Puppy Yoga - A Fun and Adorable Twist on Your Practice
Yoga with puppies? Yes, you read that right! Puppy yoga is a delightful trend that combines a light yoga flow with supervised playtime and cuddles with adoptable shelter puppies. If you need a little more joy and laughter in your yoga practice, puppy yoga delivers—while helping wonderful puppies socialize and find forever homes.
A Unique Combination
So what exactly is puppy yoga? Typically a one hour class, it starts with a brief meditation or centering, followed by a series of simple warm-up yoga poses like cat-cow stretch and downward dog. Then the puppies arrive, usually 5-10 at a time, and the fun begins! You'll move through yoga poses while the puppies roam freely, play with toys, snuggle up for belly rubs, and shower you with puppy kisses. Towards the end you'll relax in savasana pose with a pup snoozing on your chest or belly. Bliss!
Benefits Galore
There are so many benefits to combining precious puppies with yoga's mental and physical perks:
Joy and Laughter: The utter delight of being surrounded by wiggly, playful puppy energy is unmatched. You can't help but smile and laugh as they lick your face, nibble your toes, and roll around your mat. This joy boost alone makes puppy yoga worthwhile.
Stress Relief: Science shows that petting animals lowers cortisol (the stress hormone), heart rate, and blood pressure. Combine that with yoga's wellness perks and puppy yoga is next-level stress relief!
Motivation: Trying poses amidst frolicking puppies adds a fun challenge to your practice. Their enthusiasm motivates you to flow creatively from one pose to the next while avoiding squishing little paws!
Social Interaction: For many, COVID isolation was difficult and puppy yoga facilitates safe social interaction again. Cuddling a puppy while chatting with like-minded classmates simply feels good for the soul.
Adoption Awareness: All the puppies are adoptable rescues from local shelters. Meeting them in this setting allows their precious personalities to shine, helping them get adopted more quickly. It's very heartwarming!
"Who's ready for some downward dog? Let's stretch, play, and maybe sneak in a few cuddles and tail wags between poses! Remember, it's not about perfecting the pose, but enjoying the moment – and maybe a few belly rubs too! 🐾"
- a puppy walking into puppy yoga classes
If you're new to yoga, beginner yoga classes are a great starting point before trying something like puppy yoga. The lighthearted puppy environment provides laughter and decreases stress—similar benefits to those seen in yoga for weight loss.
What to Expect
Puppy yoga classes vary slightly, but here's what typically happens:
Set Up: Yoga mats spaced about 6 feet apart. Puppies have toys, beds, potty pads in a safely gated area to roam during class.
Centering: Class starts with a brief (5 minute) mindfulness or grounding activity. This preps you for balancing rambunctious pup energy with inner calm.
Warm-Up Flow: 10-15 minutes of gentle warm up yoga poses—cat cows, downward dogs, lunges, twists work well. This gets your body ready to move safely.
Puppy Playtime: The star attraction! Staff bring out batches of 5-10 puppies to roam free and play for 30+ minutes. You'll swoon over their cuteness while practicing yoga poses, giving tummy rubs, and watching them play.
Relaxation: After puppy snuggles galore, you'll wind down laying in savasana pose with a blissed out pup napping on your chest. Aaah 😌
Adoption Info: At end of class staff provide info packets on each pup for potential adopters. You might just meet your perfect fur baby!
Clean Up: Mats get thoroughly sanitized before the next class. Pee pads also help contain any potty mishaps during playtime.
The key is expecting delightful chaos, not perfection. Come ready to giggle, move slow, avoid sudden flows that could startle them, and above all soak up the cuteness!
Where to Find Puppy Yoga
As the benefits of dog therapy spread, more and more yoga studios and animal shelters are collaborating on puppy yoga. Class sizes are intentionally small to facilitate safe interaction.
The best way to find puppy yoga classes is by calling your local yoga studios and animal shelters. They will usually know if anywhere nearby has puppy classes.
Can't Get Enough Puppy Love?
If you enjoy the formula, there are other animal-themed yoga classes gaining popularity too. Kitten yoga combines the same concept with a litter of adoptable kittens crawling around your mat. Bunny yoga features a batch of hopping rabbits, and even goat yoga with tiny, energetic kids jumping on yoga balls and pedestals. Any class that combines furry cuteness and feel-good yoga is a winner!
So if you're feeling stressed, blue, or need an extra spark of joy in your yoga practice or life...sign up for puppy yoga! Let those sweet puppy faces, tiny paws, and boundless energy reenergize your spirit, motivate your poses, and make your heart melt. Yoga with puppies for the ultimate "awww!" inducing experience.