There are a lot of videos out there of cats and dogs joining in on peoples’ yoga sessions. There are even yoga classes now that feature pets!
It can be adorable in theory to have pets with you for yoga, but in reality, it’s not as cute as it is on Instagram.
In reality, it’s your dog cat jumping up onto your butt while in downward dog or your dog licking your face while you’re trying to chill out in corpse pose. Ugh!
However, there are a lot of benefits to be had from having your animals do yoga with you – or even just be near you while you do yoga. It’s not just some gimmick to get people into the door of a quirky yoga class with puppies.
There are actual benefits to be had.
The biggest benefit there is, is that pets make yoga more fun, and when something is more fun, it’s easier to make time for it in your daily life! However, it’s not as simple as just bringing your dog in the room with you and hoping that he joins in on the stretching.
Incorporating Your Pets into Your Practice
So, how exactly do you get Fido to join in with your practice without him getting in the way?
Well, the first step of that is to be okay with the idea that he might get in the way. When you’re practicing with pets, you have to accept that your yoga session might not be as serious as it otherwise would, and that’s okay! Yoga is allowed to be fun and you’re allowed to laugh!
Second, you have to give them time to get used to it. It’s a good idea to keep your poses simple so that neither of you get hurt. Hold a pose for a while and let your pet get curious about it. Let them take you in, sniff you, and give you kisses. When they lose interest, move into the next pose.
For smaller pets, you can lift them during some poses and hold them. If you have a bigger pet, let your dog just hang out nearby while you stretch. Pet them when you can or just try to have some contact while in a pose. They’re probably not going to mimic your pose, but just having them there is great for bonding!
Then, relax together when it’s time to wind down from practice. Lay next to each other and hold paws if they’ll let you! This idea is so cute that I want to practice with my dogs right now!
Other Ways Yoga and Pets Go Together
If you have a relationship similar to that of my dogs and I where a lot of your free time goes to walking them and playing with them, and not so much time is left for a lengthy yoga practice afterward, there’s good news!
You can absolutely incorporate some poses into your normal time with your pets. You can strike some poses while on walks, do some yoga at the dog park, and get creative with ways where you can work more yoga into your daily life.
It’s healthy, it’ll add some more fitness to your day, and it’ll feel great! Plus, your dog will get a kick out of it sometimes. I know mine do!
However, sometimes yoga and pets don’t go together.
Some pets are afraid of yoga or are just downright not interested. If this is the case with your pets, it’s best to just not push it.
You do your thing and they’ll do theirs, that’s all! If you really are craving some puppy love during your yoga practice, you can always see if there’s a Doga class near you.
But really all that matters at the end of the day is that you and your pets have had time to bond. They’re family members, too!
Namaste.
The yoganum family
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