Peace Lies Within
There is no peace in the Himalayas, and there is no noise in the world; everything is within you.
If you are at peace with yourself, you can find peace anywhere in the world, and if you are not at peace with yourself, you will never find peace in isolation in the mountains.
 Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
 
Civic Holiday - Next Monday
Please note that we are closed next Monday, August 2, 2004 (my mother Margaret Griffiths 50th Birthday - does that give away my age??)
The ONLY class running that day is the Pilates 10:30am class. 
 
Goodbye and Good Luck to Rhonda
I would like to extend a warm departure to my assistant Rhonda, who has worked with me for 3 1/2 years now.  Rhonda has recently started a Yoga Teacher Training Program to become a yoga instructor, and that is taking up much of her time.  She has decided to put all her energy and efforts into the course, so we will not be seeing her at the front desk anymore.  Rhonda has posted a good bye letter on the bulletin board at the studio for all our members to read - she has indicated that she will miss you all very much, as we will all miss her warmth and energy!  Rhonda has been great "assistant" - not only in the studio, but in my everyday life as well.  She has been one of my best friends over the years, and we have laughed loudly together, confided in each other, eaten a lot of chocolate together, called each late in the night to talk (well that was mostly me calling her at those hours!), called eachother early in the morning (that was mostly her!),  and goodness knows we've done a lot of crying together over silly men amongst other things.  Rhonda and I seem to always find our way back to each other, so I'm sure we will see her back in the studio again in the future.  Rhonda, good luck on your new and challenging endeavour - know that I love you and wish you much happiness.
 
On that note, I am possibly looking for a very part time receptionist....
If anyone is interested in picking up a few hours come September, possibly interested in trading off a yoga membership, is excited about yoga and pilates, loves talking to people, is well organized and reliable, can put up with my systems and procedures, and is decent with a computer, has telephone manners and likes clerical tasks, let me know.... we can talk.
 
Food Drive for Community Care (Food Bank)
You will notice that we have a bin in the lobby area to donate food to our local Food Bank.  Please bring in non-perishable items on your next time through to class to help support our community.  As well, our Monday 4:15pm Charity Class proceeds are now being donated to Community Care.  So please help spread the word about this class!
 
Our 4 week Summer Session starts this week, the week of July 26!
All of our pre-registered programs are commencing again this week, and there is still some availability left if you're interested in registering.  We have Pilates, Beginner Power Yoga, Baby and Mom Yoga, Prenatal Yoga, Children's Yoga and Teen Yoga all starting this week.  Our website has more details www.yogabysarah.com
 
Childbirth Preparation Classes coming up - Sunday August 8 and August 15 1p-4:30p
There are still a few spots available in these workshops, so feel free to call myself or Angela if you want any more information on this.  There are more details on our website www.yogabysarah.com
 
Madonna Concert
Last Wednesday, myself and a couple members from the studio (Shari Leitch and Kristine Dawson as well as a couple of our other non-YBS friends) attended the Madonna concert at the ACC.  As well as being a great concert, we were thoroughly impressed with her display of yoga during the show.  She actually opened with the wheel pose, when the song said "Strike a pose!".  Later in the same song,  her and her other dancers did wheel pose again and then started walking around in wheel pose!  I have been practicing that and would look for that to be implemented into the classes soon!
 
YBS Gossip - The Flower Pot Incident
The latest excitement at the studio has been the theft of our beloved and very large flower pot, that housed some very pretty pink flowers amongst some other greenery.  (You can tell that I am an avid gardener and know the names of my plants very well ;)  This flower pot was ordered from the City of St. Catharines as part of their beautification of downtown program.  As well as paying for the lovely display of flowers at our entrance, the city will come looking for it in October to take it back.  So you can imagine my horror last week when I came to open the studio one morning and the precious flowers were gone!  After an initial display of foul language on my part (witnessed by only one of our members, Andrea - my apologies) I came to the conclusion that it was gone for good and would have to deal with the consequences from the city myself, not to mention the loss of enjoyment when I looked at these pink flowers everyday.  However, a kind neighbour on Page St. next to our parking lot, (who would like to remain anonymous, so I'll only use his first name of Rick hehe) had witnessed the theft in broad daylight.  Being the good samaritan that he is, Rick got into his vehicle and followed this thief who had put the flower pot in a shopping cart and was wheeling away faster than Rick could keep up.  Rick eventually caught up to him and noted the address a few streets over where the flower pot had been dropped off.  After a midnight drive-by of this seedy part of town, I decided it was not a matter that I wanted to take into my own hands.  With this address and a description of the thief, I hesitantly contacted the police.  They promptly came down and took my statement, as well as Rick's statement.  They then went to the house and located my flower pot.  (It must have been my very detailed description of the flower pot that helped him locate it - when the officer was taking my statement he wanted to know what kind of flowers they were, and I told him that they were pink).  Due to the largeness of the pot, the police officer didn't feel that it would fit in the back of his cruiser, so he struck a deal with them.  If they put the pot in their minivan and drove it back to where it came from, he wouldn't press charges.  Case solved.  After a little TLC, my flowers are back to normal and are prettier than ever!  Thanks to officer Rob Richardson for attending to this small case and assuring me that I wasn't wasting the tax payers dollar!
 
Until next time!
In light and love....
 
 
 
Sarah L. Giovannone
Yoga by Sarah
105 Queenston St. Suite #101
St. Catharines, ON
L2R 2Z5
Tel. 905 682-4469
Fax. 905 682-1936
www.yogabysarah.com