Practice Your Downward Dog Pose With a Kitty

— -- Tucked away on the top story of a tiny townhouse in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., the Crumbs & Whiskers cat café just unveiled its newest program: cat yoga.

Yes, it’s exactly how it sounds. The idea is that kitty-loving customers pay $25 to practice their downward dog poses and sun salutations in the company of the café’s 20 resident felines.

“Cats in general are sort of zen creatures -- very chilled, very relaxed, very introspective, meditative,” said yoga instructor Colure Caulfield, who led the trial class last Tuesday.

“With cats purring and filling the space, it’s just a nice and relaxing experience,” she added.

Cat cafés are a relatively new business model. People pay to spend an hour in a room hanging out with a dozen or so cats. The entry fee for Crumbs & Whiskers, which opened in June, is $15 an hour.

Crumbs & Whiskers owner Kanchan Singh says the idea for cat yoga came directly from her customers. An overwhelming amount of customers have asked the café to host yoga classes.

But how the kitties feel about this new program still remains to be seen. During Tuesday's class most cats were curious, sniffing hands and hair as participants shifted into new poses. Others were bored easily, opting to look out the window or sleep after a few minutes of observing.

The cats are from local shelters donated by the Washington Humane Society and are all up for adoption.

“I think they just bring a really nice energy to the room. It’s something a bit different,” said yoga student Layne Shure.