Some Pawsitively Adorable Yoga Classes: Puppy Yoga in London!

Stoke Newington, London

City of London

Pawside Yoga (click for website)

Yoga Paws (click for website)

My favourite workout experience of all time has to be puppy yoga. It is exactly as wonderful as it sounds. A combination of young puppies (already owned unfortunately) and (some) yoga. I have been dabbling in yoga since November now, after swearing I would never do it again after a much failed attempt at a class in college. I have really fallen in love with it. I massively lacked the maturity and ability to sit still for a long period of time in my early 20’s, probably why I wasn’t the biggest fan of yoga then. Or maybe I enjoy it more now because I do 98% of my practice in the comfort of my home, without people making weird noises next to me, well besides when Sam joins in and does classes with me occasionally. I started with a free month trial to Yogaia, an app that allows you to take a live yoga class with an instructor that can see you and perfect your form. You can also do recorded classes at any time. I love that they offer all different types of yoga styles, as well as HIIT workouts, core classes, meditation, and yoga for runners. If you're looking to try some yoga I highly recommend this app. Click the name for a MONTH FREE trial: Yogaia (you're welcome). And now back to the real story of this post....

I have now completed two classes of puppy yoga, with two different companies. The first company I found was by chance on Instagram. I can confirm that the overwhelming experience of pure joy is the same in both companies. The company Yoga Paws (also great to follow them if you just want adorable puppy content) quickly had me falling in love with every dog on their page, so I decided I wanted to give the classes a go. These tickets literally sell out in minutes and to be honest are a bit pricey for an hour experience, but I guess not too far off  what you would pay for any single workout class. It was about £30/$35, I know it sounds like a lot but I had such a good time at each of the classes I really think that it is worth it to go at least once. I also never usually buy single class passes because I am very anti gym, but this was on a whole different level to any other class I had done before. I like my own space and hate having people look at me when I am working out, mostly because I suck at it. But when it comes to this kind of class bring on all the strangers! Also the fact that no one is looking at you because they are massively distracted by the adorable little creatures running around the room. 

The first time I went to a puppy yoga class was in February, with the company Yoga Paws. I decided to treat myself by going to a pre Valentines day class. I like the fact that this company was secretive with where the location was until the week before (I bought my tickets 2 weeks in advance because they do sell out that quickly once they go on sale). The only thing that you know before is the time of the class and the breed of puppies that will be in attendance. I chose the Labrador puppy class obviously. The locations are based all over free spaces in London so it changes often. I was ok with this since I get free travel with my TfL job and I love roaming around new neighbourhoods in London. After struggling to find the actual building in Stoke Newington (North East London about an hour and a bit from my house by train since it was during rush hour) I was ready to get my puppy cuddles. It was a small studio and as soon as I walked in I was greeted by one of the members of staff who told me where to leave all of my things. I’m surprised I even heard anything he said because as soon as I walked in I could hear the sweet angelic sounds of puppy barks. The hour session literally flew by. The 6-8 puppies are out the entire time and its just a massive free for all. Whatever puppy walked by you, you could scoop up and play with. All this was happening while the poor yoga instructor was trying to teach the class. I can confirm I did a whole 6 minutes of yoga in the hour class BUT after checking my heart rate on my apple watch I had ended up burning more calories than expected because of the fluctuation in my heart rate (basically I was so excited by the puppies and rolling around with them that was the real workout). There was about 15-20 yoga mats set up around the room and the instructor was in the middle. The room was pretty tiny so there was going to be ample time to play with the floofsters. The staff was also great about spreading the pooch love, because if they noticed you hadn’t had a dog yet they would move them around the room so everyone had their fair share. But to be honest since I was probably the only person on my own I got PLENTY of pup time (also good luck to the person who tries to take a puppy away from me without my willingness).

  

I want to say the actual yoga went on for about 35-40 minutes and then people were able to hold other pups in the room and take pictures for the gram of course. To be honest I wish I paid attention a little bit more to the yoga because the instructor was phenomenal. At the end of the session she rubbed essential oils on everyones temples and it was magical. During the free play time I got to talking to one of the staff members. I clearly was all about trying to bring a dog home, so I was asking who owned them, and general questions about the program. He told me that the puppies are from a breeder and they were all promised to homes already. The reason why the breeders use the puppies in the class is to help them socialise more with people before they go off to their forever homes (brilliant idea I thought). The pups were about 2 to 3 months old so they were only a couple of weeks off from going to their new homes. In environments like this it was so easy to just talk to people around me. Everyone was on cloud 9 and so nice to one another (if only everyone in the world could take a puppy yoga class WORLD PEACE!). When I left the studio to go back home I was beyond relaxed and just felt incredible for getting to play with some pups. 

The following month, I had a visit from my friend Agnes from New York. She was doing a solo trip to London and asked me to show her around. I quickly thought what a great opportunity to do another puppy yoga class and also show her the sights in central London. This is when I found the second company Pawside Yoga. Same exact idea the puppies were just a bit younger (less than 2 months old) and the dog parents of the pups would be there in the class as well. Since Agnes loves yoga too she quickly agreed and we got tickets for the mid afternoon session with shitzu fluffers. The venue was at Savage Garden in central London (very close to Tower bridge) so the scenery was breathtaking from the rooftop room the class was in. Funnily enough this was the same place that I rang in my 29th birthday, so I knew my way around the building which is located at the very top of a hotel. The views include perfect shots of the Gerkin, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and of course Tower Bridge. The room itself was gorgeously decorated to make you feel like you were in a log cabin in the alps. 

This company does it a little differently and I preferred it. The yoga instructor puts on a flow class for 30 minutes and the other 30 minutes are spent playing with the little fluff balls and taking pictures. I was shocked at how tiny the puppies were (they were literally feeding on their mom when we all came into the room). I obviously fell in love with a little pupster as soon as they came in. One little guy walked right over to me and Agnes and we barely let him go the entire time. I liked that the breeder was there with the dogs too, to keep a watchful eye out because I feel like I would be doing the exact same thing if my dogs were involved with something like that. They were all SO TINY they could fit in the palm of my hand. The instructor was also phenomenal at this class! And go figure she was American! I felt like we really got our moneys worth here with an actual yoga class, plenty of puppy time, and also the staff were great and took plenty of pictures for everyone. They even had a station for drinks and small snacks, but to be honest I didn’t even see them until we were walking out the door (I was clearly very distracted). Again everyone that was in the small class were all so friendly and chatting away with the people next to them. Every person walked out with huge smiles on their faces. 

Overall both classes were an incredible experience. I have been graciously offered VIP status with Pawside yoga and they have given me a discount code to use the next time I book with them. I love their company, how friendly the staff is, and the unreal venues of their classes. Once quarantine is over I will 100% be booking another class with them so I can get my puppy fix until Sam finally agrees to get one of ourselves (but don’t feel too sorry for me, we have something in the works that I will reveal when everything is sorted :)!!!). For April Pawside Yoga were also offering bunny yoga! Unfortunately this had to be postponed, but it might just be another class I will have to try with them. So if you want the feeling of pure happiness and some puppy cuddles, I highly recommend booking a puppy yoga class. I promise you it will not disappoint, and to be honest who won’t need something like this after all this isolation is over. 

Stay healthy, stay happy, and as always thank for reading! 

New Year, New Fitness Addiction?

     Before the start of every New Year I make a list of things I want to improve in my life. This year (probably because the excess amount of free time I have) I’ve been able to really focus on those things and get off to a great start. I think where I’ve gone wrong in past years is that I have given myself too broad of an idea rather than little realistic things I can do everyday in order to get a significant result. My small changes that I wanted to keep up from last year are to write and read more. One of my big changes for this year is trying to become a pescatarian (with the exception of slip ups every now and then). Last night I struggled to stay away from the buffalo chicken spin dip at the super bowl party I was at. But it’s a working progress. My other improvement is the ever popular fitness goal. I am making a point to move/workout for at least 30 minutes a day. Having an apple watch helps massively in that I can see my daily movement, standing, and calories burnt in the day. I have already felt a massive change in that I don’t feel pressured to workout everyday but just move around, because really 30 minutes in a day isn’t that much. I have even started making up workouts by running up and down the stairs with intervals of push-ups and sit-ups in between sets. And of course when the weather is permitting I go for runs outside for however long I feel good for.

     After bumping into an old friend from high school last weekend we got to talking about how we used to run together on our track team and how he’s now working at the Peloton showroom in Chelsea in the city. If you don’t know what Peloton is, it’s a semi new fitness bike and now treadmill that’s very high tech. It has a large screen where you can log into workouts from home and take part in a class that’s going on live in the Peloton studios. Of course these machines cost you a pretty penny because of all these features, but you can also download the Peloton app that gives you the workouts to complete on any stationary bike or treadmill that you have at home or in your local gym.

https://studio.onepeloton.com/tread

     So when Kevin asked me if I wanted to come and take some classes I was jumping at the opportunity. I went to my first treadmill boot camp class on Thursday and now I am hooked! The studio itself is absolutely gorgeous! Let’s just say it wasn’t like walking into a Planet Fitness or any old gym. It felt like I was walking into a high end gallery. The locker room has everything a girl could need for her fitness essentials including deodorant, dry shampoo, hairspray, you name it really and they had it. So after I was done admiring the locker room it was time to get acquainted with the machine I would be doing my work out on.

     At first glance it doesn’t look much more than your average treadmill with the exception of the large screen on it, but after Kevin showed me all of its features it seemed like a runners dream. The belt in which you run on has grooves to prevent slipping and felt like to keep you in place. I know when I run on a regular treadmill I can sometimes feel myself swaying from left to right on the belt. It has a “free” button which allows you to run sprints at your own pace without the help of the speed up button, so basically it goes as fast as you can. The other main difference between a Peloton treadmill and a regular one is the two buttons on the sides. On the left there is the incline and on the right side is the speed, but instead of a + or – button it is a wheel that is just so much easier to use when in a work out. The screen shows you speed, distance, incline, and rank in the class. At home it would show all of these things and also the instructor doing the workout of your choice.

What I did not know about this workout I had signed up for at the Peloton showroom was that it would be recorded! The workout that I would be doing would be broadcasted live in front of every Peloton machine in the country! Thinking about this all my fears flashed through my head, the number one being falling off this machine and having it on tape FOREVER! And trust me if you know me well you know how clumsy of a person I am and this was a reasonable fear. Luckily for this session I was just out of sight of the camera if all went terribly wrong, but they also had a few staff in the room in case things did go wrong for me or anyone else.

     The class probably had about 10-15 people in it and I was all sorts of pumped up once I knew this would be recorded. Plus knowing that I would be competing with everyone in the class put my competitiveness into overdrive. I need a class that challenges me but also has the sense of competition because that will automatically make me push even harder. As the workout went on I was feeling really great honestly, it was quick to get into the groove and the instructor Jess had the sweetest demeanor that she really made me feel like I could run a marathon. She kept me pumped the whole time and her little shout outs during the class had me pushing harder for some recognition of my own. Every time I felt like I was getting winded I would just look up at the leaderboard and see how close I was to the person above me and increase my speed to catch up with them. I ended up finishing the class in fourth just behind Kevin and the two other trainers in the room who did the class so I was feeling pretty good about it.

     The class finished with 15 minutes of all lower body weights, which was probably the hardest part of the workout for me. The instructor Jess was an absolute machine busting out 15 reps of everything seamlessly while also talking into the mic (it really is a talent in itself). When the class completely finished I felt a rush of energy and felt really great. Seeing this I was asked a staff member if I wanted to complete a yoga class that was starting about 40 minutes later. I was skeptical because I had literally done one yoga class in my life and it went horribly wrong, but for some reason I also jumped at the opportunity to try another class and said yes.

     For all that don’t know my athletic/coordination/flexibility they have no correlation because although I can run for miles and have decent stamina, I cannot touch my toes or stand on one leg without toppling over. So yoga really isn’t something that should be in my vocabulary. As I was waiting to walk into the studio I had asked one of the staff members to put me somewhere in the back so that I wouldn’t be seen on camera (because this is also a class that gets broadcasted to all Peloton app users, there isn’t a machine for yoga). The girl responded that it is a small classroom with only 1 row so it would be hard to not be seen at some point or another. HA! Way to put the viewers at home at ease if they weren’t advanced yoga participants. To add insult to injury my instructor Jess and another trainer also did the class with me… oh and were right next to me to make me look extra gangly and uncoordinated. When the class finally starts the yoga instructor began by telling the people at home that this was not a beginner’s class so if they had only just started their method they should return to this video after more practice. WHAT AM I DOING IN THIS ROOM!?!? But it was too late, the camera was rolling and there was no escaping the next 45 minutes of my torture. BUT plot twist! I actually ended up getting the hang of all the moves relatively quickly, because really what choice did I have? There were a few times where I was thinking “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this but I think I’m doing it pretty damn well!” Well at least that was my thought because I don’t know about you but sometimes our mind tells us we're doing something really well but in reality you’re just not. Like when people are drunk and think they can dance but then watch it the next day on their friend’s Snapchat and they forward it in embarrassment (not that it has ever happened to me of course lol).

     So I finished the class strong and honestly felt like a million bucks. I wasn’t achy as I would usually be after running on a treadmill, and wasn’t as tight thanks to the yoga class. And the days after I definitely wasn’t as sore as I thought I would be. To be honest I would love to buy one of those treadmills for my house if I had the money for it because I 100% think they are worth it, but for the meantime I now have reconnected with Kevin who is happy to have me take classes whenever I want! That obviously meant I booked another class which is actually tonight! I cannot wait to get back and try another treadmill class. What is really great is that they are finally expanding to England and they have just opened up a show room in London! This could just be my new fitness addiction.

I really can't thank my friend Kevin and everyone at Peloton enough for such a great experience and not only that how incredibly friendly, helpful, and supportive everyone was!