In February, I finally got to try out a goat yoga class and it was so much fun! You might think I’m crazy but it honestly was a blast. My youngest daughter, Emily, is crazy about goats. She’s been begging for years for us to get goats and we seriously thought about it, but because of coyotes here, we’d have to get a donkey too and that’s a lot. So, she has settle for getting to cuddle goats when she can. Enter goat yoga!
A few years ago we heard a lot of people talking about goat yoga classes but there were none here. We thought the classes sounded like they’d be fun. I like yoga and goats, and Emily likes goats. What could be more fun? Unfortunately, the classes were mostly in California and we live on the other side of the country. But, over the past couple of years, we’ve seen a class here and there pop up, but nothing near us. Then finally we saw that there was one about 30 minutes away. Yes!
A friend of mine, who is like her second mom, really wanted to do this for her birthday, last June. Yes, last June. But it didn’t work out with schedules, which turned out to be for the best because a farm not even 15 minutes from our house started offering classes. Carolina Goat Yoga is in Mt. Ulla, NC and they are a working farm and they also rescue goats. We found their Facebook page and all the pictures of their classes looked like everyone was having so much fun. So, we finally bought tickets and finally made it to a class. It was so worth the wait.
For those of you that don’t know, or aren’t exactly sure what a goat yoga class is, I’ll fill ya in. It’s simply a traditional yoga class with a yoga instructor. They only difference is they let goats walk around the class. Our class was outside because it was on a working farm and even though it was February and a little chilly, the weather was gorgeous. Thank you North Carolina weather! They had sweet little baby goats that we passed around and cuddled and fully grown goats that walked around looking for the snacks we all had hidden under our yoga mats.
Our instructor was great and she even said that she knew we were all there to cuddle the goats and we could stop at any time to take pictures or snuggle. If you happened to go into pigeon or tabletop, one of the bigger goats would hop on your back to help you get a deeper stretch. You’d think they’d weigh a ton by the look of them, but they really aren’t as heavy as you’d think. Emily was in heaven and she had two babies fall asleep in her arms. And to answer your questions, no we were lucky during our class. No one got peed on or pooped on.
At the end of class, they reserved 15 minutes for pictures. Each person or group had the opportunity to do their favorite pose with a goat, or go into tabletop and have a goat on your back. We choose tabletop, because when in Rome, or goat yoga you just have to have the pic with the goat on your back. She was so gentle and not at all heavy. We had so much fun!
Attending a yoga class is great exercise and can be therapeutic, but a goat yoga class is even more so. After being sick for weeks on end, and finally feeling up to getting out a little, it was exactly what I needed. We all felt so much better after a great workout and some much-needed animal therapy, ahem, goat snuggles. We’ll definitely be going back again and I think we’ll have an even bigger group with us because now that friends have seen the pictures they all want to go. Girls Day Out time!
After yoga class, we drove up to Dairy-O for ice cream. We deserved it after that grueling workout (wink). It was a Treat-Yo-Self kinda day and we were celebrating Emily’s birthday. So you have to have birthday cake ice cream to celebrate. It was either a very late birthday present or maybe an early one. Either way, it was a blast and I highly recommend it.
If you’re thinking about attending a goat yoga class I have a few suggestions:
- One major suggestion I have if you decide to go to a goat yoga class is, use their mats. We had the option of paying $2 each to use theirs or we could bring our own. We decided to use their mats so we wouldn’t have to clean our mats in case a goat went on ours.
- I also recommend wearing something comfortable that you can do yoga in, but keep in mind that you will get a little goat fur on you. Also, you may be outside in a barnyard like we were. We took off our shoes, but not socks. I don’t recommend slippery socks on the mats. You may want to look for yoga socks.
- And pull your hair back if you have long hair. Goats will chew on anything!
- Leave your belonging in your car except for your phone and car keys. Again, goats will make chew toys out of everything.
- Listen carefully to your instructor/goat wrangler. They may have specific instructions on how to hold/feed the goats. Baby goats can be very fragile.
I seriously can’t wait to go again! My friend Theresa said it was the most yuppy thing she’d ever heard me do and that may be true. But honestly, I grew up on a farm so for me, this was like being a kid again, only goats and not cows. Goats are definitely easier to cuddle. Have you done a goat yoga class? You should put it on your list!
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