COMMUNITY // DESTINATION LA
Cat Yoga
at the Cat Café Lounge
Lia Abbate
T
here are not a lot of things that will get
me out of bed on a snuggly Saturday
morning with the sun streaming in
through the windows. But this intriguing text
from a friend, “Wanna come to cat yoga to-
day?” certainly did the trick. Cat Yoga at Cat
Café Lounge? Being a closet crazy cat lady –
sadly my building does not allow pets – I had
actually scoped out the Cat Café Lounge the
week before. Their shining sign glowing in the
dark of Sepulveda Boulevard had piqued my
interest. I parked and followed the paw prints
on the steps up to the entrance. Drat, they
were closed for the night. I vowed to make my
way back.
Somehow, I didn’t figure that it would be
in the early morning, bleary-eyed, and in yoga
clothes. I’m not the most bendy or peaceful
of beings but come on, there were going to be
cats!! My friend up in Ottawa had recounted to
me her experience with goat yoga in a field at
a farm. She described the resulting chaos that
involved deft footwork through a muddy mine-
field of dung, unexpectedly large and aggressive
goats making direct contact with random body
parts, and the odd surprise of realizing that an
animal is actually trying to eat your hair when
you’re in downward dog in the slop.
Cat Yoga was also a very authentic experi-
ence and happily a fun one. The large space
was created and fitted with custom-built fea-
tures for the cats to climb, play, and rest with
all kinds of intricate steps, ramps, and perches
to suit the needs of over 30 cats. You know you
are entering their world when you look down
to see several cat-sized yoga mats with cat toys
tethered to them.
As we took to our mats and began to work
ourselves into the poses, it became clear that we
became additional toy structures for them to
play amongst. As the cats frolicked and played,
(either gently or aggressively) or obliviously
slept, we went through an easy yoga sequence
that was perfectly tailored to the atmosphere.Afterward, we spent time interacting with
the cats, all of whom are available for adop-
tion. The resident cat behavior expert was a
marvel; she introduced us to the cats, told their
stories and described their personalities sharing
some scientific insights into feline psychology.
You left feeling as if you had made a few good
friends and with the reassurance that these
strays had found a lovely place to recover and
hopefully start a new chapter of their lives.
For more information on visiting the Cat-
Cafe Lounge, visit: catcafelounge.com. Visits
to the Cafe (complete with coffee/tea and Wifi)
are tax-deductible donations and support the
nonprofit’s mission to “reduce euthanization by
increasing adoptions while socializing cats.”
The next Cat Yoga class taught by Amy
Renee will be held on December 8.Lia Abbate is native Californian artist and writer
who lives in Santa Monica. You can find her on
Instagram @sunnyat1234.