A Riverview, N.B., vet has launched a new yoga class that she hopes will leave people feeling giddy.
The owner of Blossom Grove Barn in Colpitts Settlement, N.B., and Riverview veterinarian Margaret Dunnett is offering goat yoga classes from her newly built barn in hopes of sharing some smiles.
“It has been a rough couple of years for everybody and animals of all shapes and sizes are known to having a calming effect on people and reducing their stress, so combining that with a practice like yoga is a perfect pairing,” said Dunnett.
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Her herd of Nigerian dwarf goats run around and play and banter while they share yoga mats with not-so-serious yogis looking for a pick-me-up.
Kristen Andersen is her yoga instructor and said she is having the time of her life teaching the classes.
“Part of learning to practise yoga is learning to tap into different parts of yourself and one of those aspects is playfulness,” said Andersen.
She just never imagined she’d be helping people embrace that playfulness with hoofprints on her mat.
Dunnett also rents out her space for weddings and gatherings and plans to continue offering the goat yoga classes until the weather turns colder.
The classes are an altogether friskier vibe than Andersen’s typical yoga classes, but she said the goal is the same: to live in the moment.
“It is a very present reminder to stay in the room because we can get caught up in our head and out of the body,” she said.
Micah Goulos took in a class and said she could not stop smiling the entire session. This was her first experience in a yoga class, and “it was really hard to stop laughing because the goats kept crawling right under us and it is just a really fun experience,” she said.
“You just can’t hold the laughter, they are just too cute,” said Dunnett.