3 minute read
Namaaaaaaste! Goat Yoga in the Kansas capital
Story by Michelle R. Terry | Photographs by Bill Stephens
When Jeni and Benjamin Moore purchased their rural homestead in southeast Topeka, their initial plan was to convert it into a state-of-the-art horse boarding and training facility. This was a natural choice that played to the strengths of Jeni, a graduate in equestrian science, and Benjamin, an Army engineer. A short time later, they achieved their goal with the creation of Silver Dollar Farms—but they also opened the door for a range of other opportunities, including goat yoga.
“A friend of mine had heard about goat yoga on the West Coast and encouraged me to offer it in Topeka,” Jeni says. “I thought, ‘why not?’”
The Moores’ herd of goats needed little training. Their job was to provide cute goat kids who were willing to frolic around yoga students, show off their mischievous eyes and their natural adorableness.
Yoga students practice with goat kids (and one human kid) roving about them at the Silver Dollar Farms outside of Topeka. Photograph by Bill Stephens
All they needed was a certified yoga instructor willing to work around goats, and they found this in Mark Kramer. A thirty-year yoga student who has taught classic Bikram yoga for more than 12 years, Kramer was a bit surprised when the Moores asked him to teach the first class. But he was intrigued and willing to put the class into the context of yoga’s adaptability for a wide range of audiences.
“If a person comes to goat yoga looking for an intense work-out, they might be disappointed,” Kramer says. “But, if they want to smile and to forget about painting the kitchen or a to-do list, then a 30-minute practice with goats might be just what they need.”
Yoga instructor Mark Kramer helps students develop correct poses (while avoiding goaten distractions). Photograph by Bill Stephens
Having battled football and rugby injuries, Kramer first came to yoga after a friend encouraged him to try it. “He told me there’d be hot girls there, so I agreed to come along,” he says. Not too long into the class, however, Kramer says he was unable to focus on anything except his breathing and trying to stand in the correct pose. “With my wrecked ankles, I knew I needed something more than ibuprofen and whiskey,” Kramer recalls. “For me, that was the practice of yoga.”
Kramer believes events such as goat yoga are more than a fun gimmick. He points out that one of the fundaments of classic yoga is for students to begin at whichever level they are capable of performing. All too often, beginners are discouraged by anxiety, selfconsciousness, and simply a general fear of not seeming bendy enough around other students—and these common fears can be at least somewhat subdued by the presence and distraction of goats.
“I think the goats ease the anxiety of practicing with a big class,” Kramer explains. “Goats don’t judge your strength or flexibility. They just are.”
"Goats don't judge." Photograph by Bill Stephens
Writing on goatyoga.net, Lainey Morse and Heather Davis, yoga instructors often credited with creating the idea of goat yoga, describe goat yoga as “part yoga, part animal-assisted therapy.”
In Kramer’s class, students begin a series of classical poses as the kid goats are herded into the enclosed outdoor yoga space. Once the kids seem comfortable with (and a bit curious about) the students and their yoga mats, they begin to wander about. Treats are thrown around to help herd them or move them along from one student to another.
Take a yoga class, add goats, sprinkle around treats—the perfect formulat for goat yoga. Photograph by Bill Stephens
One of the class participants, Michelle Lutzkanin, described the goats as cute, judgment-free guests. “The goats never interfere with my poses or deep breathing, and I love being with them,” she says.
Kramer notes one of the biggest differences in doing yoga with goats is that they cause everyone around them to smile. “It’s a muscle we don’t often use and need to more often,” Kramer says.
"Nice paripurna navasna you got there, but can I nibble on the mat?" Photograph by Bill Stephens.
With the Goats
Playful, energetic and flexible kid goats can be ideal yoga partners. But students should take some steps before stepping into a yoga space with a goat.
• Wear older clothes and leave high-end yoga pants or expensive clothes in the gym bag. Goats like to lick and nibble and might damage your garments.
• Expect accidents to happen, either on the practice floor, near the mats … or on you. These are, after all, young goats. Fortunately, any good yoga class will have helpers on hand to clean up little goat messes.
• Tie back any long hair or wear it tucked under a hat or a bandana to avoid having a goat pull or nibble on it.
