By Amanda A. Taylor photos by J. Fernando Gonzalez
PAWS Center Unleashes Cat Yoga Classes To Promote Adoption & Spread Wellness
Cat and health enthusiasts met for Kitty Yoga
at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20, at The Laurie
P. Andrews PAWS Center.
What exactly is kitty yoga? The idea was
to allow some of the adoptable felines at the
PAWS Center to interact with yoga participants
for a unique experience. Not only could
the cats get a little extra socialization, but yoga
participants could mingle with the adoptable
pets prompting awareness on the benefits of
adopting a shelter pet.
Led by local yoga instructor, Bianca Scalise,
the group participated in a two-hour long
session while the cats roamed the room freely,
adding a playful element to the session.
"It was so fun! It was way more fun that I
thought it would be," Scalise said about the
session. "I didn't really know what to expect
because cats are a bit unpredictable sometimes,
but all the cats were really well behaved. It was
a great social setting and fun, and the cats definitely
added liveliness to the class."
It's been proven through various studies that
owning a pet, especially, in this case, a cat, has
its health benefits. Any cat owner could more
than likely say that the companionship of a cat
helps with emotional well-being such as diminishing
stress, anxiety and even loneliness. A
recent study from the "Journal of Vascular and
Interventional Neurology" has stated that from
a medical aspect, owning a cat can even lower
the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
This includes lowering the risk of having a
heart attack.
Pairing the company of cats with yoga led to
a fun experience that added a little extra level
of comfort.
"The cats kind of crept up on you when you
didn't expect it," Scalise said "It was heartwarming
and really cute to have them there.
I do cat yoga all the time with my cats at the
house, so I'd definitely recommend this to my
clients in the future."
Events like Kitty Yoga are made possible by
the staff at Palm Valley Animal Center and The
Laurie P. Andrews PAWS Center. While both
facilities work in conjunction to help the homeless
animals throughout Hidalgo county, the
PAWS Center promotes animal welfare education
through public events.
"With the opening of PAWS, we have the
opportunity to invite our community to participate
in unique animal-related events and
activities otherwise not possible without our
new facility," Rebeca I. Villanueva, Director
of Development said. "Kitty Yoga and similar
events encourage animal lovers to find their
'purr-fect' match and meet other like-minded
individuals, all while having fun and raising
awareness on animal welfare issues. We hope
to make PAWS a community space that offers a
variety of events and activities that exposes our
community to a new way of thinking about the role pets play in our lives."
All pet adoption fees at The Laurie P. Andrews
PAWS Center includes the first series of
shots, spay/neuter operation, microchip and a
month of pet accident insurance. You can also
see a list of all our adoptable animals 24 hours
a day at
pvaconline.com.
To learn more about the adoption program at
the PAWS Center, call (956) 720-4563.
To learn more about the next Kitty Yoga session,
keep an eye on The Laurie P. Andrews
PAWS Center Facebook page or call the center
for more information.