The Year of the Hummingbird Series: February

Sabriya Charles, Founder and Life Discovery Expert

I slid my shoes off and giggled as I watched the little pygmy goats hopping all around the farm pen. The farm was beautiful with animals in the distance and plenty of sunshine to pull through the day. I felt freedom and silliness in my heart as I found my yoga mat on the floor. 

Being there alone, it felt weird. Everyone else had their friend group or partner and well, me…I was an outsider. People were still nice to me, but I did feel like I was in my own world. Refocusing around me, I watched the baby goats running around chasing the workers down for more food. Animal crackers and plants. They craved both with all of their might.

A little black and white one came up to me first and my heart melted as I petted its adorable little head. I could tell it really enjoyed the attention. I felt myself smiling and a connection between me and the little guy or gal. I was not sure how to tell what they were, but it did not matter, they were wanting my attention and I was ready to give them all of my love. Another brown one came up to me yet it was hesitant every time I reached out to pet it. 

The yoga instructor called all of our attention as we sat in our crisscross-applesauce poses on the mat. She calmly petted a baby goat as she explained the layout for the day. We began with deep breaths and focused on centering ourselves. She warned us of baby goats using the bathroom at any given moment around us. The moment she said this, a baby goat began to pee all over the floor.

Before I barely started, a baby goat decided to leave a urine gift to me. New mat! I was lucky to have an empty one beside me. And I was thankful to have worn socks even though I managed to avoid stepping into any of it. While the cleaners cleaned, I readjusted myself.

At first, the poses were not too bad, I was like triangle pose, check! Downward dog, I have got this! Not too long into the session, I got my first round of goat baby poop on my mat and squealed on impulse. I attempted to maintain focus as I worked to sustain the increasingly difficult yoga poses. Things got really difficult when she began to have us plank, ballerina pose, sumo pose, tree pose, flamingo pose…the poses were happening, and I was breathing heavily attempting to keep up. 

The little goats ended up on my back, under my bridge of a body, and just all over the place. It was hard to keep my eyes on the instructor as I could not stop laughing at the goats eating, tussling, and laying around on people’s mats. I snuck a head pat and a picture in as much as I could throughout. 

Before I knew it, the session was coming to an end and the instructor had us place our hands on our hearts and breathe in positivity. I looked into the distance outside of the window of the open-air farm building and took it all in. I was there. I was at this moment in time trying something new on my own! It felt good. It felt right.

While it was really hard to focus on the yoga as I spent more time on the goats mentally, it was still a space for me to be present. Present in the moment with the goats and strangers around me who also had taken a liking to the goats.

We did a small tour of the farm at the end, and I saw some beautiful horses and oh—more goats! 

The lesson I learned from this experience is things are not what they seem, but you can still find gems in the process. I expected a whimsical easy experience petting cute baby goats all day with a few downward dogs. Goat yoga is harder than it looks and while I did not expect all of the baby accidents and the tough yoga poses, I gained a sense of joy and possibility in the little farm space. And I worked my focus muscle just a little bit more! 

How about a toast to the farmland life? Would you try goat yoga?

Note: I want to honor the practice of considering the importance of decolonizing the art of yoga. Unfortunately, there is a history of Eurocentric practices drowning out the original intentions and spiritual basis of yoga in Asian cultures. One of the biggest concerns is the loss of spiritual and religious elements of yoga as this is a crucial part of its healing features for individuals. To learn more about this topic and what we can do to create a more inclusive and honorable space in practices of the art of yoga in relation to Asian cultures through a “postcolonial perspective,” check out this publication: Decolonizing mental health practice: Reconstructing an Asian-centric framework through a social justice lens.

Thank you to Alaska Farms Co. of Orlando, Florida for the unique and dynamic goat yoga experience!