Forget downward dog. Yoga is all about the cat pose now.

Animal shelters are teaming up with yoga enthusiasts across the country to put a little purr into people's exercise routines. Recently, Minnesotans tried out Yoga with Cats, a stretch class at Rio Grooming, a pet salon in Hastings.

Hastings shelter Animal Ark put on the sold-out event. The shelter brought three of their residents to mingle with yogis — with the hope the cats would get adopted.

The fact that it's happened at a dog grooming facility is "a little ironic," said Lauren Erickson, Animal Ark volunteer and events coordinator. But no yoga studio would accept the fur-covered allergy balls, she said.

Erickson got the idea from a shelter/yoga studio mash-up in California, and the trend has since swept the nation, from New York to Portland.

For the first go-around, the lucky kitties who got to weave in and out of people in postures were Benson, a "vocal" orange and white former stray; Pepper, a black and white kitten who loves "balls and mice with bells"; and Mr. Kelly, a white and gray tabby with a Cindy Crawford mole. All three are available to take home for a lifetime of eating and napping.

Benson "was the star of the show, basically," Erickson said, and there's been some interest by potential adopters since the event. The other cats were more timid, "so we gave them some catnip to chill out a bit."

Another class is in the works for February.

"It's fun and relaxing," said Erickson, who admittedly hadn't yet tried to do yoga with a four-legged creature doing everything in its power to get a belly rub while you're just trying to meditate, thankyouverymuch.

More info at animalarkmn.org.