Totes McGoats

Ok hear me out - I know I’ve been posting a lot about goats lately, so stick with me for one more round (this post) and then I’ll be done. Three words: baby fainting goats; they are the perfect pint-size distraction to turn a yoga session into adorable chaos.

The scene: a very pretty penned-in section on a farm, with a great barn nearby. Roll out your yoga mat (rented from the venu, if you don’t want to have to wash goat droppings off your own personal mat later. Not guaranteed, but a definite possibility that I thankfully didn’t encounter).

Details

Shoes/bags/water bottles should be hung up *fine print: “so that they won’t get chewed on by the adorable everything-eaters about to join the scene”. And add a yoga instructer who has done this before, so she knows a) that you’ll be distracted and b) the perfect goat-worthy poses.

::The mini stampede lined up at the gate while the humans get briefed about what to expect:: Release the Kraken! Just kidding, it was pretty anti-climactic when they opened the gate; just a bunch of fluffy curious goats walking and sniffing around at everyone.

I was immediately hopped on by this guy

Table top - breathe in, breathe out… feel the 20-pound sack of potatos that just hopped up onto your back… and so begins your most distracted-yet-inspired session. Next pose. Repeat funny goat interactions for the next 45 mins…

Some more details - each goat is blind contour (but they aren’t connected)

That’s it, really. The fact that there was even some amount of yoga going on for the whole session was impressive (have you seen baby fainting goats? Highly adorable creatures and, therefore, wildly distracting to even the most masterful yogi, I’m sure).

Hold that downward facing dog for a sec: I’m not a fan of anthrophomorphizing animals or forcing them to do things for human entertainment (which is why you’ll never see me dress my dog up or ask her to go to human places with me that she really doesn’t give a flying Wallenda about). So a part of me was hesitant to partake in this experience at all, at first.

Look at that cute face (and little pointy antlers that were way too close to my unprotected eyeballs)

Before going, I checked out the company to see if their mission is something I felt comfortable supporting. They care for, and take good care of, their goats and other animals, which is immediately apparent on their website and in person at their farm. Yes, I realize it’s “only goat yoga”, but I 100% would not have gone if anything about their operation was a red flag. Side note: they have other animals on the farm as well, but I don’t think “herding dog yoga” would be a good idea (terrible, actually - those guys are CHOMPY - but I digress). I think the goats may have even had a good time - they seemed to enjoy checking everyone out who was at the class.

Things I liked about the place I went (note: there were no things I disliked about the place): the grounds are great - space / shelter / caring staff who briefed us about the wellbeing of the animals before we were allowed to interact with them. The main caretaker lady acknowledged that the yoga is a stressful hour for the goats, but that they get to take the whole rest of the day off “to be goats” after any extended human interaction session ends.

Goats being goats

The humans who run this farm do a great job, and the goats really were fun to meet. Fun fact: did you know that these goats LOVE to eat poision ivy? Apparently when they aren’t busy looking inward and aligning their chakras, these goats are busy helping clear properties of all the invasive weeds that would make humans itchy. Literally I learned more about goats that I ever have before, even though I grew up in a farm town.

Ohm

There you have it. It was fun, the goats were adorable, the humans were knowledgable and kind. Of -COURSE- I needed to make blind contour goat art afterwards! As you can see, I made a goat friend or two during my session, and maybe even did some yoga. I would definitely go back to this place again for another goat-infused yoga session.  There, now I’m done talking about goats. 

Next up?  Hawks (no, not yoga-related!)