In January of this year, one of my best gal pals tagged me in a Facebook post about Goat Yoga in Oregon. Knowing full well I like to try out the most random things life can throw at me, I jumped at the chance and tried to sign up immediately!
WAITING LIST!!!!!
My first attempt at signing up failed as there was an almost 1,000 person waiting list! I said to myself, “Self, do what Nike tells you and just do it.” So I signed up for the waiting list and spent a month or so waiting. Then one day, I got an email!
The wait is over! You can now purchase tickets for GOAT YOGA!
With excitement running through my veins about doing yoga with the cutest of farm animals, I stared at a calendar for a couple of days, trying to figure out the best Saturday to go down to Oregon for a potential girls weekend. With the wheels spinning in my head, I randomly picked July 22 and just went with it. That Saturday happened to be Goat Yoga and Wine Tasting – how can you go wrong with that??? At this point in time, it was March. July seemed so far away. I had already purchased all the yoga clothes I need from this website so I was all set!
Then I put out a status update on my personal Facebook page to see if any of my friends wanted to join me on this crazy adventure. How often do you see “Anybody want to do Goat Yoga?” as a Facebook status? Story of my life. Fast forward to the morning of July 22 and a total of 8 girls were closing in on Monmouth, Oregon for an evening of goats, yoga mats and wine! Oh and if you wanted to find some lovely yoga mats check out Product Expert they have some great info on them. I may or may not have asked the girls if I could hashtag our adventure as #goatsandhoes, but I digress (READ: They said it was okay, I swear!)……
I am going to interject into my own thought process for a minute – one, prior to my own experience, I had the chance to interview Lainey Morse, the founder of Goat Yoga. That interview can be read here. She literally invented Goat Yoga, you guys (which has now been duplicated and imitated all over!)! Two, if you are planning to head to Monmouth, Oregon for your own girls trip and you don’t live anywhere near Monmouth – I suggest staying somewhere in Salem, Oregon, which is about a 40 minute drive north from Emerson Vineyards, one of the Goat Yoga locations. If you are coming in from the south, your best bet for a place to stay is probably Corvallis, Oregon. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog post.
Emerson Vineyards hosts Goat Yoga and Wine Tasting. We arrived about 30 minutes early to yoga, per the instructions from one of the emails you will receive prior to your session. It was easy getting to Emerson Vineyards – keep in mind, its literally in the middle of nowhere, but Google maps got us there just fine. We were a little worried due to the remoteness of the location that maybe we weren’t in the right spot and I almost went to check the address I had entered again, but sure enough, a Goat Yoga sign greeted us! We headed up the long driveway and parked.
Upon arriving, you check in at the desk in one of the buildings of the vineyard (signs will point you in the right direction), where everything Goat Yoga greets you. T-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, tote bags, all emblazoned with Goat Yoga are waiting for you to purchase! I purchased one of the tank tops to work out in and I love it! After signing in, we were led to the goats and were provided with yoga mats! This was a lovely touch, although we had already come prepared as one of my friends was given a yoga gift card for her birthday so we all managed to get mats for the trip! Outdoor yoga may definitely warrant the use of yoga mats. Their anti-skid properties help you keep your grip strong on the surface while also providing a sort of insulation between your body and the ground. So, those searching for a mat might want to consider the Best yoga mat available out there.
The goats themselves come from Lainey’s house and she brings them all to the vineyard for yoga. On this day, two of her goats didn’t want to come with her, so we were greeted by ten adorable mamas, daddy’s, babies and siblings. We had the chance to interact with, pet and cuddle them. It was complete cuteness overload. Lainey and the yoga instructor, Heather, waited for everyone who was signed up to arrive (they even waited for some who had said they were going to be a little late) and then yoga began! Well…..sort of.
As you can imagine, I don’t know how much yoga actually occurred. Goats laid on mats, pooped on mats (they poop pellets and you just have to shake it off your mat – if you are grossed out by that then goat yoga might not be for you), rested their heads on legs, munched on grass and just chilled. Granted it was probably 85 degrees outside and we were all sweaty and no doubt the goats were very hot.
The yoga itself is for beginners and everyone can do the moves….if a goat isn’t laying on your mat that is! Heather was a great instructor and knew what to expect. She walked everyone through the moves in her calm and soothing voice through squeals of delight and as “watch out for poop!” filled the air.
After we finished yoga, they all brought out the wine! And let me tell you, they are not stingy with the pours! You basically can drink as much wine as you would like! One of the goats loves wine so we had to make sure he didn’t drink any – and he was a sneaky little goat! Tilly, one of the babies (or kids I guess technically speaking), is famous for jumping on everyone. We all posed for photos as Lainey and Heather put a little bit of food on our backs and Tilly jumped on everyone, making the perfect Instagram photos for all!
All in all, it was truly a unique experience to have with my friends and I am so thankful I had the chance to do this. Lainey and her staff are fantastic and goat yoga is like animal-assisted therapy. You can’t have a bad day when a goat shares a yoga mat with you.
I highly recommend getting all your friends together and road tripping to Monmouth, Oregon for goats, yoga and wine. The memories you make are worth every moment!
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