Happy Thursday: Cats and Yoga don't mix edition

 This woman's real crime wasn't yoga, but drawstring pants. None of my pants have drawstrings.

I've started trying to practice yoga at home in the mornings before work. I was running, but I really, really hate running and the number of times I would hit snooze with a profanity and not get up and go running were beginning to outnumber the times I actually ran. And then when I did get up and go running I hated it. Hated. I don't know what endorphins you people who run are getting from said running, but I was born without them. And because life is too short to start every day with something I hate, I decided to try starting it with something I love instead. I've been practicing at OmBodies for a year now (on August 14, my one year anniversary, I got a little congratulatory email from the studio which made my whole day) and I felt like I could remember enough poses and sequences to direct my own practice. Not to mention I've got some serious upper body strength to build if I'm going to get inverted anytime soon. The twice a week I can get to the studio just isn't cutting it anymore.

However, I have three cats. And every morning that I unroll my mat and go get a drink of water, I come back to three cats resting comfortably on the mat giving me a look that clearly states, "Yes, thank you for the new surface to rest on. You may go." So I shoo them off the mat and get on with my practice. It's gone ok for the most part, I only had one incident where I squished one of the cats when going from downward facing dog through chaturanga to upward facing dog. (That, by the way is one of my favorite things to do. Not just one of my favorite yoga poses, but one of my favorite things to do ever, right up there with watch Jaws, drink coffee and knit. Love it!)


The other problem I've had has been with savasana. The cats seem to think this pose stands for, "The crazy human is done with her crazy movements and now invites us to lay on her!" They roll around next to me and purr, they lay on my stomach, they sniff my face, they even licked my feet one morning. I was able to focus and breathe and not let any of this distract me until the Maine Coon decided to try the ever popular yoga pose Cat Reclines on Yogi's Face and took the deepening option of cutting off the air supply.

That is a lot of fur to have on your face even if you aren't sweaty after yoga.

Brushes with asphyxiation aside, it's been a really great way to start my day. Plus, cats are just a really great way to remind yourself to always focus on your practice no matter what is going on around you, right Hayward? As long as you've taken the drawstrings out of your pants of course.