BUCKET LIST ITEM — check!!
I love goats and I love yoga, so goat yoga has been on my bucket list of things I want to do for years now. Uh, easier said than done, though – I guess I just hoped that a chance to hang out with those cute little kids would simply fall into my lap.
Well, my dream came true last week thanks to @GoatYogaDallas and @REVFITfortworth in Alliance … and it was every bit as fun as I imagined! When those little goats hopped up on my back during lizard pose, I couldn’t stop giggling … their little hooves felt like a tiny back massage and one of them actually balanced on all four feet on top of my head!
I hope the goats had even half as much fun as I did, and while I know that THEY didn’t care at all about anything other than snacking on grass and goat treats, I deLnitely got more out of it than I expected. You know how sometimes you build things up in your head, and then when the moment Lnally arrives, reality doesn’t match your expectations? Well in this case, HELLO!, it was even better than I’d hoped … pure goat-tumbling fun, ya’ll!
A couple of logistical points just to get everyone on the same page:
First, you’ve just gotta get over the head-scratching realization that no, goats are not potty-trained. Ummm, yes that makes sense but how do you handle a goat-accident? Apparently, all you have to do is swap out your yoga mat/towel and carry on!
Second, no they don’t bite and they aren’t loud and they don’t head-butt you (but sometimes they butt each other, which is hilarious and reminds you that yes, these are farm animals and not pets). Wait, do we really need to be reminded or — as my husband said as he rolled his eyes — are we just reveling in a bit of funny-farm-fun where goats get the last laugh?!
Now on to the yoga …
Honestly, I figured that the yoga part was sort of an after-thought, more of a way to provide the little cuties with a proper human platform for leaping and posing. But Sierra from Goat Yoga Dallas is not only fun-loving but also deeply committed to a true yoga practice, and boy did she ‘bring it’! Gently reminding us that the proper start to yoga is to begin from a place of discomfort in order to bring our bodies into awareness, encouraging us to settle ourselves by focusing on the parts that are resisting, and guiding us into the `ow of breathing and movement … all of this accomplished with cute little baby goats hopping and snuggling and prancing around in a busy little goat-herd swirl!
The unexpected juxtaposition of the “earthy animal and the soulful spiritual” was just pretty amazing, I have to say. I found myself trying to stay as still as possible, not wanting to move abruptly and disturb the nimble kiddo balancing nonchalantly on my back. Yep, and occasionally tapping me in the head with his hooves! Right then, it was all about me and the goat, in a harmonious hang-out.
And all of a sudden, somehow goat yoga just made total sense … being in the moment, finding the connection between the physical and the spiritual even when it doesn’t seem readily apparent.
“It takes more courage to surrender and let things go than it does to struggle.”
Wise words, Sierra, and thank you for sharing them at the exact moment that I needed to hear it. Although I’m not sure she was talking to me or to the four-legged stars of the show.
Silly me, thinking it was just going to be about playing with baby goats. Nope, so much more than I expected … literally the perfect day with sunshine and a cool breeze, much needed stretches, some yogi wisdom, and twenty adorable goats.