Bringing on those groovy vibes

Claremonters take solace: those multi-colored sheep in the Sprouts parking lot are real, not a vision brought on by over-indulgence of anything.

The flock will be there to help celebrate new wellness center Feeling Groovy’s grand opening, set for 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, September 16 at 863 W. Foothill Boulevard.

In addition to the colorful sheep, the event will feature live music, giveaways, food from its café, nitro coffee, tai chi, yoga, hula-hoop demonstrations as well as kids’ yoga.

Nicole Lanni is Feeling Groovy’s owner and operator. “People should be healthy and happy from the inside out,” she said. “My goal was to create a vibe where people felt good being in the building.”

Feeling Groovy boasts an organic café with sandwiches, wraps, salads, coffee and teas, and offers classes in yoga, tai chi, belly dancing and hula hoop, as well as organic teeth whitening, massage, hypnotherapy and an infrared sauna with chromatherapy lighting.

And as anyone who’s ventured in will attest, the place is downright vibrant. “I wanted it to feel uplifting,” Ms. Lanni said of the brightly colored interior and the mellow vibe of the staff. “I just want them to feel groovy.”

Feeling Groovy’s Cafe Manager James JoliCoeur hopes the new spot will become a haven for Claremont’s more Earth-friendly residents.

“Swing by, let our groovy baristas guide you through our rainbow of organic beverages and bliss out on selected 1970s music while seated in a tie-dyed chair,” he said. “Our cafe seeks and provides community supported agriculture and uses Ecological Solutions, cleaning supplies that are good for our staff to handle and great for the environment too.”

Ms. Lanni, 51, has worked as a life coach, business coach, master hypnotherapist and as a trainer of neuro linguistic programming, or “NLP,” which involves the study of the mind, our behaviors, and changing negative behaviors quickly. “Think Tony Robbins,” Ms. Lanni said.

It took a little over a year to complete the renovation of both the former pharmacy and gym spaces at the Sprouts Market center at the corner of Mountain Avenue and Foothill Boulevard. The former pharmacy space portion is complete and open. Work on the spot next door is set to be finished at the end of September.

When all is complete, Feeling Groovy will occupy 6,100 square feet. The expansion will include a boutique, more classroom space, massage rooms and a “float room” with a float tank.

Now about those sheep; Ms. Lanni and her husband Sam Lanni also own Feeling Groovy at Eagle Creek Ranch, a cannabis-friendly resort in Trinity Center, California. One of the “groovy components” of the couple’s ranch is the flock of dyed sheep.

The couple rescued the 12 Cheviot and Rambouillet sheep from the slaughterhouse. “They get so much attention,” Ms. Lanni said of her flock. “They’re really becoming pets. They’re our groovy sheep!”

To dye the animals’ wool they are first submerged in a baby bathtub, where it takes five people to massage the non-toxic food coloring into their coats.

“They love it,” Ms. Lanni said of her sheep. “They fall asleep. And they strut their stuff after they’re dyed.”

And while a flock of green, blue, orange and pink sheep is an unusual sight, to be sure, it’s also unprecedented for Claremont’s government.

Ms. Lanni went to the city looking for a permit to include sheep in next week’s grand opening, “They said, ‘I don’t think we have a permit for this.’”

The new business certainly has a lot to offer for the growing holistic and homeopathic crowd as well as the mindfulness, body/mind fitness folks. It’s a bit of a one-stop shop, which was the intention. Ms. Lanni said she was motivated to be so ambitious by listening to folks in yoga studios and natural-path doctors’ offices talk about how they would like to have a place to go for all their needs.

In addition to all the café offerings, services and classes, Ms. Lanni said Feeling Groovy would feature live music, dance parties, poetry, book signings and art events on Fridays and Saturdays.

“I’d really like to become a fixture in the Claremont community,” she said. “A place where people can come in, have a cup of coffee, where they know these services are available to them. And they will invite their friends to come in on a Friday or Saturday night just to enjoy or relax. That’s our main goal: to become a part of the community, where people can come in and feel happy and healthy.”

Upcoming events will be announced on Feeling Groovy’s website feelinggroovywellness.com. The grand opening takes place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, September 16 at 863 W. Foothill Boulevard, Claremont.

—Mick Rhodes

mickrhodes@claremont-courier.com

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