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.
“They were funny. Just when they thought they might need a break, they had a great customer come in and were able to quit without looking like a quitter. Yeah, they were adorable.”
Ashley Bousquet, owner of Beyond Yoga & Wellness, who teaches Piglet yoga, said demand is so high that online registrations 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 get naughty, 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 bunnies.
“Seeing them so happy and delighted” was the best part, she said.
Lowest moment? “When it ended,” Finkel said. “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 enjoy being with humans and interacting with them, yoga can definitely be beneficial.”
Finkel is a big fan of animal yoga, which she says helps keep her mind from wandering.
“I’m really focused on what’s going on around me right now, and I think in this day and age, that’s really hard,” she said.
“I just wanted to sit with them,” Delbridge says. “I could have skipped the yoga and just been a piglet. Fully piglet.”