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.

It’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 Emily Nielsen, her perspective, she embraces it. husband John, and

“I put it out online as a joke, but people started coming. their two daughters We sold out in one day. This is our fourth year,” Nielsen said. – Luciya, age 13, on “People just want to try something new and kinda silly.” Nielsen and her husband, John Davidson, own an acre of her dad’s shoulders, and Mirabel, age 10 – keep company with land in Boise. Resting in amongst other houses is the couple’s one of the family’s pet residence. On the property are their lovely home, a large goats in the backyard driveway, a garden, a building transformed into an Airbnb of their Boise residence. they call Boise Barndominium, an actual barn with egg(Courtesy photo) laying chickens, and a meadow full of pygmy goats.

The couple originally acquired the goats just as pets for Contnued on Page 15 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 – We understand your time is valuable. and why not? Nielsen was born and raised here, graduating We won’t waste from Bishop Kelly in 1996. Children, older people, and a minute of it. families have attended her goat yoga classes. There are no yoga experience requirements, nor are there health and weight specifications to meet. Hassle Free

Registered nurse Robin Dahl admits she’s no fit youngster Scheduling 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 Upfront I attended, I was hooked. It starts with Emily herself. She Pricing 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.” Clean & Professional Dahl also admits to “borrowing” her friend’s 5-year-old daughter and taking her to one of Nielsen’s Kids n Kids TheMagicTeam.com classes – a goat experience for the younger set. For both young and old, the experience isn’t limited to Schedule Today 208-462-0447 www.idahofamilymagazine.com