Health

Goat yoga is the hottest new fitness trend

People in New Hampshire aren’t kidding about this new new yoga trend — in which baby goats are unleashed on practitioners backs for some light hoof massage.

The farm-based trend is so popular the Nottingham studio has a 350-person wait list, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper.

Five baby Nigerian goat yogis are let loose on the seven-person class. Participants are encouraged to laugh as the kids sniff their hair and climb onto their backs during practice.

“The response has been overwhelming,” Jenness Farm owner Peter Corriveau told the local paper. “We stopped taking names for waiting lists after they hit 350 people, so we’re trying to add in another instructor, add some more days of the week for classes and get a bigger space in the barn so we can accommodate as many people as we can.”

The goats help lower blood pressure, and make less-experienced yogis more comfortable trying something new, patron Artie Boutin said.

“It’s a lot less intimidating when you have five baby goats running around, jumping on you,” according to Boutin. “Nobody is paying attention to you at all.”

“It brings so much joy, and everyone loves babies, especially baby animals,” instructor Janine Bibeau told the news source. “Having them around, it’s like animal therapy. Studies show that animal therapy lowers stress levels and anxiety. It lowers your blood pressure. Those are all things yoga does, too, so combining the two is just such a unique experience.”