March 2017 | The Urban Spa Peterborough

**This is a guest post from International Bestselling Author Marybeth Haines. The Urban Spa, in conjunction with Bestselling Author Marybeth Haines, will be launching a new charity initiative called The Urban Paw. Keep a close eye out on our website and social media as we’ll be releasing this great initiative in the coming weeks. Coming soon!**

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Why is it that we connect so strongly to our pets?

Ever since I can remember, growing up from a small child, there were always animals in my life. From living on a hobby farm, I always had a pet of some sort. My parents taught me to treat animals with respect and to treat them well.

The pets we called family during the 20 years of living on this farm were amazing. From the age of two, I called them my friends. Little did I know that they were actually my teachers and had many lessons to share. I hold much gratitude for their many gifts, as if it weren’t for these amazing friends, I would not be where I am today. Empowering connections between pets and people brings me great joy because of the magnificent roles animals play in our lives.

Let’s take a look at Three Life Lessons we can receive from our animal teachers:

PETS ARE UNCONDITIONAL

Have you ever felt that you could be truly yourself with your pet? They way they look at you with trusting eyes, saying that they do not care about physical aspects of life. Their focus is about affection, love and connection. Animals do not judge nor criticize. They are unconditional in that they accept you for YOU. Just think for a moment of how powerful this connection becomes knowing that you are number one in their eyes.
PETS CREATE CALMNESS AND HEALING
Marybeth Haines, Author of The Power of Pets and her love, Nemo 🙂

When I was writing my first book, The Power of Pets – 7 Effective Tools To Heal From Pet Loss, I had the honour of interviewing Ernie Slone, Editor of DOG Fancy, DogChannel.com, located in California, USA.

At the time of my writing, Ernie had two therapy dogs, Gordon and Gypsy, who visited patients in hospitals and they had touched the lives of more than 21,000 people. Ernie shared with me how he would witness patients who had been depressed start to smile, or when end of life was near, some patients passed with peacefulness knowing their life was touched by these amazing souls called dogs. The evidence is clear – pets heal.
PETS BRING US GIFTSHow many times has your pet made you laugh, smile or take a deep breath of relaxation? Has he/she ever brought you from anxiousness to calmness or from sadness to happiness?These are all gifts. Picture in your mind’s eye a box that is beautifully wrapped and inside this box are gifts from your pet. This box holds the sounds of laughter, playtime and love. It is a gift that will always be with you in your heart and memory.

Whether your pet is new to your family or perhaps you have had him or her in your life for many years; I invite us all to unite, pay tribute and celebrate them. You see, our pets enhance our lives considerably and we can learn from them through their many gifts, including unconditional love!

Pets are for life. Let’s honour, remember and celebrate them together!

Marybeth Haines
Bestselling Author, The Power of Pets

Peterborough’s Fastest Growing Spa is celebrating 4 outstanding years of service! That’s right, friends — we opened our doors 4 years ago on March 14th, 2013, and look how far we’ve come!

This past year has been our biggest and best year yet!

We were so honoured to have been named Peterborough’s Favourite Spa as voted by YOU for the Peterborough Examiner’s Readers Choice Awards in 2016.

We are so proud to have been a part of so many of your milestones over the last 4 years. You’ve gathered here for Weddings, Bachelorette Parties, Baby Showers, Grads, Proms, even Girl’s Night’s, and we have had a blast making sure your group needs were not only met, but well exceeded.

We feel most loved when you bring your loved-ones along with you to the Spa, whether it be for Mother/Daughter Manicures, Mother/Son Facials or Father/Son Pedicures. Sincere thanks goes out to everyone who has introduced their Besties to us, as well as to all of the Couples who have celebrated Date Nights or Anniversaries of their own with us at the Urban Spa.

Our official Anniversary is on Tuesday, March 14th and we’re inviting our Guests — a.k.a. our extended family — to come and relax with us at the Urban Spa while we shower you with gratitude! We’ve got all kinds of fun thank-you goodies, discounts and special offers in store for you!

But the fun doesn’t stop there!

We’ve decided to extend our Anniversary celebrations to 4 Thank-You filled days!

Here are FOUR ways we’re saying THANK YOU to our Guests between Tuesday, March 14th to Friday, March 17th

1) With all purchases, you get to Spin the Wheel of Prizes (1 per day) for discounts up to 44% off and special offers – including a free 3-month Pedicure Membership at the Urban Spa!

2) Every receipt, whether for services or products at the Urban Spa, will earn you a ballot in 4 Daily Draws to win 4000 Urban Club Points!

3) Celebrating your own Anniversary this week? Prove it for your chance to win one of 4 Couples Themed Prize Packages: Couples Relaxation Massage, Couples Pedicures, Couples Facials or Couples Massage/Facial Combo!

4) This might be obvious, but we at the Urban Spa LOVE surprises. We love them so much that we’re keeping one Big Announcement to ourselves until our Anniversary. Let us hear your best guesses using #ptboFavoriteSpa on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest for your chance to win!