Shaila Saint and Mollie Bennett first connected with the glue that binds so many mothers: their kids. From those Long Beach preschool years to their current partnership called Canopy, the friends have grown a community-building mother's group.
It's their passion and their small business, and the Belmont Shore-based Canopy hosts "mama getaways' and other learning and bonding experiences for Moms. They've just started a Tuesday morning live chat. And Monday evening
Mollie Bennett is a musician and taught music, and has an event planning business called Hoopla, for which she has clients such as Hotel Maya. Shaila Saint for years taught child development and parenting courses at Long Beach City College, where legions of local parents became devotees of her dynamic warmth and common sense teaching. Those skills and interests made for the Canopy venture, which also has a corporate program.
Now they've responded to demand for their events and launched a membership base to sustain these and other offerings, which include mindful parenting classes for mothers and fathers, yoga, meditation sessions and a late summer mixer at Saint's Belmont Heights home. Summer Mindful Yoga and reflection series will be on Monday evenings at Belmont Heights United Methodist Church. (In the fall, their Monday morning Tarts and Yoga will return at Marine Vista Park).
This past weekend (May 18), Canopy hosted its second annual "Mamas Getaway" at Hotel Maya, five hours that began with breakfast overlooking the waterfront, more than an hour of yoga on the sand, and a recognition by three dozen mothers that they do better by their families when they take better care of themselves. Mini-massages were enjoyed, along with a lunch spread and easy-going bonding.
The agenda for the day was to not have one.
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