Bring Your Dog to Yoga…or Bring Yoga to Your Dog
Massage therapist, yoga and doga instructor, Brenda Bryan has a mission– to “relax the world, one dog at a time.” With her new book, Barking Buddha: Simple Soul Stretches for Yogi and Dogi, Bryan is taking her Seattle-based “doga” classroom on the road, with a series of Hatha yoga poses incorporating canine companions into the mix.
This prescriptive book details guidelines, tips and poses for practicing yoga with your dog, along with observations on the many ways dogs bring joy and harmony into our lives. With yoga poses for every intention, from Gratitude and Perspective, to Joy and Letting Go, Bryan presents her signature methods of connecting with our mats and our dogs at the same time. Yoga can bring the same health and mind benefits to dogs as it does to humans. By allowing dogs to join in a spiritual path to wellness, yogis can appreciate a new path for connecting with their animal friends. Stretches and poses can aid in hip dysplasia among older dogs, and can improve the overall muscular skeletal health of canines of all ages.
Barking Buddha illustrates that not only is regular yoga and meditation a healthy practice, but so is having a dog. Offering basic practices with room to grow, Barking Buddha is for varying levels of yoga practitioners and dog lovers alike.
Brenda Bryan is a Seattle-based yoga instructor and licensed massage therapist. While honing her skills as a yoga teacher, she began to study animal massage and found a way to combine her love of dogs with her love of yoga. Brenda teaches Hatha yoga and “Barking Buddha Doga” classes throughout the Seattle area, with the assistance of her own dogs, Honey and Gus.
Bev Sparks specializes in the fine art of photographing dogs. In addition to private commissions, her work is used by publishers, ad agencies, greeting card companies, and non-profits and was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Sparks shares her Seattle home with two mutts, Benny and Eddie.