On a cold and foggy Sunday morning, Meagan Tkach entered the Greenhill Humane Society with excitement and an open mind. Tkach is new to Eugene and looking for a way to engage with the community. She searched for activities that match her interests and found the perfect opportunity: cat yoga.
The Greenhill Humane Society is a non-profit animal shelter that has served the Eugene community for over 70 years. They often put on fundraising events — including an animal-themed gala and ongoing cat yoga classes — to raise money for the organization and give the animals exposure for potential adoption.
Megan Brezovar, the event and community engagement manager at Greenhill, is in charge of coordinating all of the fundraising efforts. Brezovar has been working as Greenhill’s engagement manager since June and said she loves her job because it connects her two favorite things: humans and animals.
The hour-long cat yoga class was in partnership with Eugene Yoga, a local yoga studio in town. Participants relaxed in the Greenhill cattery on mats; they centered their breathing and exercised around the furry friends roaming between their legs.
The man of the hour was an 8-year-old cat named Mutton. Mutton is a Persian mix with one blue eye and one brown eye. When he entered the main cattery room, he made himself right at home. He sniffed each participant, sat on yoga mats and even made his way to the center of the yoga circle for some time in the spotlight.
Every couple of minutes, giggles disrupted the otherwise quiet room. Whether it was Mutton brushing his tail in the faces of participants, or Apple, a shorthair mix, making a dash from the comfort of one yogi to another — cat yoga was anything but boring.
In addition to experiencing cat yoga, participants were allowed 30 minutes of socializing with the cats and kittens after the session ended.
All 17 participants flocked to the outer portion of the cattery where the cats who did not participate in the yoga session were kept. Guests were allowed to open up the glass doors, sit inside the rooms and pet the cats.
Tkach stayed after the class was over and played with her favorite fur ball, Mabel. Mabel is a 2-year-old shorthair mix that is calm and loving. She and Tkach bonded during free time; the feline did not want move from Tkach’s lap when the event was over.
The instructor of the class, Valerie Morris, is a cancer survivor and has been practicing yoga for three years. Though she has never instructed an animal yoga class before, she immediately agreed to teach the class because she loves Greenhill staff and its’ animals.
“I love to support the community because the community always supports us. Those of us that have love in our hearts for animals, we just want to share that and this is one way we can do it,” Morris said.
Greenhill receives its funding solely through donations, grants and fundraising. Participants were asked to pay a donation of $20 in exchange for the purrfect hour of yoga.
“These participants are letting their altruism shine – paying more than they normally would for a yoga class knowing that the benefits are going to the cattery,” Morris said.
Tkach left Greenhill with a new love for yoga and the desire to adopt a cat. “My favorite part was being able to enjoy the cats walking around while being relaxed doing yoga. The Greenhill Humane Society is just so good about getting cats adopted, and I definitely wanted to contribute to the fundraiser and join in,” Tkach said.
With the help of Brezovar, Greenhill will continue to put on fundraising events throughout the next couple of months to make sure the animals have the supplies they need and the best facilities possible.
The fundraisers also help Greenhill animals get attention from the public so that they may be adopted. “The event gives these cats the exposure they deserve,” Brezovar said.
The Greenhill Humane Society will be hosting more cat yoga fundraisers on Jan. 13, March 10 and May 12, 2019.
This story originally misspelled Megan Brezovar’s last name and said that Greenhill has been open for 10 years, instead of 70. It has been changed to reflect the correct information.
