Today is just about a bit of housekeeping and keeping you n the loop … so one of my love letters to you.

COVID: Keeping Masks in Store

Today the Province of Ontario announced that it is ending it’s mask mandate on March 21st. Dr. Peter Jüni, who heads Ontario’s COVID-19 science advisory table, has said that it is too early to know if removing mask mandates is the correct choice. When Jüni was asked if the province’s move was a scientific or political decision he said that it is not presently supported by science. Dr Jüni says he hopes people will continue to wear masks, and that he will continue to do so himself. In other news, the new BA.2 variant is on the rise and taking over in Alberta (where they dropped masking), so for the foreseeable future maintaining masking is just sensible to me. (If you haven’t had your booster, don’t put it off, neglecting to keep up with vaccination has become a huge problem in Hong Kong).

I want to make sure that the store is safe for everyone, and that everyone feels safe shopping in the store. So, for the physical safety and mental well-being of everyone (customers, staff, pets), we will continue to expect everyone in the store to wear a mask at all times. If you come to the store and forget your mask that is fine, we have lots on hand (adult and child size) and will give you one. On the same note, we aren’t ready to run classes yet. A class involves sitting next to a stranger for 2 hours in a room with antiquated ventilation, so mask or no mask, it’s not a position I’m comfortable putting my instructors or my clients in.

I know some people are completely burned out on pandemic restrictions and are ready to tear off their masks, along with the rest of their clothes, and run with wild abandon in the streets. I’m not one of them, but I’ll enjoy watching the show from my balcony, it should be quite the party. I also know that there are a lot of people for whom getting COVID is still a great concern. Everyone is in a different place in the spectrum, we all have different levels of tolerance for different things. Many people have spent the last two years being afraid of catching COVID, and those patterns aren’t going to go away overnight. So we just keep taking it one day at a time, being there for ourselves and each other.

Love, Haley

KNITSANA: A Few Spaces Still Open

We still have a few spaces left for the next session of the Knitsana Mindfulness Group, which starts this Sunday, March 13th. The only certainty in life is change, and some of the best self-care we can give ourselves is improving our skill at rolling with it through self-compassion. To learn more about the group or register, just follow the link below.

Knitsana Mindfulness Group