research discovered the validity of goat yoga. Goat
yoga is a relatively new trend in the yoga world. It is
a typical, outside yoga class with the added twist of
goats being allowed to roam freely around between
instructors and students. Some classes even advertise
that the goats will walk on students’ backs during the
class, all while the student practices traditional yoga
poses.
“At first I thought she was clowning around but she
told me she was serious and I should think about it.
Bill and I tossed around the idea, but we really did
not want to give our animals to someone else because
they are like pets to us and you never know how an
animal is going to be treated in someone else’s care,”
Lisa Karnes said. “I suggested that we do it here, at
the farm. She came down one afternoon and we went
down there and it is flat, you have beautiful views, so
she said we should give it a try, so here we are.”
Jeri Elmore has been teaching yoga for about a
decade. For these goat yoga classes, she teaches
Vinyasa yoga, which means one breath per
movement.
“With yoga, you are not supposed to be competitive
with anyone or anything, not even with yourself. But,
in a studio setting, there is a lot of looking around
and seeing what other people’s poses are, what
leggings they are wearing, whether or not you look
cute compared to everyone else...the goats completely
remove everything about that,” Elmore explained.
“They strip away all of that competitive edge and they
strip away everything that makes people nervous
when it comes to trying anything new.”
On an August Saturday evening, Jackass Farm,
LLC. offered its first sunset yoga class and hosted 23
participants. After some storm clouds cleared, the
smell of earth made the experience that much more
visceral. Guests began at the entrance to the farm,
wearing masks and getting their temperature taken
due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
When it was time to start the class, the group
was led on a brief meditation walk deeper into the
approximately 220-acre farm, arriving at a plot of
land fenced in with goats waiting nearby. Elmore
led the class in their poses as a small herd of pygmy
goats wandered from person to person. The class
distributed their own mats apart from each other to
maintain social distancing, but the goats maintained
a cluster as they searched for the treats that were
handed out before the class began.
Over about an hour and a half, the class was led
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