Cat Depot does downward dog

It’s just like your yoga class. There’s mood music. The lights are dimmed. Kittens are at play in the corner.
Wait — maybe the Namastray yoga class at Cat Depot is different.

The class started out last fall, but was discontinued after just a  handful of sessions. 

Now, it’s back by popular demand. After its cancellation, fans of the class began asking if it would start up again, which led to a trial period, according to Cat Depot volunteer and Education Manager Joe Landmichl.
During the first class this time around, held Aug. 4, a group of six participants experienced what it was like to have a cat frolicking nearby while doing downward dog.
 

An adult cat named Loverboy infused joy into the class by nuzzling up to participants like Marcia Morris.
Morris has one cat named Cruiser at home, but she enjoyed getting to know Loverboy. She’s attended previous Namastray classes.

“I was so excited when I saw this was on again,” Morris said. “What I enjoy is the stretching and poses.”

The class is structured to provide fitness for participants and also to expose the cats to people outside of their pods.

Instructor Veronika Schachtner first got involved as a student in the class when it was offered last November. After she became a certified instructor in March, she offered to teach the class for free.

“When I took the class there were three kittens in the room,” Schachtner said. “I was in a pose, and I just burst out in laughter at them playing together.”

After her first experience, Schachtner wanted her method of teaching to infuse the class with joy from the watching the cats.
 

The class size is limited to 14 per class due to space and safety considerations for the felines at play. The intimate class size also allows participants to play with cats before, during and after the class without overwhelming them.

Participants Christine and Steven Windsor already have four cats at home, but before class, they couldn’t help but play with kittens Ari and Ori.

Landmichl hopes the class exposes participants to some of the 159 cats that reside at Cat Depot and need a home.

“By getting into a new space it prepares them for a new home,” Landmichl said. “That’s always the reason we do events, it exposes people to the cats and their true personalities.”