Relaxation of Mind, Body, and Spirit

A horrified shriek erupted throughout the daycare center of Littlest Pet Shop. Everyone and everything within the room stopped and stared at the smoke and sparks that were erupting from the smashed television that now had a hatchet lodged in it, the screen itself shattered in two. In front of the damaged television was Sunil. The mongoose stared, not moving, not even blinking, simply staring at what remained of the smashed television. Finally, he slowly turned, and the look on his face was anything but amused. Coldly, he asked, "Who did it?"

The remaining pets all pointed at Russell. The hedgehog, taking note of this, blinked and bellowed defensively, "Hey!"

Pepper shook her head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. I told Russell to be careful with that hatchet, but he wouldn't listen to me." She glared at Russell as she approached him. "You said you were open."

"And I was," Russell argued. "It slipped out of my hands, that's all."

"Why in Allah's name were you even playing with a hatchet to begin with?!" Sunil snapped hotly.

Russell chuckled. "Sunil, relax. It's plastic. It's not real."

"I don't care if it's not real," Sunil continued to rant. "You just ruined my relaxation period!"

"Well, if Zoe could throw," Vinnie chimed in, "it wouldn't have broken the TV in the first place."

"Hey," Zoe growled.

"What are we supposed to do about a new TV?" Vinnie went on.

Sunil growled, about ready to tear out his fur. "Who cares about that?! You ruined my relaxation hour! I was this close," he put two fingers together and squinted his eyes, "to achieving enlightenment and peace of mind!"

Though reluctant, Russell approached the enraged mongoose. "If you don't mind me asking, Sunil, why do you spend so much time on this relaxation thing anyway?"

Sunil gave the hedgehog a deadpan look. "Must I really explain it?" When Russell nodded, he sighed and shook his head. "It is a personal ritual for me. It is how I am able to remaiin somewhat clam in stressful situations. It is actually very peaceful and rejuvenating."

"Really?" Russell stroked his chin in thought. "Would you be willing to walk us through the process? Some stress relief would probably do us all some good." He looked over his shoulder as the others nodded.

"Very well," Sunil agreed. "Do we have any more mats that we could use?"

"Not mats, per se," Pepper said, "but we do have blankets we could use. Would that work?"

"That would be fine," Sunil agreed.

Once the blankets were laid out and the pets were situated on them, Sunil then began the lesson. He stood before the group, feet together and paws cupped at his best. He closed his eyes, breathing through his nose. His chest heaved up and down as he slowly breathed. Slowly opening his eyes, he said, "There are over hundred different poses in yoga. The first pose we will do is a failry simple one. This pose is called the bound angle pose, also known as the Baddha Konasana. Everybody follow my lead. Do just like me." He sat down on the floor and spread his bent legs on either side of them before taking his paws and joining his feet together at the soles.

The rest of the pets looked at each other awkwardly, but nonetheless did as they were told.

Pepper giggled to herself as she mimicked the pose. "Heh heh. I never noticed how cute my feet were before."

"Pepper," Russell hissed. "Shh."

After about a minute of this, Sunil changed the position. Seeing as how they were all in a sitting position, he figured it would make sense to show them Sukhasana–the easy pose. He brought his legs together and crossed them, resting his paws on his knees. He inhaled deeply and sighed. "Isn't this relaxing? Just empty your mind. Do not think about anything at all. Let the worries and troubles of the day drift away and allow yourself to be lifted from the pressures of the world."

Vinnie blinked. "What pressures?"

"Vinnie, please," Russell remarked.

"Now straighten your legs and rock back and forth on your haunches," Sunil instructed. He straightened his legs and raised them in the air, keeping his paws on his knees, bringing his body at an acute angle.

The other pets mimicked the action.

"Whoa," Pepper cried, suddenly falling onto her back, bringing her tail over her face. She blew it out of the way and let out a laugh.

Ruseell let out a groan of irritation and rolled his eyes. Why ddi the others always feel the need to ruin things for him? He noticed, however, that Sunil didn't appear to be bothered at all by what the other pets were doing. Maybe there really was something to this yoga after all.

"Now we're going to try something a little more complex," Sunil stated. "Next we're going to try Hanumanasana–the monkey pose. I should warn you that for some of you, this may be a little painful. Stretch your right leg all the way out in front of you. Stretch your left leg all the way out behind you. Raise your arms to the sky and slightly lean back." He performed the pose perfectly. "Those of you who suffer from back pain or spinal problems, practicing yoga could help you out immensely."

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," Vinnie groaned. "Yeah, okay, I can't do this."

Sunil let out a small chuckle. "I warned you, Vinnie."

Vinnie sat with his legs up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs, rocking back and forth, waiting patiently for the next pose to be announced.

After another minute had passed, Sunil went on to the next pose.

"This next pose," the mongoose said, "is called Uttana Shishoana–the extended puppy pose."

"How do you like that?" Zoe said cheerfully. "A pose named after a dog."

"While on your knees, lean forward until your upper body is touching the ground with your arms outstretched and raise your buttocks into the air."

Russell's head shot up. "Do what now?"

"Just do it, Russell," Zoe instructed.

Looking over at the spaniel, the hedgehod noticed that she and the others were already doing said pose. Without another word, he performed the same pose as the rest of them, though he had to admit that the muscles in his body, while strained due to the stretching, did feel more relaxed. His body even felt more relaxed, as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Penny Ling chuckled. "You know, up until now, I never noticed how cute Russell's butt was."

"Penny Ling," Russell chastised.

The panda blushed. "Oops! Sorry, Russell."

None of the other pets heard the door to the daycare center open when Blythe entered. "Hi, guys–what the huh?" She stopped dead in her tracks, seeing all of the pets with their rumps raised in the air. She herself raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Hearing a familiar voice, Sunil cracked open an eye and smiled when he saw Blythe standing there in utter bewilderment. He stood up and approached her as he said, "Oh, good afternoon, Blythe. Would you care to join us in our yoga lesson?"

Blythe stared down at him. "Yoga lesson?"

The mongoose nodded. "Indeed. Come, you should try it. It's very relaxing."

"Mm-hmm," the other pets said in unison.

"Well, okay," Blythe said tentatively. She grabbed a blanket and rolled it out, then looked around at the other pets and copied the pose that they were doing.

Taking his place at the front of the group, Sunil continued on with the lesson. "Now, everybody stand up." He raised his paws in the air, and the group did as commanded. "The next pose we will be doing is called Uttanasana, otherwise known as the standing forward bend." He simply leaned forward and aligned his arms with his legs until his paws were touching the ground. "See? Easy." After a minute he said, "Now we will be going into Prasarita Padottansana–the wide-legged forward bend. Same thing as the standing forward bend, except all you have to do is spread your legs, like this." He stretched his legs out as far as they would go, then turned his head to make sure that the others were copying the pose. He beamed. "Very good. You guys are naturals at this." He stood up and clapped his paws together. "Okay, I think that's enough yoga for today. Now we're going to be moving onto meditation. This is mainly used to help you clear your mind and rejuvenate your spirit, okay. Simply copy the easy pose. You guys remember? Cross your legs and rest your paws on your knees. This is fairly simple stuff. Just breathe in and out. Just like before, do not think about anything at all. Concentrate solely on your breathing. Feel the rhythm of your heart. Absorb the silence around you and use that to calm yourself and relax your body."

The meditation process went on for at least an hour. No one spoke. No one moved. They all sat in silence. Aside from their breathing, nothing else could be heard. Even Pepper tried her darndest not to start guffawing when a funny joke entered her head.

Outside the pet shop, Jasper stopped, causing Sue and Youngmee to bump into him. He nearly dropped his ice cream cone, but managed to hold onto it. He looked over his shoulder at his friends and asked, "Hey, do you guys see what I see? Tell me I'm not dreaming?"

The two females behind him turned and glanced inside the pet shop. The window in front of them showed the happenings of inside the daycare center of Littlest Pet Shop.

"Well, if I'm not crazy," Sue said, "I'd say it looks like Blythe is," she squinted, "meditating? And she's meditating . . . with the pets?" She blinked and looked at her friends for an explanation.

"You know, as much as I like her," Jasper said, "she can be really weird sometimes."

"What's weird about meditating?" Youngmee asked, sounding as if she'd been offended. "My mom and me do it all the time."

"Nothing," Jasper said quickly, chuckling nervously. "It's just that it's a little odd that she's meditating with . . . well, them." He gestured towards the pets inside.

"It is a little odd," Youngmee agreed, "but I'm not going to make a big deal about it."

Sue nodded. "You're right. Come on, let's go to the park already." Without waiting to hear anotherr word from her friends, she skated off.

"Hey, wait for us," Jasper called, racing after her.

It took such an odd sight as a young girl in a room full of animals meditating, but it was what prompted Whittany to look up from her phone, stop, and observe. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her sister walking ahead of her. "Hey, Brittany, look over there." She pointed to the window across from them.

Brittany looked over at the pet shop across from them and was just as confused as her sister. "What's she, like, doing?"

"Like I know?" Whittany inquired, scoffing and rolling her eyes. "Ugh! She is so, like, weird."

Brittany nodded her head in agreement. "Totally." She took out her phone and began recording. 'This is so, like, going up on the Internet."

Sunil let out a contented sigh. He finally stood up and clapped his paws together, beaming at the group before him. "Everybody, stand up." Once they had done so, he asked, "So, how does everyone feel?"

"I feel great," Russell replied, twisting his body to and fro. "I haven't felt this good in a while."

"Ditto," Pepper agreed, happily swishing her tail through the air while a pleasant-smelling purple gas filled the room.

"We'll have to do this more often," Minka yelled, hopping up and down.

"I second that," Blythe said. She blinked upon turning and observing the busted up television. "Now, perhaps someone can tell me what happened to the TV?" She looked down at the pets for an explanation.

The pets simply looked at each other and burst into a fit of laughter.