BLEATING GOOD FUN!
BER’S YOGA CLASSES HAVE MEDITATION, MINDFULNESS AND … BABY GOATS
Her yoga classes may sound more like a bleating barnyard than blissful retreat, but Berenice Tan wouldn’t have it any other way.
The 35-year-old offers meditation, mindfulness and yoga-based fitness alongside goats, piglets, kittens and puppies.
“I started meditation classes with goats and then it expanded to include yoga and other animals,” says Ber, who opened her Karmably studio in Brisbane in 2018.
The former primary school teacher admits she was sceptical, but after giving it a go, surrounded by four-legged friends, she was hooked.
“You get to try something new and develop a connection with animals that you may never have felt before – and, after all, who doesn’t like playing with baby animals?”
Brisbane-based Ber credits the wacky workout as a huge part of her healing journey.
“Yoga and meditation with animals is what empowered me and helped me heal,” she says.
“Growing up, I suffered social anxiety. I overthought everything and lost trust in myself and everything and everyone around me.
“My mission is to bring the best out of everyone and empower others with yoga and young animals – the same way it helped me.”
Ber’s classes are more chaotic than calming, but that’s just how she likes it.
“There’s nothing like seeing the sheer delight on someone’s face when a little goat hops up on their shoulders, a kitten curls up around their head or even when a piglet does a sneaky pee in the corner,” she laughs. “But the bedlam is a reflection of our minds and lives.
“Everyone shows unconditional compassion towards the baby animals, and in doing so, it begs the question that if we can show compassion to animals amid the cray-cray, why can’t we show the same care to ourselves?”
For more information visit karmably.com.au
‘AFTER ALL, WHO DOESN’T LIKE PLAYING WITH BABY ANIMALS?’