You can now practice yoga among miniature goats on Maui

Posted by Mapuana Andrade on Thursday, April 18th, 2019 at 7:48am

 

For yogis and yoginis across the globe, Maui is a favorite retreat destination that exudes spiritual energy and provides the perfect backdrop for transformative experiences. Sunrise and sunset yoga are always popular, as are practices amidst the island’s most beautiful scenery. But another type of practice is beginning to shake up Maui’s yoga scene: goat yoga.

On a picturesque farm on the slopes of Haleakala, you can roll out your yoga mat and lift into downward dog whilst surrounded by furry, four-legged creatures. Maui Goat Yoga offers yoga classes that boast the company of free-roaming miniature goats, a combination that has exploded in popularity in recent years.


Photographer: Armin Kübelbeck, CC-BY-SAWikimedia Commons

Goat yoga was born in 2016, when Oregon resident Lainey Morse teamed up with a yoga teacher to offer a class on her farm in the idyllic Willamette Valley. Within weeks, hundreds of people had signed up on Morse’s waitlist to practice yoga with the goats and chickens wandering around her barnyard. Almost three years later, her classes still sell out regularly and she’s opened satellite locations in a handful of other states.

Yoga practitioners across the nation have followed Morse’s lead, including those on Maui. Besides the benefits of the physical exercise and controlled breathing, Maui Goat Yoga says their clients will also receive the psychological benefits of animal-assisted therapy. Unlike most yoga classes, you’ll probably hear laughter, giggles and squeals as the goats nibble on clothing and yoga mats.

Located in Keokea at an elevation that sits slightly under 3,000 feet, Maui Goat Yoga offers regular classes and those at sunset with live music. The classes fill up fast so prospective yogis have to book early. And if you’re Kama’aina, you get 25 percent off.  

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