To change things to a lighter note during the current COVID-19 global pandemic, back in February my mom and I had the joy of participating in Goat Yoga.
What the heck is Goat Yoga you may ask. While an instructor led a yoga practice there were baby pygmy goats roaming around. You could pet them, pick them up for a cuddle and take as many selfies with adorable little goats as you like.
It was a 45 minute practice but we were allowed 60 minutes in total to ensure people had a chance to mingle with the goats. After the instructor introduced herself and before she began the practice, she said we could do 45 minutes of yoga, some yoga and some goat time or just spend the whole time playing with the goats. I can’t remember for sure but I think I may have spent more time enthralled with the goats than with my Sun Salutations.
An internet search reports that “Goat Yoga” accidentally originated on a farm in Oregon in 2016. Farm owner Lainey Morse found comfort in spending time with her goats after a period of depression following a divorce and an autoimmune disease diagnosis. Morse soon began inviting her friends over to do the same, dubbing the activity “Goat Happy Hour”. One of these friends was a yoga instructor who suggested they conduct yoga classes in Morse’s mountain-view field. From there, the idea went viral and Morse made $160,000 in revenue in her first year of business.
The article further reports that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, animal therapy has been said to help with physically lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, fostering connections for children with autism, and even diminishing overall physical pain. The mental health advantages are plentiful too, with evidence of animals helping with lowering anxiety, increasing mental stimulation and reducing feelings of loneliness. Goats are said to be the ideal therapy animals as they don’t need to develop a special bond with a human before they start interacting with them, meaning that baby and adult goats will just come up to a stranger asking to be pet.
These classes are open to yoga practitioners of every skill level.
Handlers roam around the whole time promptly cleaning up any messes. Most of the goats were two weeks old and one special guest was only two days old; clad in a baby diaper as he lived in the handler’s home.
The youngsters had playful bursts of energy bounding around and off objects, and head butting each other.
I would absolutely recommend giving goat yoga a try to enjoy the experience of playing with goats but not as a serious yoga practice. Namaste.
While I’ve only been teaching yoga for about a year-and-a-half, I’ve had the opportunity to lead all kinds of classes already. Multi-level, older adult, high school students, special needs students, elementary students, yin, Hatha, realignment, desk yoga, intermediate yoga, hot yoga, yoga for mom and baby, yoga for men and even floating yoga. But one style I’ve veered away from is power yoga.