Herd mentality: Goat yoga is gaining popularity
BALTIMORE — A cool breeze rippled through the grass as baby pygmy goats roamed inside a fenced-off field in Carroll County, Md., one recent Saturday.
The gentle call of birds floated overhead, occasionally mixing with the goats’ bleats, as yogis laid out mats among the pygmies.
That back-to-nature feel — and the goats, in particular — is exactly what brought the small group with yoga mats out to Lil Holler Farm’s first goat yoga class.
Instructors and participants say goat yoga is gaining popularity throughout the Baltimore region and the nation because not only is it calming and good for beginners, but it’s a novelty … and of course the animals are just so darn cute.
Before the class taught by Erica Chesnik at Lil Holler Farm in Westminster, Md., started, goat food was placed on the end of every yoga mat to encourage the furry friends to interact with the 14 participants.
The pygmies were shy at
first, though some grew braver, a few even grabbing a couple of minutes of sleep at the end of a yoga mat. Others were curious, coming up to participants to check for food or sniff them before galloping off.
Chesnik said people are craving that interaction with nature and animals.
“It’s just a really great way to connect with animals,” she said.
People especially love the baby animal aspect, Chesnik said. The baby pygmy goats are playful and curious, she added.
Chesnik learned about goat yoga through social media. She said multiple people tagged her in videos that started going viral online, telling her she should try to get a class together. She was able to connect with her friend Claudia Konkus, who runs Lil Holler Farm, to offer a class.
And from there, it’s been growing. They’re being contacted regularly with inquiries about classes, she added.
“It’s definitely gaining a lot of popularity. It’s spreading like wildfire,” Chesnik said. “We’re really happy with the path that this is taking.”
Becky Keys of Fells Point took her first goat yoga class this month with Chesnik and said she would definitely take another.
The biggest difference — aside from the goats, that is — is the fact that the class is outside and has so much involvement with nature, Keys said.
The nature aspect brings it back to the central part of yoga, she said, which is about being one with oneself and the surroundings.
“When you’re trying to balance out your mind and meditate, it’s easier, for me in my mind, to be surrounded by nature and hear the sounds of nature,” added Keys, who said she recently finished 19 months of cancer treatment.
‘THE ADORABLENESS’
The goat yoga trend isn’t just spreading in Carroll. Other areas in Baltimore are picking up on the latest craze.
One class taught by Katie Bell in Harford County, in which she says the baby goats wear diapers because she teaches inside, sold out in 14 hours.
In Howard, yoga instructor Janice Ingson has been teaching goat yoga classes since early May. She got started in a similar fashion as Chesnik — she saw viral videos of the concept, and a friend who has a farm in Glenelg asked if she’d hold classes there using goats.
“I was open to the idea,” Ingson said, although she wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
“When I met the goats, it all made sense,” she added. “It was like walking into a room with puppies. It was just so different.”
Chesnik said the yoga allows people to feel a connection with the animals. But there’s also a novelty aspect to it.
People see clips of it on the internet and want to give it a try, Chesnik said. They come in, take pictures to post on their social-media accounts and then tell their friends about it, she added.
“They have a really great time,” Chesnik said. “I think it’s just the adorableness of the goats.”
Ingson added that because the goats are playful and sweet, the yoga can be calming.
“There’s just something very special and calming, yet supremely joyful about these animals,” said Ingson, who added that participants have been coming from everywhere to take the classes, which have a waitlist.
“It’s so big for me now,” she said. And while goat yoga continues to trend, it’s not the only animal-involved yoga with class waiting lists. The Baltimore region also has a slew of cat yoga classes drawing crowds.
FELINE-FRIENDLY FOCUS
Jaya Balaguer has been teaching cat yoga classes for several years in partnership with the Anne Arundel SPCA. They’ve done several events where proceeds go to the shelter, and many of the cats get rescued, she said.
Balaguer has also been starting to hold the classes at the Kittens in Cups cat cafe in Annapolis.
“I think it’s the unity; I think we feed off each other’s energy,” Balaguer said.
Animals are calming and yoga is calming, she said. They just go hand in hand.
“It’s just a bonding, unifying experience,” she added.
Animals can sense what people are experiencing, Balaguer said, and holding a yoga class around them allows a person to become more self-aware.
M.Power Yoga Studio in Baltimore has held several cat yoga sessions as well. Jason Herd, founder and director of the studio, said it partners with the Animal Allies Rescue Foundation.
People love being able to adopt an animal or give to a good cause, he said.
“If you have a connection with one, you can take one home with you,” he said.