Yoga with cats raises money for orphaned kitties
Feline and human stretches organized to raise funds for the Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association
There's hot yoga, laughter yoga and even yoga done on top of stand-up paddleboards.
But yoga with cats may just be the most fun, and the most distracting for feline-loving yogis.
Yogis gathered at the Stretch Vancouver studios on Sunday morning for Cats on your Mats, a yoga class where eight kitties pawed and purred their way around the studio while participants did their stretches.
"This is the most distracting class I've ever taught!" laughed instructor Julia McCabe, who got her class to chant "meow" instead of the traditional "om".
The event was to raise funds for the Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association (VOKRA), and was jointly organized by Catfé — which plans to open a cat cafe in Vancouver by the end of the year.
"It's just a great way to bring cat lovers together in a unique way. People love cats and spending time with cats," said Catfé founder Michelle Furbacher.
"Having this calm atmosphere ... makes it more comfortable for the cats to come to people as opposed to being chased by people."
The next Cats on Mats event is planned for Jan. 17, 2016.
To hear the full interview listen to the audio labelled Yoga event for both cats and people on CBC's The Early Edition.
With files from Elaine Chau