Yoga class features 'meow-maste' to benefit cat cafe

Saturday's yoga class was off to a different start with two gray kittens darting around in the corner as other felines sipped water and snacked on cat food.

Pia Das' human class participants were dressed in the traditional yoga attire, but some wore colorful cat ears and attached tails to their yoga pants.

"This combines all of my favorite things," Das said as class began.

She was talking about cats, yoga and Halloween. El Gato Coffehouse, a cat cafe in Houston set to open in spring 2017, hosted the Halloween cat-themed yoga class at the Houston Humane Society. It's one of several pop-up events being held this fall to raise money and promote the business, which will provide patrons the chance to play with rescued cats that are up for adoption.

"I'm a huge animal-rescue person. I'm constantly fostering animals," said Das, a lawyer who also teaches yoga. "I got involved because it's two of my passions: yoga and animal rescue. I think it's a great way of introducing animals to potential adopters."

This is the cat cafe's third cat yoga class. Classes are usually held monthly at the Houston Humane Society or Sharespace in downtown. Renee Reed, 37, founder of El Gato Coffehouse, said she got the idea for the class from other cat cafes.

Vita Brawley, 33, dressed in leopard print, does yoga regularly, but said having the animals around was an added benefit.

"It's going to make going back to my regular yoga studio kind of sad," Brawley said. "I really enjoyed having the cats here. They kind of make the practice a bit more fun."

On Saturday, Reed said she was surrounded by all of her favorites - cats, coffee and yoga. Dressed as a stereotypical "cat lady," she wore a pink robe with cats attached, hair rollers and smudged lipstick.

Cat-costumed Christa Cloudt, right, plays with a friendly feline at a yoga class Saturday at the Houston Humane Society. The event was a Halloween-themed cat yoga class and social with adoptable cats. Cat-costumed Christa Cloudt, right, plays with a friendly feline at a yoga class Saturday at the Houston Humane Society. The event was a Halloween-themed cat yoga class and social with adoptable cats. Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Yoga class features 'meow-maste' to benefit cat cafe 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Das led the class of 16 people through traditional yoga exercises, throwing in some cat puns along the way.

The cats did their own version of yoga: running between participants' legs and playing with scattered toys. Afterward, participants could visit with the cats at the Humane Society and eat Halloween-themed treats.

El Gato plans to host another cat-themed yoga class next month at Sharespace. Reed said they're also planning to hold an art class with cats around.

As the class ended, Das folded her hands together and the cats puns continued with the class saying together, "Meow-maste."