What Is Goat Yoga?
Lainey Morse introduced the concept of Goat Yoga in 2016. She wanted to implement animal-assisted therapy through yoga. Lainey reached a point where she had 2,400 people on a waiting list to try this new yoga variation. Goat yoga quickly spread all over the country and increased in popularity.
Essentially, goat yoga is practicing yoga while baby goats interact with the yogis. These little animals jump on the yogis’ backs while doing yoga postures. The whole point of goat yoga is to have some fun!
Benefits
Practicing yoga is good for your mental health by helping a person release any burden and relax. Goat yoga goes above and beyond: it integrates the mind with the body and the breath. It is excellent for decompressing, stress reduction, mood enhancement, and pain relief.
Research has found that interacting with animals increases levels of oxytocin and dopamine. Oxytocin is related to trust and happiness feelings. Plus, it boots new cells to grow in a healing process. Dopamine is also related to motivation.
Animal Lovers Get Surprised In A Yoga Class
A group of animal lovers was surprised at the yoga class when Roscoe and Floyd came into the scene. The yogis didn’t know about the baby goats. They only knew that they would try a new variation of yoga. It was a mixed group: some were just beginning the yoga journey, while others hadn’t ever tried the activity.
The class began with simple warming-up exercises. After a while, the yoga instructor told them to sit and close their eyes. The goats came into the scene, and animal lovers were overwhelmed. One of them got super excited. The goats instantly bonded with them. Even a little one jumped on a guy’s back!
Their Testimonials
“Goat yoga is everything I dreamed of. There should be more types of exercises incorporating animals into them because they make us happy. They’re pure and genuine ,” said Hannah, a working mom.
“A lady who had breast cancer […] just to the fact that that goat could make her happy after all she’s been through,” pointed out Lainey, founder of goat yoga. “Animals, in general, make me feel at peace. Playing with these goats made me feel so good. I completely forgot about the outside world,” shared Luis, a beginner Yogi.