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Cat-Cow... with Goats... Comes to Rockbridge

Goat yoga – doing yoga with goats -- is having a moment right now.  The West Coast fad has come to our part of Virginia, with Rockbridge County the latest locale to offer stretch sessions with barnyard friends. WMRA's Jessie Knadler drops in on one of these classes to find out what the bleat … is going on.

On a recent Sunday afternoon in Rockbridge, 15 yogis stretched and posed in a toasty studio while four adorable miniature goats munched hay and cuddled underfoot.

[fade up yogis laughing]

It might seem like an odd pairing – yoga plus … goats – that to some might scream … ‘gimmick!’ But it’s also just … fun, says yoga teacher Susan Dixon.

SUSAN DIXON:   It’s definitely less serious than yoga in a normal yoga studio. Yoga is the secondary reason for coming, obviously.

Research does show that time spent with animals can increase people’s level of the feel-good hormone oxytocin.

Here’s student Lorden Hoff:

LORDEN HOFF:   One of them kissed me on the mouth while I was lying down on the mat.

Working out with goats is a reminder to not take yoga … or life … so seriously. Like, when a goat has an accident in class, you just kinda go with it.  The owners are on hand to quickly clean it up.

Classes run Sunday afternoons at The Barn at Autumn Ridge.

Jessie Knadler is the editor and co-founder of Shen Valley Magazine, a quarterly print publication that highlights the entrepreneurial energy of the Shenandoah Valley. She has been reporting off and on for WMRA, and occasionally for National Public Radio, since 2015. Her articles and reporting have appeared everywhere from The Wall Street Journal to Real Simple to The Daily Beast. She is the author of two books, including Rurally Screwed (Berkley), inspired by her popular personal blog of the same name, which she wrote for six years. In her spare time, she teaches Pilates reformer, and is the owner of the equipment-based Pilates studio Speakeasy Pilates in Lexington. She is mom to two incredible daughters, June and Katie. IG: @shenvalleymag