The Pet Shop
Why dogs love yoga
Courtesy of WebMD
I recently took up yoga again. I’m not ready for an actual class and neither is my bank account, so I’m easing back into it by practicing at home through a yoga DVD I bought at Target.
For anyone who owns a dog, you know how difficult it can be trying to do any form of exercise in your living room let alone yoga. In the past, I’ve shut my bedroom door in order to get through my routine, but it always felt too cramped in there. I also tried giving Yoshi a rawhide chew to distract him, but that lasts a whole five minutes before he’s under my feet wanting me to play with him. Yoga presents a whole other issue.
Yoshi loves to be petted and held 24-7. If you sit on the floor, it’s an automatic invitation to be petted. This becomes especially confusing for him when I do yoga which involves sitting on the floor several times.
At the beginning of the routine, I will sit there cross-legged, eyes closed trying to center myself, and then I feel a cold wet nose on my arm, and I start to giggle. Or I feel a furry paw land on my thigh. Concentration broken. Yoshi keeps up this act for the first minute or so, and if I ignore him, he usually gives up. Usually.
I’ve noticed with yoga though that it’s almost like he wants to do the postures with me. When I lie down, he follows. And I kid you not, when I did downward facing dog the other night, he walked right over to me and put his forehead against mine and then tried to lie down underneath me. And by the end when I’m in “corpse” pose, he’s half asleep on the other side of the rug doing his own deep breathing. My dog is very zen.
What is it about dogs and yoga? After doing some Google searches, I was shocked to find out that there are actual yoga classes for dogs and their owners – “doga”. It’s used mostly as a way for owners to bond with their dogs, but it also helps your pup with relaxation.
Animals feed so much off of our energy. With me, Yoshi acts like a sponge absorbing every one of my emotions. So when I’m doing yoga and the stress floats away, Yoshi picks up on that too. He’s calmer, I’m calmer. We can be zen together. Namaste.
For more helpful tips on other exercises you can do with your dog, check out this slideshow from WebMD.
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