Interested in learning about goat yoga? Visit Lehman’s for FREE goat yoga demos on Saturday, July 6 (during our Made-In-Ohio event) from 9 to 11 am, Saturday, July 27 (Cowboy Cook Kent Rollins demonstrations), or Saturday, August 3 (check out our new Tiny House) from 11 am to 1 pm. At the demos, you’ll have the chance to meet Amber Long and her friendly goats.
Yoga can benefit us in many ways, both physically and mentally. If you’re an athlete, doing yoga regularly can increase your performance in the sport of your choice. Yoga increases muscle strength and tone, flexibility, energy, and cardio health. It also can help with weight maintenance or loss, and can protect you from injury down the line. Yoga is great for your body, but not only that, yoga also helps with focus, concentration, sleeping, self-awareness, and stress. Yoga is a tool that many people use to feel their best and do their best each day.
So, if yoga is so great, then there’s probably no possible way for us to make it even better, right? Wrong! Incorporating one thing into your yoga can make it more beneficial in ways you wouldn’t expect. And that one thing is animals.
Animals improve the overall yoga experience exponentially. For starters, it’s a lot more fun! Some people who might think of yoga as boring, or too slow, might be more interested in participating if there are some cute, furry friends doing it along with them. It takes the pressure off when you’re surrounded by silly, playing or relaxing animals. It feels less serious, and more enjoyable.
One kind of animal-inclusive yoga is goat yoga. Amber Long from Goatsandpose, a goat yoga group based in Wooster, says she started her own animal yoga practice after going to a class in Columbus and realizing she could start her own business like it, and run it however she wanted. She says people are always surprised by how funny and friendly the goats are! People often visit her farm several times for some “away time” from the stresses of everyday life.
I asked Amber how she thought adding goats to yoga improves the overall experience, and she said, “I think they bring an element of comedic relief. Yoga is very relaxing and stress relieving and so is the laughter during the class from the goats. Just watching them can range from a very peaceful site of them grazing nearby to them crawling under or on someone during a yoga move, which brings pure laughter.”
Amber also says the goats can be brought to birthday parties, college events, and more.
Another benefit of adding animals to your yoga routine is their effect on blood pressure. Having animals around tends to lower blood pressure, which is also a goal of yoga. So this way, you are doing two things to help your body, instead of just one. Having animals involved makes it a lot easier to get the whole family into it, too! Your kids will love stretching and relaxing with cute farm animals. Getting the animals outdoors and moving is good for them, too, so it doesn’t benefit only us, but them as well. If you have trouble sometimes motivating yourself to get up and get active, knowing your furry friends will be there can make it a lot easier to get up, and get out there!
We hope to see you at the goat yoga demos! For a full list of events at Lehman’s, click here.
*****
Allison Ervin, granddaughter of company founder Jay Lehman, is passionate about the powerless – children, animals and anyone in need. A freshman at Kent State majoring in international business with a minor in non-profit management, she has served in Indonesia and Central America, teaching English in daycare centers and orphanages. A committed vegetarian, when not studying or cat-cuddling, Allison enjoys painting, listening to the latest music, and thrifting (shopping at thrift and vintage stores).
