Bunny yoga is a fundraiser we have been running in Vancouver since 2015. It's a gentle yoga class with real bunnies running around the room and hanging out with the people in the yoga class.
This adorable event raises a few thousand dollars a year for Bandaids for Bunnies. They are a local rabbit rescue and shelter run by 2 amazing women, Janet & Krystel, who are extremely knowledgeable about rabbit well-beings!
Bunnies are very funny and intelligent creatures, but since they are prey animals running events involving bunnies require extra planning. With Janet and Krystel's help we made the events extremely bunny & human friendly over the years.
Over the last 3 years I have received quite a few emails from people and organizations that are interested in hosting their own bunny yoga classes, so I figure it would be useful to share 5 must-do's for a successful bunny yoga on the internet.
The first 3 items are to "bunny proof" the event venue, this is extremely important and will make the space a lot safer for the bunnies.
1. Remove/Tape Electric Wires
Bunnies like to chew on things, and unfortunately this sometimes includes electric wires. When bunnies chew on electric wires they can die from electrocution.
The first thing you want to do is to remove or tape up all wires close to the ground within a bunny's reach. This includes extension chords, stereos and computer power chords.
2. Remove and Secure Possible Falling Objects
The worse thing that can happen at any bunny yoga is if something heavy falls and injuries or kills a bunny…
In a fitness centre this means removing all unsecured dumbbells, medicine balls, etc. In a flex room this could be a pile of stacked chairs or anything that is unstable.
3. Close Doors
You will want to close all of the doors once the event starts, and have someone guard the door. Bunnies can get injured if they escape the room.
During one of the bunny yoga this year there was a hawk sitting on a tree outside of our studio window. It kept on looking inside – it was probably smart enough to know there are food…
And you don't want to be chasing bunnies.
4. Cooling
Bunnies are quite heat sensitive, keeping the room cool is extremely important for their safety.
Preventing bunnies from overheating is the reason we used to not have any sessions during the summer. We only began running bunny yoga classes this summer after we moved to our new location with a brand new light industrial AC unit.
5. Vinegar + Water Spray
Bunnies can have accidents during the class even if they are litter trained. This is because the event space will be unfamiliar to them.
This can happen on yoga mats or the floor. Vinegar water spray will neutralize chemical in bunny pee to prevent stain and residual smell. Bandaids for Bunnies usually come with a bottle just in case.
Visit Sunberry's Bunny Yoga
If you want to see first hand how the even is run I welcome you to join one of our up-coming sessions as a participant. You come early to see how the room is setup and hang out with the bunnies.
If you have done an animal yoga class share some of the coolest things you've seen with me!
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