Practice Yoga with Your Pooch--or Don't

Just when we thought yoga for kids was the latest craze, the  New York Times tells us in this week's Fashion & Style section that we can expect to see studios offering up Yoga with Dogs classes.

Otherwise known as Doga, classes combine massages, meditation, and a sort of "couple's yoga"—only they're poses for Fido and their human counterparts. For example, in chatarunga—a popular yogic flow sequence—the dog would sit with its paws in the air while their owner provides support. Deep relaxation would involve the yoga practitioner reclining back with their legs draped over their dog's torso. The dog provides a back-releasing bolster for their master—and at the same time receives a gentle massage on their spine.

Some consider these classes sheer lunacy like the interviewed Paula Apro of Eastford, Connecticut who told the Times that the class she tried out used bags of dog treats to get the dogs to cooperate. She's quoted saying,

Peanuts, my retired racer greyhound, didn't participate at all. Instead, I did downward-facing dog while he ate the most treats he's ever had in a 60-minute period.

Some instructors are also weary of the way Doga can trivialize the 2,500-year-old, ancient practice of yoga.

Yet there are others who find it enlightening like Ms. Yang, who has been taking her Shih Tzu Sophie to Doga classes for over a year. Not only does she receive more benefit in her asanas (yoga poses) from Sophie's weight resistance but she "always leaves [class] with a smile."

My feelings are if humans can walk away from class happier, more compassionate people—and if their dogs feel better and more bonded with their master…why not?

Would you practice yoga with your pooch? Let us know in the comments below!

::The New York Times