(ETX Daily Up) – How about exercising with your pet? The idea may make you smile, and yet it has been taking shape for several months in the form of ‘doga’, ‘dog yoga’, ‘cat yoga’, or ‘puppy yoga’ classes. So many names that simply translate into yoga sessions surrounded by animals, a variant with multiple virtues that is reminiscent of the fact that the ancestral practice continues to be modernized to attract ever more followers, even if it means embrace totally unusual variations. Here are three for International Yoga Day.
With animals: relaxation and complicity
The practice is not new, but it is gradually becoming more democratic around the world and slowly but surely opening its doors to new pets. A goat, a dog, a cat, or a rabbit… Yoga is practiced today with our favorite four-legged friends. A playful and unusual variant, but not only… Practicing this physical activity with your pet would offer total relaxation, with tenfold anti-stress virtues, while improving bonding and trust with your faithful companion, and playing on certain of his behaviors. For the sessions surrounded by goats, it’s a little different since it would essentially be about reducing stress and anxiety, improving mood, and leaving completely relaxed. A combination, in short, between yoga and animal therapy, which does not forget the work on breathing, flexibility or even the tone that we owe to the practice of yoga.
With a beer: relaxation and conviviality
Drinking alcohol while exercising… Again, the idea may seem absurd, even dangerous, and yet it still has more followers around the world, from the United States, where the concept of ‘drunk yoga’ was born, in Germany or Denmark where beer is queen. The idea? Do a series of yoga postures with multiple virtues for flexibility, muscle strengthening, or well-being, while drinking a pint or a glass of wine – your choice depending on the session. A variant that would allow you to relax more, and therefore to be more comfortable with the movements, but also to enjoy a moment of sharing and conviviality. As you will have understood, the idea is to drink between each exercise or during a break, and not during the repetition of the movements. Another thing to know and not the least: it is a question of drinking a pint of beer or a glass of wine, two at most, and not of chaining the glasses as quickly as the postures. In moderation, therefore.
Without any clothes: flexibility and self-acceptance
‘Nude yoga’ or ‘naked yoga’ is a centuries-old practice, although it has been revived and modernized in recent decades, and has been making a strong comeback for several years under the leadership of several influencers. The concept is simple since it is about doing yoga in the simplest device. A fad, even a fantasy? No, according to the many followers of the discipline who see it as a way to enjoy the benefits of yoga while reclaiming their body, in other words it would boost confidence and self-esteem. And contrary to what one might think, this variant is widely appealing: the hashtag #nakedyoga has already generated nearly 2 million views on the TikTok social network, and one of the discipline’s modern leaders, Nude Yoga Girl, has no less than 1.4 million subscribers on Instagram.