Kitten Yoga

Jane Cox

by Professor Jane Cox

What would make a visit to Domestic Animal Services of Collier County worth the trip?

Yoga with kittens, of course! A trend to participate in yoga with pets was recently introduced with the GOAT-YOGA craze. Darcy Andrade, Division Director, has implemented the good ideas of her staff and begun offering KITTEN-YOGA locally.

The greatest thing about Kitten-Yoga is that there are kittens! These fuzzy, adoptable creatures may make your yoga work-out a little harder, but who cares!

It is a wonderful opportunity to get some exercise among charming little creatures. The classes take place in a large, well-lit, but cool, meeting room off the main entrance. Naturally, the classes fill up quickly which is capped at 20 people.

Shortly before Kitten-Yoga was scheduled to begin, some participants were rolling out their brightly-colored mats in spots they imagined to be best for their furry partners. The kittens waited with curious looks in their crates for class to begin.

Everyone spoke in soft, quiet voices as the guests began stretching exercises. Next, the kittens were allowed to come out of their crates to explore and spread out across the room among all of the guests. The class leader made sure each kitten was stroked, but not grabbed.

There were kittens of every hue ranging from orange to black to ginger colors. One participant slowly dragged a feathery toy across the floor. As the class moved into child’s pose, an orange kitten hidden the bag at the edge of a mat and caused quite a bit of giggling.

The class leader reminded the group that this was an exercise in mindfulness. She urged each guest to find their drishti or “focused gaze” among the kittens.

After some inhaling and exhaling, all of the little kittens were collected for return to their crates.

The kittens were so cute, a couple of the guests hung around after class to begin the paperwork for adoption through the Collier County Domestic Animal Services.

Feel free to contact them at 7610 Davis Boulevard or phone them at 239-252-7387.