Pets and Yoga

If you are among the millions of people who own pets and also among the millions of people who do yoga then you likely have already encountered this phenomenon. Our four legged friends are fascinated with yoga.

I am not talking about the form of yoga they seamlessly and easily do themselves. Who has not envied the convoluted postures of the typical cat or noticed the nonchalance the dog uses when stretching in an upward or downward dog pose. No, what I am talking about is their fascination with humans doing yoga.

As we all know, our pets respond as much to our body language as to our voices. I imagine that what we are saying with our bodies when we do yoga must be something like ‘come play with me’ or perhaps more accurately ‘let’s wrestle’ or ‘my face really, really, really needs to be licked right now’.

My dynamic canine duo think that every time my face comes into doggie height territory that I must be asking for a kiss. The fact that I am on this nifty rubbery yoga mat must be because I want to cuddle. They think my unusual body positions are hilarious and far more entertaining than when I just do that catatonic thing I do where I stare fixedly at that lighted computer screen.

When faced with this kind of attention from our pets we may decide to clear the area and seclude ourselves from animal interruption but perhaps we should just fold them into our routine. Here is one such example:

I get the idea those two have done that routine before. Here is a creative idea also using cats, but incorporating them into the routine:

Now as far as having pets invited into the class, there are Doga classes cropping up all around. The book Barking Buddha gives some quality insight into practicing yoga with your dog. But perhaps what your pet really needs is their own instructor:

Now I don’t want you to think that it’s only about the cats and dogs. Here is a yoga routine for all you bird lovers out there:

Indeed it seems the world if filled with our canine, feline and avian friends joining us for yoga sessions:

Of course there are also some very creative ways for us to get our pet fix and yoga fix in the form of wall art. These yoga dog and yoga cat calendars are quite cute, but be warned – I think there is a little bit of photoshopping going on. Don’t expect your own pets to be able to perform these poses.