There are lots of different kinds of yoga popping up these days. Dog yoga, laughing yoga, chocolate and wine yoga, etc.
This morning I read an article about dog yoga, now called doga, which is designed to help dogs and their people relax by doing something together. Here’s a picture of some dogis relaxing:
Anyway, I’m a firm believer of people doing what they want as long as it is not hurtful to someone or something. But when it comes to yoga I’m more of a traditionalist. Yoga isn’t supposed to be about relaxing in some asanas with whatever you can come up with as a new twist on an old theme. It is so much more than asanas as a way to make your body feel better. Yoga is supposed to be about Self-realization, the search for awareness of the unity between the individual self and the cosmic Self.
No doubt all these different types of yoga are helping people in some way and that is a good thing. It seems though that giving all these varieties the heading “yoga” does a disservice to the yogis – the ones who are following the ancient teachings on the only quest that really matters, the ones who practice their asanas, and kriyas and pranayamas etc. with a search for something greater than our imprisoning human bodies and limited mental capacities.
Anyway, to each his own, and I hope everyone has a good yoga practice in whatever kind of yoga they want to do. The bottom line is that we are all on the path toward unity with the Self and we will all get there, no matter how circuitous a route we take.
Meanwhile, I think I will skip the doga. When I practice asanas this is what my dog does:
Looks like she can relax just fine without it.
Sita's Yoga Blog 
Nice doga! I agree with you Sita. These other forms of exercise should not really be called yoga or be associated with the word yoga. But it seems that most yoga is fad these days anyway. It’s difficult to find anything that is truly traditional and has not been changed by today’s society.
I guess the debate is if the changes that have been made by our society are really an evolution for yoga, a movement in a positive direction, or if they are a movement away from what was originally intended by the creators of yoga.
I think that by watering down and altering these teachings, it detracts from their beneficial effects and changes their original purpose.
Om ~ Mookambika