Jennifer Aniston, David Beckham work out with pets, and you can too; how ‘pawga’ sessions teach yoga with shelter dogs that melt students’ hearts
- The ‘pawga’ wellness experience is all about destressing through yoga while spending time with animals – some people even end up adopting one
- Studies show people with pets have lower blood pressure, less stress and a greater chance of survival after a heart attack
Sumathy Krishna sits in position to practise bhujangasana, the reclining, back-bending cobra pose. As she bends forward on the yoga mat, a three-month-old puppy jumps playfully onto her back.
Before the 26-year-old can react, the dog smothers her with kisses. Gleefully, Krishna allows the pup to join her and the 20 other animal-lovers who are taking part in this special yoga session.
Welcome to “pawga” – yoga with pups. Three university friends – Swathi Renugopal, Sindhuja Krishnakumar and Subhashree Madhavan – launched the initiative in 2020 in the southern Indian city of Chennai. The wellness experience is all about destressing while spending time with animals through yoga.
The beginners’ yoga sessions have puppies, and sometimes kittens, from local animal shelters joining in. This helps new yoga students to relax – and often helps the animals find forever homes.
“Pawga is a one-of-a-kind wellness experience,” says Madhavan, a full-time corporate executive who organises the “pawga” classes on weekends. The animals run around freely as beginners learn yoga poses, usually for 45 minutes. Then they play with puppies for the rest of the hour-long sessions.
