SPENCER, Mass. (AP) 鈥� Three little piggies went to a yoga class.
Their human companions had a blast.
Wilbur, Charlotte and Bluey fit right into a growing trend of yoga with animals, adding some fun to the usual physical and mental wellness exercises at a class in central Massachusetts.
Darting and strolling among the yoginis making downward dog, crow and cobra poses, the piglets also dug up a backyard with their soft pink snouts as two rabbits and a goat named Munchie searched for the tastiest shoots.
The experience was well worth a nearly two-hour drive to the town of Spencer for retired New Hampshire dentist Stacey Delbridge and her daughter.
"The best thing about the piglet yoga was, of course, the piglets and how cute they are,鈥� Delbridge said with a jubilant smile. 鈥淭hey were funny, you know. Just when you were getting to a point where you needed a break, you had a great visitor come see you, and you could quit without looking like a quitter. Yeah. They鈥檙e adorable.鈥�
Beyond Yoga & Wellness owner Ashley Bousquet teaches piglet yoga, and says there is such demand that online registrations typically sell out within hours.
The classes begin with Bousquet inviting participants not to fret over interrupting their flows to interact with the piglets, who come from a friend鈥檚 farm.
鈥淒uring the class you have piglets causing mischief and running on you, on top of you or cuddling with you," Bousquet said. "It's super cute.鈥�
Amy Finkel brought her two daughters with her, smiling broadly while snapping photos of piglets as the girls hugged a rabbit.
鈥淪eeing them so joyful and happy鈥� was the high point, she said. The low point? "When it was over, because it just seemed to go so quickly.鈥�
Practicing yoga with animals can produce unexpected benefits. If done with shelter animals, it may even encourage adoptions, said Rebecca Purchase of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell.
鈥淚s yoga stressful to animals that join? It can be if it鈥檚 not the right animal," Purchase said. 鈥淏ut for animals that really thrive being around people and getting to socialize with them, it absolutely can be a benefit.鈥�
Finkel is a big fan of animal yoga 鈥� she said it helped keep her mind from wandering. "I鈥檓 really focused on to what鈥檚 going on presently around me. And I think in today鈥檚 day and age, that鈥檚 very hard to do.鈥�
鈥淚 just wanted to sit with them,鈥� Delbridge said. 鈥淚 could have skipped yoga and gone just piglet. All piglet.鈥�
Rodrique Ngowi, The Associated Press
