Funny, I thought they'd call it "Doga"

Yoga is a fun, relaxing practice. Sure, it can be challenging, but I find that even a few simple stretches and poses are very good for helping me to relax and focus, especially in the midst of a very stressful task or a rapidly approaching deadline.

One thing that usually DOESN'T help, however, is my beloved Princess. She is drawn like a magnet to mommy on the floor, assuming of course, that the only reason I would be there is to play with her. Frankly, she's WAY more of a hinderance than anything, especially if I am trying to meditate.

So I was highly amused when I found this article today:

In Bryan's class, the humans do traditional yoga poses -- yes, including "downward facing dog" -- while staying in contact physically with their pets.

Part of the class includes gentle stretching and dog massage, another specialty of Bryan's, but most of the time the humans gently use the dogs like yoga props.

In downward facing dog, for example, the humans rest their heads on their companions, who are relaxing -- napping? -- on the mat.

"Don't be too ambitious," she said. "Honor where your dog is and remember that dogs respond to our energy."

Evidently in this class, both man and beast get the benefits of the practice, as the poses are modified to fit the ability of the human "partner" and the size of the dog "partner", which ranges from a toy Poodle to a Visla.

Actually, it sounds like fun.  And it's a great fundraiser for the humane society.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:07 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 274 words, total size 2 kb.