FEEDING BODY, MIND AND SOUL

Dundas is contagious, says Deb Cottam. There’s a sense of community that rubs off on you if you spend any time there. “Everybody’s just so generous here, generous of heart and generous of resources so it’s a like-attracts-like place to live,” she says. Cottam realized that when she opened Body and Soul Day Spa 17 years ago. People would come around asking for donations for raffles or silent auctions. Fundraisers for the Dundas Valley School of Art, St. Joseph’s Villa or the Lioness Club. She donated gift cards for services including hot stone massages and facials. “That was something I could provide,” says Cottam. “I was a single mom at the time and didn’t have a lot of extra income but had time and energy.” As her business has grown over the last five years, she has started donating a portion of the proceeds from her yoga classes as well. Cottam runs the class six times a year, for between five and eight weeks. During summer, the sessions, held in her yard, are $12 each. During cooler weather, classes are held at Knox Presbyterian Church, where the cost is $20 a session. She gives $4 from each participant fee to the Dundas Food Bank. She says she just has a strong belief in paying it forward. In the idea that we’re our best selves when we’re giving. “That’s the greatest gift that we can receive is actually giving and making other people feel important and necessary.”