Would ewe believe it? Yoga gets a baa-rmy makeover
Catherine Lofthouse signs up for an exercise session with some rather sheepish friends
As I breathed into a downward dog position, a woolly onlooker ambled up to inspect my pose. I was at my first lamb yoga class – a new and wonderfully baa-rmy take on fitness.
Yoga sessions with animal companions, such as goats, puppies and lemurs, are growing in popularity – thanks in part to people craving something a little different and a break from the norm. And I certainly include myself in that.
So when I heard about such a class involving lovely lambs, I knew I had to give it a go.
But I must admit, when laying down my yoga mat in a barn at Melbourne Animal Farm in Derbyshire one Sunday morning, I wondered what I’d let myself in for.
We were to be put through our paces by the aptly named yoga teacher Amanda Supple, who introduced us to our woolly classmates. Several months old, they were chunky, cheeky, oh so cute… and very distracting indeed.
And that is exactly the point. Farmer Carla Shaw decided to offer the animal-assisted exercise classes after seeing how much joy her livestock gave to the volunteers who cared for them while Covid closed the farm to the public.
Carla says: “Our animals are great healers, particularly for a person’s mental health and wellbeing, and offer wonderful therapy to all involved.” So when her spring lambs – Jasmine, Jet, Tommy, Leo and Ollie – were born, she knew exactly what to do.
So far, she says, lamb yoga has produced an enthusiastic response. And she hopes to find more ways of bringing visitors and animals together as the farm establishes itself.
It’s certainly hard to be unhappy amid a flock of lambs. The friendly bunch obviously hadn’t heard the advice about not exercising on an empty stomach. They’d skipped breakfast and happily chomped food pellets from our hands as they got used to our presence in their pen. After a bit of a bleat and greet, it was time to get exercising. I desperately hoped my previous failed attempts to master the secrets behind yoga breathing would not leave me the black sheep of the barn. But I needn’t have worried as the warm-up, with the cute flock winding between exercise mats scavenging for the last few morsels of fallen food, certainly gave me a fuzzy feeling from head to toe. It was quite pleasant to be breathing deeply in a pose, only to open my eyes and catch sight of a sheep ambling past or nudging its fleecy fellow out of the way. For the first few minutes, we did some seated stretches which put us at head height with the lambs.
They seemed to be taking it all in their stride.
There was the odd moment when the old adage about not working with kids or animals popped into my head, especially as I watched the photographer shooing inquisitive sheep away from his equipment.
It had occurred to me before the class that trying to get into any sort of Zen zone in the same space as these critters might be much akin to exercising in a room with my toddler: a similar level of cuteness and curiosity, but also a fair chance of ending up with unwanted bodily waste on the floor.
And yes, while there was poo – and lots of it – it was quickly and expertly scooped away by the farmhands.
For the most part, the lambs’ presence was actually very calming. Yoga is about stretching and strengthening at a steady pace. And the lack of sudden, sharp movements from the human herd was mainly mirrored by our fluffy assistants – although there were a few moments when the flock headed from one end of the barn to the other at speed. It certainly added a frisson of excitement I’ve not encountered while doing yoga in a sports hall. And the balancing element of tree pose was a different experience when attempted on uneven ground with animals around.
As the class worked its way through downward dog, cat-cow, sun salutation and warrior pose, I’m sure I wasn’t alone in wondering what would happen if we had to do any moves lying down.
Having never taken part in goat yoga, I can’t say what it’s like having a farm animal climbing on your back as you’re down on all fours, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out, given the lambs’ size.
My husband and I once had a full body massage on holiday in Turkey. While I had a lithe young man gently rubbing my back, my husband ended up with a more heavy-set masseur, walking up and down his spine. His back’s never really been the same since. I imagined it would be much the same if one of the lambs decided to climb aboard. Luckily for my spine I didn’t have to find out. The lambs, as curious as they were at first, didn’t seem inclined to see us as human hills. In all fairness, they weren’t much interested in us at all once we no longer had any food to offer. The occasional unexpected flap of an exercise mat being straightened or relocated was the only thing that seemed to startle them once or twice.
Before we knew it, the class was over and everyone agreed they’d had a lot of fun fussing over the lambs. We’d also managed a good workout too.
The lambs certainly brightened my morning, made me smile and added a different element to the exercise class. And on a nicer day, it would have been lovely to be out in the fields with them, stretching beneath the sun, with bare feet on grass.
When it comes to great ideas with a difference, yoga with a herd mentality certainly worked for me. ■■Visit melbourneanimalfarm.org to book a lamb yoga session, £12.50
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Sheep winding between exercise mats gave me fuzzy feeling from head to toe