The Doga Yoga – Dog Yoga to improve your health and your smile!
Narrated from: Dog SportsYoga is an ancient physical, spiritual and mental discipline, coming all the way from India. Its practitioners aim to reach a spiritual state of peace, while improving their energy flows and exercising their bodies.
Nowadays, people often tend to spoil old things, thinking they know best – however, it turns out that “new” is not necessarily worse, since now you can go to yoga with your dog!
What the…
Doga, or Dog Yoga, is a form of yoga in which our canine companions get to participate too. You and your dog must work as a team to go through different exercises – sometimes you will guide the dog through different poses, and sometimes you will do exercises while keeping in constant touch with your dog.
For instance?
Well, there are very many exercises (massages too).
In an exercise called chaturanga, you will provide support to your dog while it sits with front paws in the air. In an “upward-paw pose,” or sun salutation, you will lift the dog on its hind legs. In a resting pose, you will recline with legs bent slightly over the dog’s torso (this relieves spine pressure). And of course, many traditional exercises will be done with the additional weight of a dog on your torso/legs/hands. Hope you are not the proud owner of a St. Bernard!
Just kidding of course, the specifics of the exercises depend on what kind of dog you have!
Dog incentives
Of course, canines have reasons to enjoy this exercise too! Not that the pleasure of your company is not enough of an incentive, but during Doga sessions lots of treats are introduced. This gives a reason for the dogs to change poses.
This is not yoga!
Of course, many people see this as a travesty, and refuse to accept that Doga is Yoga. They claim that even though spending time with your canine is great, it completely ruins the idea of the practice…
Who cares?
But then again – what is the idea of yoga? This is a truly great and ancient discipline – and it’s a part of Hinduism. Nowadays, many people turn to yoga not seeking any spiritual insight, but just wanting to feel better – and if doing yoga with their dogs does exactly that, then who are we to judge them?
And it’s all the rage!
Doga might sound rather eccentric, but it’s getting popular, and this means there are a lot of centers offering lessons and Doga sessions. Prices should not be too high, and there is a definite chance that there is such a centre in your area too.
The danger of…
…getting ripped off. Talk with the organizers of the activity first, check if they have any actual yoga experience. With Doga being a popular, but still very new discipline, there is a definite chance that you will get swindled by people who don’t know the first thing about dog yoga, and just organize random events to take people’s money.
Still, if it is fun – then it’s worth the cash!
But why would the dog like yoga?
Well – it wouldn’t. Yoga was never designed for dogs.
What your dog will like however is spending quality time with the most special person in the world – you! Let’s face it, your dog probably loves you so much, that he/she would have a great time even jumping into a volcano – as long as you are together!
Newbies, oldbies…
Try it! If you have a dog, and if you love him/her – then try it!
If you are already a yoga practitioner, then you have a way of sharing one of your favorite activities of your favorite pet. If you’ve never tried yoga – then now you have a reason to do just that! Even if your dog eventually tires of the idea, you may find that you have become hooked, and want to continue with traditional exercises.
And never forget
The main goal is to feel better. Yoga does that to a human, and so does spending time with your dog. If you find that yoga helps you, then do yoga; if you find that Doga helps you even more, then do Doga. And even if there isn’t a Doga center in your town, you could always have your own Doga sessions – who cares about the rules if you are having fun?
And remember – even if you don’t have the time, the money, or the willingness to practice Doga, then just spending time with your dog is bound to help too.
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