The downward dog is one of the most well-known yoga moves out there as it promotes core strength. But flipping that on its head, what about moves in other forms of flexibility exercise that actually include animals themselves? Can animals actually help you in your weekly or daily work-out? Believe it or not, the answer is yes.
This is no fad. One community in the USA has introduced small puppies to pilates classes as a way of doubling the endorphin hit that exercise provides. As a mood lifter, combining the mental invigoration of pilates with the boundless and ceaseless energy of a puppy is a real winner! Just check out the face of the women below, it's clearly enjoyable.
And what’s more, it’s being done with an added benefit to health and wellbeing in mind too. The sessions are hosted for charity, with the $15 fee that’s charged to attend being donated to the Asheville Humane Society. The society takes unwanted puppies in and then re-homes them with suitable families. All proceeds from the sessions then go towards looking after the tiny dogs before they are taken into their forever homes.
The idea’s conception has so many positives behind it. The organizers, Cisco Pilates, knew that their form of exercise was one that might not necessarily appeal to everyone, so they found a way to give it a broader scope. And frankly, who could ever say no to playing with a puppy for an hour? Try holding your core with a puppy licking your face though.
We’d love to give this a try, but we know that our discipline to get fitter and more flexible would go out of the window with such a cute exercise buddy. In fact, we'd be more likely to take a little puppy home.
It has been many years since Guirec began traveling across the world by sailboat. This sounds ambitious but relatively normal until you find out it’s with his pet hen, Monique. Their friendship began when Guirec stopped by the Canary Islands. They met and Monique, a Rhode Island Red, just wouldn’t stop following him around. So he decided to take her with him when he was leaving.
Now, the two have traveled together for around five years. Guirec, from the UK, is 26 years old and has been traveling solo throughout.
During his journeys, he has found himself trapped in the Article for almost 130 days, survived storms with 15m waves, been almost capsized, and was briefly detained by Canadian coastguards. All of those may have stopped the average sailor but he has gone to be the youngest to cross the formidable Northwest Passage solo. Well, that’s if you don’t include Monique.
From 2014 to 2018, they have covered a total of 45,000 miles together. They have also released a children’s book, aptly named ‘The Hen Who Sailed Around the World.’ On long stops, Guirec says he often brings her off the boat to stretch her leg and peck around in the glass. He said she loves scratching around in the sand and pebbles. It may feel odd but safe to say, this hen is certainly living her best life!
Hens are also very sociable creatures so this behavior is not very out of sorts. It seems like Monique considers her owner as one of her flock. They are always together and never even sleep apart. “I didn’t want to. Sometimes it was a bit tricky, I couldn’t always do everything I wanted, but I was happy to share it all with Monique,” he said.
Even though Guirec has now returned home and is done with boating (for now), Monique continues to be an essential part of the household. We wonder if she misses the seafaring life?