Going Beyond the Pets

So, I occasionally teach Doga classes. Yep, yoga for you and your dog. I will write more at another time about how goofy I think this concept sounds and how actually non-goofy I think it is in practice. I mean, how much time do we spend around our dogs without REALLY noticing them? How much time do we spend like that with other people for that matter? There is something to be said about taking 30 minutes and sitting down and giving your full attention to your dog. They are loving, devoted, honest friends and we should feel fortunate to have them and we should tell them as much in a language that they understand. Doga is a great option.

Somehow, people have come to know that I teach Doga and I get requests from time to time to teach at special events and fundraisers for pet rescues. The whole Doga thing started in the first place when my friends at One Tail at a Time rescue asked if I could come up with a Doga class as a fundraiser. I figured that I was already doing plenty of yoga with dogs around in my own home that I might as well learn to invite them into a few poses. It was a success and now the requests come in from all over the city.

One request last year was for an event in a city park. It was a dog-themed event with dog-themed vendors, rescues, and more. All of them in some way touting the benefits of a healthy relationship between you and your pet. While I taught at this event, to my left was a tent cooking and selling bar-b-qued animals. So here I am trying to encourage people to connect with the animal at the other end of the leash (which was one of the goals of the whole event, responsible pet care) while this tent is serving up the cooked flesh of animals that are not all that different than the dogs we're there to celebrate. Another Doga event I was invited to teach, which I turned down, was for a monthly class followed by a social bar-b-que. Connect with this animal as your trusted friend and devoted companion, but butcher another and call them dinner? Where is the disconnect, my friends?

Yoga teaches that all beings have a divine spark. A part of them that is exactly the same as any other being. Yoga practice leads us to a place where we can discover that spark in ourselves and eventually, in everyone else (including our pets, animals formerly knowns as "food", and insects). The ethical rules of yoga become easy to follow when we look at others and see ourselves or our loved ones. When I look the expressions and behaviors of a cow or a pig or a sheep, I see my beloved dogs and cats. I see animals that want and deserve compassion and dignity. They do not deserve to exist as nothing more than a commodity. As Sri Dharma says, our compassion must extend "beyond the pets." This practice is yoga.

(Photos by Alyse at Out-U-Go Chicago and my partner, Dan.)