A cheque presentation was made Thursday to PAWS in Portage la Prairie following a fundraiser by a couple of local business owners.
Lynn Bereza is owner of Breeze Yoga and explains she wanted to have a Christmas offering for yoga students and anyone who just wanted an evening to relax.
“Basically, this time of year can be really stressful for people. And it's just a nice way to take an evening and get some self-care and some relaxation. Then I talked to Joanne (Sullivan), who agreed to provide a sound bath meditation to make the evening a little more special than just a regular yoga class. She suggested that maybe we could donate the funds to a worthy cause, and we both like PAWS.”
Bereza adds they then decided to do it for charitable reasons, and 20 people sign up, which was the maximum they could accommodate.
“It was held at Just Be Wellness Center, which was also donated for the evening. It sold out right away, and we had made a $500 donation to PAWS.”
Joanne Sullivan is owner of Serenity Yoga and Sound Meditation and outlines what a sound bath consists of.
“Sound Meditation is an opportunity to take some time out of a busy life, settle back, and let the sound vibrations resonate with your body. Sounds can help relax the body; maybe lower the heart rate and just bring you into a state of calm and peace in a busy time. It's a nice way to withdraw.”
Claudia Verwey is director of fundraising and currently the board chair for PAWS, and she adds it was really wonderful to receive the donation.
“I heard from Joanne that they were interested in having a yoga event of some sort. We're always more than grateful to get donations from the community. I find there's a lot of people within the community, businesses, and organizations that when looking for someone to donate to, it's hard not to have a soft spot for dogs and cats. We're always more than thankful. and when I checked in with Joanne about it, it was already sold out. So, it sounds like it was a very successful event. We're so thankful; that was lovely. It’s always great to have community support.”