Yoga classes are often associated with quiet meditation, controlled breathing and careful movement. But at The Solstice Method in Long Beach, a recent class included a few unexpected additions: eight small dogs roaming between yoga mats, greeting participants and bringing plenty of smiles.<\/p>\n
The puppy yoga session was held in partnership with V.I.P. Small Dog Sitting, a Town of Hempstead-based business owned by Latoya Benjamin. During the class, participants practiced yoga while interacting with dogs, including two goldendoodles, a six-year-old shih tzu named Oreo and five three-month-old shih tzu puppies.<\/p>\n
Six participants took part in the class while the dogs moved freely around the room, creating a relaxed and playful atmosphere. Yoga instructor Sydney Rosenberg led the session, which focused on kriya yoga, a practice centered on deep breathing and meditative poses.<\/p>\n
Benjamin said the event was connected to her broader work supporting individuals with disabilities and special needs through her nonprofit, Abilities Unleashed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbilities Unleashed is my non-profit side,\u201d Benjamin said. \u201cV.I.P. Small Dog City is where I work with the dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through Abilities Unleashed, young adults involved with the organization help create programs and community events based on their interests. Benjamin said one advocate, Ashley Gazes, helped organize an event at the Baldwin Public Library in July focused on advocacy and connecting with people with disabilities, autism and special needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted to put on a big event to show her advocacy and also reach out to the community,\u201d Benjamin said.<\/p>\n
The Baldwin event helped create new connections, including with Rosenberg, who later reached out about working together on the puppy yoga program. Benjamin said the first puppy yoga class was held Aug. 16 and was a success.<\/p>\n
\u201cAugust 16th was our first puppy yoga class,\u201d Benjamin said. \u201cIt was beautiful. We\u2019re looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rosenberg has built The Solstice Method around creating an inclusive, sensory-friendly environment, with features including sound-dampening walls and doors and reduced fluorescent lighting. The studio offers small-group classes designed to make yoga more accessible.<\/p>\n
The partnership reflects a shared goal of creating welcoming spaces where people of all abilities can participate. Rosenberg said inclusivity benefits everyone, not only those who currently identify as having a disability.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s one accident, one mishap from disability,\u201d Rosenberg said. \u201cA disability affects everybody in their life, whether they know somebody with it or you are disabled yourself at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Solstice Method is expected to relocate to Austin Boulevard in Island Park in October, expanding into a larger facility that can accommodate more participants.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yoga classes are often associated with quiet meditation, controlled breathing and careful movement. But at The Solstice Method…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[181887,131,133,132,181885,181886,181884,179546],"class_list":["post-461281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-dog-yoga-long-island","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-long-beach-yoga","tag-puppy-yoga-class","tag-puppy-yoga-long-beach","tag-the-solstice-method"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}