By Rylee Baker, Assistant Opinions Editor: Heart Beat
Yoga is an extremely popular form of exercise, often featuring soothing music, a soft-spoken instructor, and various positions that either feel amazing or give you whiplash. You’ve probably seen the growing trend of yoga with animals, usually goats, kittens, or puppies. It’s an easy way to get people interested in yoga since most of the population loves animals, especially babies. But I was curious if animal yoga was actually beneficial, or just a flashy gimmick to boost attendance. I decided to test it out myself.
Yoga itself has a cocktail of benefits that aid a person both physically and mentally. Hopkins Medicine says that doing a consistent yoga routine every day can reduce stress levels and lower blood pressure, manage stress levels, and even aid in muscle and joint pain. So how can animals help?
Beth A. Wolfe, a certified yoga instructor who commonly uses animals in her sessions, told Northern Virginia Magazine, “As far as health benefits go, it’s all about the central nervous system.” She goes on to explain that while yoga itself is great at calming the nervous system, animals help with de-stressing our body and mind and help with rebalancing our sympathetic and parasympathetic parts in the nervous system. She also claims it’s good for the animals and helps them socialize with people more effectively.
So, I wanted to test this theory out. Nittany Farms, near Penn State University, holds weekly yoga sessions featuring baby goats. I bought a ticket and drove the hour up to the farm to check it out myself. Their website states, “ Goat yoga is great for newbies easing into yoga or seasoned yogis looking to shake things up and embrace the joy of imperfection.” They aren’t claiming that goat yoga is in some way better for you than regular yoga; all they’re saying is that it’s different, which it was.
I arrived with my towel and followed a group of college students up a field to a barnhouse, where what looked like 50 goats were all in cages lined inside the barn. Some were babies, others looked older, and there were even a handful of pregnant goats chewing on bales of hay. After a few minutes of attempting to pet the goats, the yoga instructor led us back out onto the field. She told us it was important to stand up and hold our towels when the baby goats ran outside. She laughed, explaining that the first time they see everyone is when they’re most likely to poop. As I stood, I watched a herd of about 15 to 20 baby goats run out from the barn’s entrance towards the crowd of people and me.
After a few minutes of the goats running around and sniffing everyone, we were finally given the OK to set our towels back down and begin the session. It started like any normal yoga session; our instructor told us to begin with cat cow, but as I got into tabletop, a small goat jumped onto my back. It caught me off guard, and I almost tipped over, but I quickly found my footing and was able to stay upright as the goat chilled out on my spine.
The instructor continued to call out different yoga positions as goats swarmed around us, licking and jumping on everybody. It became increasingly hard to hear her as everyone was laughing and talking, petting the goats and picking them up. I did my best to pay attention, but it became increasingly hard as small goats trotted up to me, climbing into my lap and jumping on my shoulders. It surprisingly didn’t hurt, as the goats were still babies and pretty small.
The session itself only lasted about 30 minutes, and in the end, I realised I had barely done any yoga. I’d spent most of the time attempting to do yoga and getting distracted by all the furry animals. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it, though. I’d never interacted so closely and personally with goats before, and this herd was extremely friendly and cute.
As the session ended, the instructor led us and goats back into the barn where we got to sample fresh goat milk. I’m not a big fan of milk to begin with, but other people seemed to really enjoy it. They also sold goat cheese, goat soaps, goat candles, milk, tote bags, and so much more; everything goat-themed, of course.
After reflecting, I’ve concluded that animals don’t necessarily make yoga any healthier or better by any means. But it does make yoga exciting and interesting, definitely something I’d recommend if you needed to spice up your yoga routine or wanted to try something different. I found it to be very enjoyable, and I’d recommend goat yoga to anyone who enjoys movement and baby animals.