Page 96 - Life in Naples November 2018

KITTEN YOGA

by Professor Jane Cox

hat would make a visit to Domestic Animal Services Everyone spoke in soft, quiet voices as the guests began stretching
of Collier County worth the trip? Yoga with kittens, exercises. Next, the kittens were allowed to come out of their crates to
W of course! A trend to participate in yoga with pets explore and spread out across the room among all of the guests. The
was recently introduced with the GOAT-YOGA craze. Darcy class leader made sure each kitten was stroked, but not grabbed.
Andrade, Division Director, has implemented the good ideas of There were kittens of every hue ranging from orange to black to
her staff and begun offering KITTEN-YOGA locally. ginger colors. One participant slowly dragged a feathery toy across
The greatest thing about Kitten-Yoga is that there are kittens! the floor. As the class moved into child’s pose, an orange kitten hid
These fuzzy, adoptable creatures may make your yoga work-out a in the bag at the edge of a mat and caused quite a bit of giggling.
little harder, but who cares! It is a wonderful opportunity to get The class leader reminded the group that this was an exercise in
some exercise among charming little creatures. mindfulness. She urged each guest to find their drishti or “focused
The classes take place in a large, well-lit, but cool, meeting room gaze” among the kittens. After some inhaling and exhaling, all of
off the main entrance. Naturally, the classes fill up quickly which the little kittens were collected for return to their crates.
is capped at 20 people. Shortly before Kitten-Yoga was scheduled The kittens were so cute, a couple of the guests hung around
to begin, some participants were rolling out their brightly-colored after class to begin the paperwork for adoption through the Collier
mats in spots they imagined to be best for their furry partners. The County Domestic Animal Services. Feel free to contact them at
kittens waited with curious looks in their crates for class to begin. 7610 Davis Boulevard or phone them at 239-252-7387.

96 Life in Naples | November 2018