SPENCER, Mass. (AP) — Three little pigs went to yoga class.
Their human companions were greatly amused.
Wilbur, Charlotte and Bluey fit right into the yoga with animals trend, adding some fun to the usual physical and mental health exercises offered at classes across Central Massachusetts.
The piglets scurried and strolled among yoga practitioners in downward dog, crow and cobra poses, digging in the backyard with their soft pink noses, while two rabbits and a goat named Munchie searched for the tastiest shoots.
For Stacey Delbridge, a retired New Hampshire dentist, and her daughter, the experience was well worth the nearly two-hour drive to the town of Spencer.
“The best part about piglet yoga is, of course, the piglets and how cute they are,” Delbridge said with a beaming smile. “The piglets are hilarious. Just when you think you might need a break, we have great customers who come in and stop without looking like they’ve stopped. And yes, the piglets are cute.”
Ashley Bousquet, owner of Beyond Yoga & Wellness, teaches piglet yoga and says demand is so high that online bookings usually sell out within hours.
The class begins with Bousquet encouraging participants not to worry about interrupting the flow to interact with piglets from a friend’s farm.
“During class, the piglets will play tricks on you, run on you, climb on you, snuggle up to you,” Bousquet said. “It’s so cute.”
Amy Finkel brought her two daughters and was beaming as she took photos of the piglets while her daughters cuddled the rabbits.
The best moment, she said, was “seeing them so pleased and happy.” The worst moment? “When it was over, because it seemed to go by so quickly.”
Doing yoga with animals can have an unexpected benefit: When done with rescue animals, it may encourage adoption, says Rebecca Purchase of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
“Is yoga stressful for the animals that participate? Maybe if it’s not the right animals,” Purchase said, “but for animals that really thrive off being around humans and interacting with them, yoga can definitely be beneficial.”
Finkel is a big fan of animal yoga, which she says helps her keep her mind from wandering: “I’m really focused on what’s going on around me right now, and I think that’s really hard in these times.”
“I just wanted to sit with them,” Delbridge says. “I could have skipped the yoga and just been a piglet. Fully piglet.”
