BOISE GOAT YOGA
Taking the ‘unpleasant’ out of exercising By Gaye Bunderson
Editor’s note: This article was originally set to be printed in the May/June issue of Idaho Family Magazine, but the requirements of social distancing put Emily Nielsen’s Boise Goat Yoga business on hold. However, she sent us the following email late in June: “We are actually up and running! Since we are 100 percent outdoors, it’s easy for us to enforce the 6-foot distancing rule, and class sizes are limited to 20 people.” Boise Goat Yoga is open now through October.
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t’s one thing to go to the gym and work up a sweat on the ellipticals. It’s another thing altogether to go into a green meadow, lay down a yoga mat near a group of trees, and happily mingle with friendly goats. Emily Nielsen, owner of Boise Goat Yoga, admits the latter form of exercise may sound a little silly, but rather than run from that perspective, she embraces it. “I put it out online as a joke, but people started coming. We sold out in one day. This is our fourth year,” Nielsen said. “People just want to try something new and kinda silly.” Nielsen and her husband, John Davidson, own an acre of land in Boise. Resting in amongst other houses is the couple’s residence. On the property are their lovely home, a large driveway, a garden, a building transformed into an Airbnb they call Boise Barndominium, an actual barn with egglaying chickens, and a meadow full of pygmy goats. The couple originally acquired the goats just as pets for their two daughters, ages 13 and 10. “They love the goats. They come out here for some goat therapy, something silly, and a chance not to take things too seriously,” Nielsen said. And that just may be the secret to the success of Boise Goat Yoga: not taking it all too seriously. Nielsen is trained in yoga and teaches at the YMCA. But when people come to her home and lay out their mats in the grass, it becomes a different sort of experience. “We feel the earth beneath us, hear the sound of the birds and goats, feel the air on our skin, and have a chance to re-commune with Nature,” Nielsen said. This isn’t a hippie-dippie sort of thing. It’s a Boise thing – and why not? Nielsen was born and raised here, graduating from Bishop Kelly in 1996. Children, older people, and families have attended her goat yoga classes. There are no yoga experience requirements, nor are there health and weight specifications to meet. Registered nurse Robin Dahl admits she’s no fit youngster but nonetheless said, “I’m over 50, out of shape and had never been to a yoga class in my life. The first goat yoga class I attended, I was hooked. It starts with Emily herself. She immediately makes you feel comfortable, and her class is geared toward all levels, so even an old, inflexible, fat girl like me can participate without feeling self-conscious.” Dahl also admits to “borrowing” her friend’s 5-year-old daughter and taking her to one of Nielsen’s Kids n Kids classes – a goat experience for the younger set. For both young and old, the experience isn’t limited to
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Emily Nielsen, her husband John, and their two daughters – Luciya, age 13, on her dad’s shoulders, and Mirabel, age 10 – keep company with one of the family’s pet goats in the backyard of their Boise residence. (Courtesy photo) Contnued on Page 15
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Idaho Family Magazine | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020 9
