in our bodies. The Cherokee Indians believed that the center shaft of a turkey feather represented a connection in which a prayer could be sent through to the heavens and sent back from the heavens to the person with a blessing inside. I have designed my class to use this mind body connection to sculpt, stretch and connect our mind and bodies.
As the feather acts and represents as a channel from our minds to something greater, in its simplicity so does the Native Barre feather. For me it is a sign of tapping into ourselves and designing the person and body that you want to have or be. Whether that is a sculpted goddess or creating a happier place within, the feather is a reminder that we have so much more power than we think. It is a cosmic hello and reminder that when you spend the time with yourself you will experience one magical moment after another. Giving you hope to feel comfortable and strong in your skin. Native Barre Studios is something more than an exercise program. It is a place of community, strength and attention to becoming the best person you can be. #GoNative
