By now, most people have heard about goat yoga. Some people have even tried it if they could have gotten into a class. Those who have tried it, love it. Goat yoga is a regular yoga class with goats walking around and getting on, over, and under the participants. It is a one-hour yoga session combined with mini-goats that wander around and interact with the people.
News Channel 5 reported on June 14, how Goat Yoga has hit East Nashville and other cities. People are going crazy with exercise and animal therapy that is sweeping the nation.
How goat yoga got started
Like some of the great inventions and discoveries, goat yoga wasn't planned. It started last summer when Lainey Morse of Albany, Oregon hosted a child's birthday party on her farm for charity. Heather Davis, a yoga instructor, suggested to Morse to have yoga classes in the open air on her farm. Morse agreed if only her eight goats could join in. The rest is goat yoga history.
To publicize the first yoga class, Morse posted photos and videos on social media with Davis in a yoga pose with one of Morse's mini-goats on her back. The classes filled up immediately, and goat yoga classes have become so popular that today there is a 1,200-person waiting list, and it is growing longer each day.
People come from far and near to be in one of the classes.
People love the interactions with goats because it takes their mind off of what's going on in the world. Morse says when guests are lying on their stomach stretching, and a baby goat crawls on their back, they can't help but be happy.
Morse's farm
Morse owns a small farm in western Oregon called "No Regrets" because she moved from Phoenix, Arizona on a whim and doesn't regret it.
She has always loved goats, so she purchased eight small goats. She bought the farm during the worst year of her life. She was in the middle of a divorce and had been diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome, a chronic autoimmune disorder similar to Lupus. She had worked as a photographer, but now she wasn’t strong enough to hold a camera.
Whenever she was stressed she would sit out in the field with one of her goats. That helped her forget about her pain and her troubles.
Yes, goat yoga is a thing - and hundreds of people are lining up for it https://t.co/BBna0c3ANM pic.twitter.com/daGA0PRzRb
— Wiki Insider US (@W_I_US) January 13, 2017
Morse's goats began to be used in animal-assisted therapy for people who suffered from depression or disabilities. Being with the goats does not cure any diseases, but it helps people cope with whatever they are going through, according to the owner of the goats. She says it's hard to be sad and depressed when there's a baby goat jumping all over you. That's why goat yoga continues to be popular across the nation.
Had you heard about goat yoga before? Is that something you would be interested in trying?
