You might have heard of goat yoga and dog yoga, but this growing trend is probably the best iteration yet of the animals-plus-yoga theme: kitten yoga.
Animal welfare organizations and yoga studios are partnering to host the kitten yoga classes in-house or at community centers across the country. Cat cafés like Meow Parlour in New York City, Crumbs & Whiskers in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, and Baltimore's much-hyped cat cafe and coworking space Charm Kitty host classes regularly with their resident felines, which feels like a trend within a trend. In most classes, all of the felines are available for adoption.
Yoga instructor Lianna Halko hosted Long Island's first kitten yoga class at Caya fitness studio back in August in partnership with North Fork Country Kids. Her relationship with the organization is personal: It’s where she found her cat Midas. "I've always played around with the idea of combining these two things I love the most—cats and yoga—so it was just a matter of finding someone open to letting that kind of wacky idea come to life," she tells SELF. "I'm so lucky to have a really awesome boss who let me host the event at the studio." Kitten yoga is now a monthly offering at the studio, and this past Sunday, Halko taught two classes in order to meet demand.
"We open up the room to between 15 and 20 people to make sure it's a safe environment for the people and the kittens," Halko explains. "Once everyone is set up with their mats, we release the kittens. It's a very informal class—during downward facing dog, for example, someone might take a mouse toy that's near their mat and toss it across the room for a cat to grab. It's pretty funny to watch." There are a few volunteers who make sure everything runs smoothly, toys scattered throughout the room, and a litter box in the corner.
That said, it’s more playtime than workout. "It's a very gentle class. I think of it as [an exercise in] being able to relax and not take things so seriously. We figure incorporating kittens is the perfect way to do that. It's also for a good cause, so every way you look at it, it seems to make sense.” Normally, Halko teaches a rigorous Vinyasa flow class, so she feels kitten yoga is also a way to make Vinyasa accessible for beginners. “Anyone can come, even if you've never set foot on a yoga mat."
Ultimately, the goal is to get kittens adopted and raise awareness about animal welfare organizations. "[Kitten yoga] has turned into a huge thing," says Meghan Scheibe, director of development and marketing at the Lawrence Humane Society in Kansas. "We've been talking about doing a kitten yoga class for quite a while. Our limitation at our shelter was that we don't have any space for a class like that.” She explains that her organization had to find a yoga instructor that was willing to teach the class, and find a studio that was willing to have kittens in it. “Kittens have claws, and studios sometimes have special floors.” The first class took place over Labor Day weekend, and spaces sold out overnight. (Halko’s sold out in an hour.)
"We like to find unique and interesting ways to promote animal welfare and to foster the human-animal bond,” Scheibe says. “We understand that not everyone is able to adopt, but that doesn't mean they're not a pet person or not an animal lover."
The classes also encourage adoption by allowing participants to engage with the kittens in a more natural setting. "We really wanted to give these shelter pets more exposure and hopefully the chance to get adopted," Scheibe adds. Following the group’s kitten yoga class over Labor Day weekend, the entire litter was adopted, some by participants. In Halko’s case, too, a handful of cats were adopted.
While cat cafés offer “cat yoga” and not “kitten yoga,” there’s a reason animal welfare organizations prefer to host “kitten yoga” events. "Adult cats typically don't travel well," Scheibe says, while kittens are more adaptable to meeting new people and traveling to new places. "It's also easier to hold a yoga pose with a 2-pound kitten than with a 12-pound cat."
Kitten Yoga Is Everything We Need Right Now published first on https://www.self.com
Animal welfare organizations and yoga studios are partnering to host the kitten yoga classes in-house or at community centers across the country. Cat cafés like Meow Parlour in New York City, Crumbs & Whiskers in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, and Baltimore's much-hyped cat cafe and coworking space Charm Kitty host classes regularly with their resident felines, which feels like a trend within a trend. In most classes, all of the felines are available for adoption.
Yoga instructor Lianna Halko hosted Long Island's first kitten yoga class at Caya fitness studio back in August in partnership with North Fork Country Kids. Her relationship with the organization is personal: It’s where she found her cat Midas. "I've always played around with the idea of combining these two things I love the most—cats and yoga—so it was just a matter of finding someone open to letting that kind of wacky idea come to life," she tells SELF. "I'm so lucky to have a really awesome boss who let me host the event at the studio." Kitten yoga is now a monthly offering at the studio, and this past Sunday, Halko taught two classes in order to meet demand.
"We open up the room to between 15 and 20 people to make sure it's a safe environment for the people and the kittens," Halko explains. "Once everyone is set up with their mats, we release the kittens. It's a very informal class—during downward facing dog, for example, someone might take a mouse toy that's near their mat and toss it across the room for a cat to grab. It's pretty funny to watch." There are a few volunteers who make sure everything runs smoothly, toys scattered throughout the room, and a litter box in the corner.
That said, it’s more playtime than workout. "It's a very gentle class. I think of it as [an exercise in] being able to relax and not take things so seriously. We figure incorporating kittens is the perfect way to do that. It's also for a good cause, so every way you look at it, it seems to make sense.” Normally, Halko teaches a rigorous Vinyasa flow class, so she feels kitten yoga is also a way to make Vinyasa accessible for beginners. “Anyone can come, even if you've never set foot on a yoga mat."
Ultimately, the goal is to get kittens adopted and raise awareness about animal welfare organizations. "[Kitten yoga] has turned into a huge thing," says Meghan Scheibe, director of development and marketing at the Lawrence Humane Society in Kansas. "We've been talking about doing a kitten yoga class for quite a while. Our limitation at our shelter was that we don't have any space for a class like that.” She explains that her organization had to find a yoga instructor that was willing to teach the class, and find a studio that was willing to have kittens in it. “Kittens have claws, and studios sometimes have special floors.” The first class took place over Labor Day weekend, and spaces sold out overnight. (Halko’s sold out in an hour.)
"We like to find unique and interesting ways to promote animal welfare and to foster the human-animal bond,” Scheibe says. “We understand that not everyone is able to adopt, but that doesn't mean they're not a pet person or not an animal lover."
The classes also encourage adoption by allowing participants to engage with the kittens in a more natural setting. "We really wanted to give these shelter pets more exposure and hopefully the chance to get adopted," Scheibe adds. Following the group’s kitten yoga class over Labor Day weekend, the entire litter was adopted, some by participants. In Halko’s case, too, a handful of cats were adopted.
While cat cafés offer “cat yoga” and not “kitten yoga,” there’s a reason animal welfare organizations prefer to host “kitten yoga” events. "Adult cats typically don't travel well," Scheibe says, while kittens are more adaptable to meeting new people and traveling to new places. "It's also easier to hold a yoga pose with a 2-pound kitten than with a 12-pound cat."
Kitten Yoga Is Everything We Need Right Now published first on https://www.self.com
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