above: Prince does the Adho Mukha Vrkhasana, or handstand
How do you top Dogs and Cats doing yoga? Why with puppies and kittens striking the enlightened poses, of course.
After great success with his Yoga Dogs and Yoga Cats calendars in 2009 and 2010, Texas photographer Dan Borris has come out with Yoga Puppies and Kitten calendars for 2011.
The 2011 Yoga Puppies Calendar:
Some of the puppies from the 2011 Calendar:
above: Liza does the Virasana, or hero pose
above: Kerrigan does the Ardha-Chandrasana, or half-moon pose
above: Pansy does the Bitilasana, or cat-cow variation
The 2011 Yoga Kittens Calendar:
Some of the kittens from the 2011 calendar:
above: Candy also does the Virasana, or hero pose
above: Miles does the Dhyana, or self-inquiry pose
above: Randy does the Vyaghrasana, or tiger pose variation
above: Skittles does the Urdhva Dhanurasana, or backbend preparation
The Yoga Dogs 2011 calendar, shown below, will be in stock soon.
above: The 2010 Yoga Dogs and Yoga cats were bestsellers.
About:
Five years ago photographer Dan Borris came across his first Yoga Dog. Otis was a two-year-old English Bull Terrier who loved to do yoga with his friend Joy. Joy would be practicing her yoga in the mornings while Otis wandered around her legs, stopping now and again to lick her face as she did a headstand. Slowly but surely Otis began to imitate Joy. At first he tried out simple poses, ones that came naturally to him like Downward and Upward Dog. As time went on Otis's poses became more and more complex, until finally he began his own practice. While Otis himself wasn't captured on film, he did lead Dan on his path to finding other four-legged Yogis.
The original two-legged Yogis discovered poses by observing and imitating the movement of animals. Now the practice has come full circle and it's the dogs that are imitating us! You can see the absolute delight they take in their yoga and when they practice you can feel their profound concentration.
You can buy the 12 " x 12" calendars directly from their site, but pssst! they are cheaper at the links below:
thanks to Dan Borris and The Guardian for the images