What You Should Know Before Trying Goat Yoga

When you hear the term "goat yoga" what comes to mind? Is it of you happily posing in downward dog in a field surrounded by goats? If it is, then you are spot on and have envisioned exactly what this term describes. Goat yoga is one of the many yoga trends that appears to be taking off. According to live 101, farm-based yoga classes started in Albany, Oregon when resident Lainey Morse hosted a "goat happy hour" and invited people who were feeling stressed and sick to come to her farm and be around the goats to forget about their real-life issues. "The goats would help people forget about everything," Morse says via live 101. She goes on to explain that she realized their stress healing power from her own personal experience. "I would come home from work every day and go sit out in the field with my goats. It was just impossible to be sad or depressed because they make you forget," she shares.

We know that the idea of combining yoga and goats may have raised some eyebrows in the beginning. But if you really break it down, this fitness craze has a reasonable explanation as to why it's growing in popularity. "Goats are perfect for the yoga practice because it's not only combining nature and animals, it's combining yoga, and they all go together so well," explains Morse to CNN. In fact, the addition to animals in a yoga class may give you all the benefits of a more traditional class, and then some. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), being around animals has been linked to reduced feelings of depression, lower blood pressure, and increased opportunities for socialization.

If you're intrigued (we definitely are!) then you might be in luck as Town and Country magazine shares that the farm fitness trend has spread to Arizona, Colorado, Florida, California, and other towns around the U.S.

St. Louis Magazine has some practical tips and recommends future goat yoga participants wear something they don't mind getting dirty, bring their your own yoga mat and towel, and try not to stress because goats are friendly animals that don't bite. So, we say, if this animal-friendly fitness craze sounds like something you might like, find a local farm or yoga studio near you and give it a try.