Big Heart Yoga: some changes made but everything Euclid loves is staying the same

Job stress took Kerianne Sidoti to the mat, the yoga mat. The slang "go to the mat"points to fighting, struggle. The surprise for Kerianne was that the yoga mat gave her the opposite. It gave her: relaxing, opening, strength and discovery - discovering how her body works, how her mind works. That discovery translated into the A-word, Awareness.

 "I am a hot-headed Italian and I'd fly off the handle," said the 38-year-old Euclid resident. "Yoga taught me to stay inside and say inside: Am I going to react or Am I going to respond … appropriately.  My personal daily yoga practice is about self-discovery, self-control, self-management, continual learning, relaxing, opening and strengthening my body and mind."

After practicing yoga for several years at Euclid’s OneTree Yoga, Kerianne was ready to take her practice to the next level and share what she had learned so far. She decided to take an intensive yoga teacher training course in Maine – at the cost of her job. When she returned home, she began teaching in several local yoga studios.

While walking through their neighborhood with her husband, Evan, one morning this November, Kerianne said to Evan: "'Maybe one day I'll own OneTree.'"Four days later Cathy Picozzi sent her teachers an-email, saying, "I'd sell OneTree to the right person." When she received the e-mail, Kerianne said to Evan, "Let's do it." He agreed.

Kerianne told Cathy she would only buy the studio if Cathy stayed on as a teacher. Cathy, in turn, told the Observer: "I think Euclid is blessed to have a studio leader who is passionately committed to serving this studio community, sometimes at surprising costs."

So, there are transitions taking place in the studio's thirteenth year. Ownership from Cathy to Kerianne; a new home on the corner of East 200th and Lakeshore and a new name - Big Heart Yoga. Life's complications and a growing yoga studio brought the sale of the studio, the building change and the name change. Both Kerianne and Cathy forcefully affirm that everything that matters is staying the same.

Kerianne said: "OneTree has always been about Yoga for real people. I found my own comfort zone in this studio years ago, when other places didn’t seem to provide me what I had no idea I was even looking for! Not all of us are young, athletic or people with the kind of bodies you're likely to see in magazines.  Everyone - each of our bodies, each of our minds - is different and I am committed to honoring those differences.  I see yoga as a process of self-discovery - you get out of it what you put into it. It starts from the inside and builds from there - expressing itself in the opening, strengthening and balancing of your body and mind.”

“The recent changes seem to only be helping us expand our yoga community! We get new clients every week and everyone really seems to enjoy our new home, new schedule and new purchasing options.  I'm excited about keeping yoga in Euclid and being a part of this growing and loving community. Check out our website at BigHeartYoga.com and join us for class at East 200th and Lakeshore."