Namaaaaaaaaste! Goat Yoga
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.
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.”
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.”
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.
Adapted from an article in the fall 2019 issue of Topeka Magazine.
