Last year I felt adventurous and tried aerial yoga. It was challenging but fun and I’d try it again in the future.
This year I tried another new form of yoga – goat yoga. It wasn’t as challenging in many ways but I’d do it again… and again and again, whenever and where ever it was offered if I could afford it.
I’m still smiling about it days later. Here’s my experience at Simmons Farm in Middletown, RI for goat yoga.
To be clear, this is more goat than yoga. The whole experiences lasted 1.5 hours with about 30 minutes of it being yoga. It was a great class for all fitness levels, those new to yoga and those who’ve been practicing for a while. It was a hot day and the experience was up on a hill, so you do need to be able to withstand the heat and get up to the location with “your” goat.
About 30 of us were present for my morning goat yoga class. It started on a Saturday morning at 8:30am, ended at 10:00am and cost $25 per person. For our budget this was a little steep, but to me – an animal and yoga lover – it was well worth the price.
When I arrived, I signed in and paid the remainder of my fee. You pay a $5 deposit ahead of time and the $20 balance on the day – you can pay cash or send via Venmo for the remainder of the cost.
They have mats and towels to borrow if you don’t have one, but they’re first come, first serve. You grab your mat, use the restroom if you need to and then the goats begin coming out. There’s a briefing and some of the goats are allowed to be free range, while others wear collars and leashes to help guide them up the hill to the site where the yoga will be taking place.
Once everyone has arrived and the goats are ready, the entire group walks up a small hill on the farm to the top where there’s a fenced-in area overlooking water in the distance. It was sunny but breezy up there, so it made for a lovely spot for yoga.
You’re encouraged to spread out your mat and to come close to the center where the goats will be.
You might be wondering why you’d try to do yoga with goats. I’m glad you asked. The way Christine shared it is that life is full of distractions (in this case wonderful goats) and you have to train the mind in mindfulness to ignore those distractions no matter how tempting. By having goats present there’s a lot to pull you from your mindful practice and this is a way to strengthen those mental muscles.
The goats do what they want in the pen. You’re encouraged to keep an eye on them because they do chew things (towels, mats, hair, shoes) and go potty whenever the mood strikes, which for some was on their mats. Your goal is to focus on your practice. To put your phone down and be present. At the end of the session there’s time for photos and goat snuggles.
Sadly, my GoPro took photos rather than video but here’s a short time-lapse video of the experience. If you watch you can see the goats move all around during the practice and close-up goat cameos in the middle.
Some goats wander around, while others munch on the grain provided for them in the center. Some snuggle, while others check out the perimeter. Others like to sleep on the warm mats next to you, so it’s your job to work around the goat or to move them. Skye, the farm’s collie, keeps a watchful eye around the perimeter making sure no goats escape. The stretches, poses and mindfulness of yoga are all present during this time. It’s up to you to engage.
At the end of the session we ended with a traditional Ohm and “Namaste” which means “the Divine in me honors the Divine in you.”
Now it’s time for posed pictures with your favorite goats. We know I love my animal selfies, so I wandered around and got a few goat selfies. I thought long and hard about how I could distract everyone and sneak away with Oliver – I’m certain I wasn’t the only one with this idea! And I got my obligatory goat yoga picture – although Angel at this point was ready to pass the duty of supermodel onto another goat and was quick to jump down.
We gathered our items and the goats and headed back down the trail to the parking lot where there’s a sink to rinse off your hands. You replace any borrowed mats and help return the goats to their pen. Sadly, it’s then time to go.
The whole experience was so fun and, in my opinion, magical. It was nice to be in the open air with the goats and dogs, as well as the cows and pigs that could be heard nearby. The yoga was nourishing for the body and mind, while the goats were nourishing for the spirit. Hands down, I recommend goat yoga for anyone who even has a curiosity for it. You won’t regret it.
Address
Simmons Farm, 1942 W Main Rd, Middletown, RI 02842
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