FAQs and Studio Etiquette

Welcome to Lost 'n Found Yoga!

We are sooo excited to have you join us at Lost ‘n Found Yoga! The tips on this page will help introduce you to some of our studio etiquette and policies to ensure that your experience with us is a great one. Please read on to learn the answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions and some Studio Etiquette tips!

Finding Us

We are located in the Grantham Plaza at 400 Scott. St., St. Catharines, in the rear section of the plaza between Home Hardware and the Water Source. It can sometimes be a bit tricky for newcomers to find us, so leave a little extra time for your first visit.

Pro tip: for most GPS systems, 400 Scott Street puts you in front of Sobeys at the other end of the plaza. Try using 370 Scott Street instead. On Google Maps and Waze it should put you right in front of our door, and on Apple Maps it at least gets you much closer to our end of the plaza!

ARRIVE 15 MINUTES EARLY

Did you know?… 15 minutes early is on time, and on time is late!

At Lost ‘n Found Yoga we want to ensure everyone has a positive and uninterrupted class experience, therefore, there will be no latecomers admitted to classes. There is no exceptions to this policy. In order to respect everyone’s time on their mat please remember to be on time for class, which means being setup on your mat BEFORE class begins. A good rule of thumb is to remember that 15 minutes early is on time and on time is late!

The best way to make sure you don’t miss out on participating in your favourite classes is to sign up ahead of time online! The best ways are through our custom mobile app for both iOS and Android, or directly on our website.

Search for “Lost ‘n Found Yoga” on the Apple App Store or Google Play store, then login with your e-mail address and password to view your account, book classes, and even buy more classes if you are running low. You can also do this directly on our website too!

BRING A MAT

For all of our mat-based classes (ie. almost all classes except for Reformer Pilates classes) you will need a yoga mat. We have a few studio mats available to rent if it is your first time, and we have mats to purchase as well. However, the mats available for purchase often have a strong smell that needs a day or two to air out before their first use, so we recommend purchasing one ahead of time before your first class.

PARKING SPACES

Please don’t park in spaces marked for short-term limited time parking.
Our North Niagara location at the Grantham Plaza is a busy place, but there is lots of on-site parking available. Our only request is that we respect our neighbouring businesses by not parking directly in front of any business with a sign that indicates it is a time-limited parking area. If the “horseshoe” in front of the studio is full, there are always more parking spaces available in front of Home Hardware!

SHOES OFF PLEASE

Please remove your shoes when you enter the studio.
You can store your shoes in the coat closet area on one of the shelving units, or simply underneath one of the benches. There are no shoes permitted anywhere in the studio except for the foyer. Keeping your shoes off when you are in the studio is respectful to other students, and when our shoes or boots are wet or snowy in the Winter, it prevents everyone from getting wet socks from stepping in a puddle!

SSHHH....

Please refrain from talking or having conversations during class.

It’s not polite, and for many of us, yoga class is the one place in our lives where we can have some stillness and quiet. We love that the studio is a place where friendships thrive and community grows, but please be sure to limit conversations to either before or after your class, and to use a whisper voice if you are talking in the foyer or coat area while another class is still in session, especially if they are in savasana.

WHERE DO I PUT MY STUFF?

Please store your belongings on the designated shelves in each studio.

Less clutter on the floor allows the instructor to move around freely and creates more space in the room for you and other classmates. Your coat can be hung up in the coat and shoes area. Most personal belongings shelving is directly in each studio, so your items will be safe while you are on your mat. Remember, keep it simple, and don’t bring anything into the studio that you don’t need.

NO CELL PHONES

Please respect the studio space.

Cell phones must be out of sight and on silent or off once inside the studio. In today’s world, we know it’s hard to “unplug”, but once you are inside the studio for your class, everyone wants a distraction-free space to practice. If your phone is on silent, please make sure it will not vibrate if you receive a call or a message, and be sure that it is upside down or covered up so that the light from the screen won’t distract anyone (including you!)

BE FRAGRANCE-AWARE

Please do not wear or bring any strong fragrances into a classroom.

This includes perfume, heavily scented moisturizers, or even coffee. If you are using an essential oil mat spray, please be mindful that many people are sensitive to smell and have allergies. In some individuals, perfume or strongly scented fragrances can trigger asthma, migraines and COPD. Remember, no scents makes sense!

SAVASANA

Please do not exit or re-enter the room during savasana.
Savasana is a very important part of yoga class! While we don’t encourage it, if you absolutely must leave early, please respect others by leaving quietly BEFORE savasana begins. Please keep in mind that even when you leave early, it can be disruptive to the class, so please only leave if it is urgent. Thanks!

CHOOSE YOUR CLASS TYPE CAREFULLY

Some of more popular classes fill up quickly, so go ahead and register now using our Lost ‘n Found Yoga mobile app, or on our website at https://lostnfoundyoga.com/classes/class-schedule/!

With all of the pivoting we have done over the past several years, our drop-in schedule has gotten very busy! There are lots of choices not only for class styles, but also for the class delivery method. Here is a quick overview of each class delivery method so that you can ensure you are signing up for exactly what you are looking for.

Regular In-Person Classes
Our regular classes (ie. in-studio in the class with an instructor) are listed as they always have been, with just the class type (ie. Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa Flow, Deep Stretch, etc.) and no additional text. These classes are of course the most popular, and often fill up as class sizes are limited.

Live At-Home Simulcasts Classes via Zoom
For those students who would prefer to continue practicing at home for now, many of our regular classes will continue to be offered via Zoom as we did during shutdown. If you sign up for these types of classes, you will receive an e-mail shortly before class begins with a link to the Zoom session. These classes are offered in a one-way Zoom format, so you will be able to see and hear the instructor, but you do not need a camera or microphone and the instructor will not see or hear you at home.

We sometimes have issues with students either cancelling out of classes just a few hours before class begins, or just not showing up for class at all. This means that a class that was full (and that may have had a wait list) ends up having several unused spaces when the class actually runs. This is disappointing for everyone because there are other students that would have signed up for class if it hadn’t been listed as full, or “wait list only”.

Please do NOT sign up for class to hold your space “just in case” you feel like coming, and then cancel out with just a few hours to go. If you are not feeling well or if you truly have an emergency come up, then of course please cancel out so that we know. However, because many classes are filling up we need to make sure that the people that have signed up are actually going to come to class.

Remember, you can only cancel out of of a class on our mobile app or on our website up to 3 hours before the class begins. This is still very last-minute to notify someone on a wait list to join the class though, so please try and cancel out as early as possible if you aren’t able to come. Also, if you need to cancel less than 3 hours before class, please call the studio at 905-682-4469 to let us know.

PLEASE ADD YOURSELF TO A WAIT LIST

Don’t be concerned about adding yourself to a wait list for a class if the class is full. Because most classes have people cancel out of them, students on the wait list are often able to join the class. You will be notified by text or e-mail if you have been added to the class, and you can easily reply back by text to confirm that you can come.

Also, we are actively monitoring class attendance and we will adjust our drop-in schedule based on demand. If there are classes with lots of excess demand we will add more similar classes to the schedule, and if there are classes with very low attendance we may have to remove these from the schedule to make room for other more popular classes.

So, please add yourself to wait lists so we can see where we may need to add more classes!

LAST MINUTE ARRIVALS

Remember, our rule is that arriving 15-minutes early is “on-time”, and arriving exactly at the minute when your class begins means that you are late. We never allow late arrivals into class because this is disruptive to those in class that are already centring.

What you may not know about our policies is that even if you have pre-registered for class, if you have not arrived at least 5 minutes before your class start time we will release your space in that class for anyone else that may be waiting at the studio to get in. Because there are smaller classes and some with wait lists now, this scenario will happen more often. You will be very frustrated not to be let into a full class because your space was released if you arrive less than 5 minutes before your class time, so please arrive on-time by coming 15-minutes before your class time!

NO-SHOWS

Pre-registering for a class and not showing up usually means that a space in a class will go unused. This is frustrating for those that are waiting to get into full classes, especially if they have placed themselves on a wait list for a class, hoping to get in.

If you are on a 5, 10, or 20-class pass, you will have the no-show class deducted from your class pass. However, many of our students are on an unlimited membership, meaning that there is no particular “penalty” for signing up for a class and not attending. It’s kind of like taking a full plate of extra food at an all-you-can-eat buffet and not touching any of it. This is costly to the restaurant and could leave other diners without access to the food you took, especially if it was the last piece of prime rib!

To manage this, there will be a $10 fee for missed classes for students that are repeatedly absent without cancelling out at least 3 hours before class, even if you have an unlimited membership.

Please be considerate to your fellow students and don’t be a no-shower!

Thanks!

Thanks everyone for being considerate of other students by following these yogi etiquette rules at Lost ‘n Found Yoga. A little structure can help give everyone a terrific experience!

We look forward to seeing you soon!

The Lost ‘n Found Yoga Team