The trend of goat yoga was brought to Colorado Mesa University (CMU) once again by CMU’s Recreation Center on Oct. 16.
CMU Yoga Instructor, Karen Mahoney, taught three 45-minute sessions of yoga with a twist. Thirty CMU students were put in a blocked off grass area with 11 live goats, so students got to experience the trend for themselves.
”It’s a lot of farm animal and a little yoga,” Mahoney said.
During the yoga class, most of the goats grouped together to eat grass and the food given to them from yoga participants. A few of the goats butted heads, with one even relieving himself next to a participant. For the most part, the goats roamed around and didn’t pay much attention to the yoga-goers.
Sophomore Criminal Justice major, Avery Clouse, walked out with a smile on her face after the yoga session. Clouse advises future goat yoga participants to wear pants and socks and be prepared to shower after participating in goat yoga.
“I enjoyed it not being super serious and me being able to joke around. I enjoyed the goats interrupting me because they are fluffy and pretty fun,” Clouse said.
“The goats were funny to watch and hang out with today. I thought they might interact with us a little more than they did, but they were hungry goats eating the grass,” third year Biology Major Sydney Klumb said. “I’d recommend hanging out with goats any chance you get.”
Klumb had been looking forward to signing up for goat yoga since she missed the sign up for the last event. Since then, the goats have kept busy helping out the CMU Rodeo team. The goats have even gone to nursing homes to modify yoga for people who would normally not get the opportunity to partake in the activity.
“It lets people interact with [the goats] on a different level. Obviously, I’m really spoiled because interacting with animals like this is a daily occurrence for me. It’s what we do for a living, but a lot of people don’t have that in their life,” CMU rodeo coach Brandon Edwards said.
“I think it’s a must do one-time experience,” freshman and member of CMU’s rodeo team Kenzie Downing said. “It’s a really good opportunity to get to know the animals, for people who don’t know the animals and just to see a different kind of culture.”
