Students participating in yoga as goats walk by. Photo by Hannah Dillon.
Baby goats took over the Student Union for the “Shine Your Light Baby Goat Yoga” event on April 12. There were a total of nine goats unleashed upon students while attending a yoga session led by local yoga instructor Raquel Polanco.
The event is supported by Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis, also known as AWAIC. Erin Workman was a speaker for the AWAIC program and noted that the program advocates for victims of physical, mental and sexual abuse. AWAIC recognizes a safe environment for students to relax is of utmost importance. This safe space is made possible in many areas, including goat yoga.
The occasion was a Take Back the Night event which Workman noted is “the oldest world-wide movement to stand against violence.”
Before the goats were released from their crates, the packed room filled with excited attendees who were laughing with anticipation for the fun to begin.
The goats — which were mostly baby Nigerian Dwarves — were provided by Kaichen and Tony from The Tiny Homestead.
Half of the Student Union cafeteria was sealed off from the rest of the building to keep the goats from exploring and making a meal out of the building’s surfaces.
Immediately upon the long anticipated unveiling of the goats, many floor mats were soiled. Some students were less lucky than others in avoiding the goats’ soiling, but a clean-up crew stayed on top of it.
When the goats were done making everyone nervous about whether or not they would ruin the provided yoga mats and surrounding personal belongings on the floor, a fairly fast paced and mindful yoga session began.
While everyone silently took deep breaths to prepare for the yoga session, the loud bleating of baby goats filled the room.
As people moved with the voice of the instructor, the goats became even more curious about what people were doing. Child’s pose invited the goats to sniff faces and chew on hair, all while everyone avoided the goat excrement. Warrior stance was led with a slight lean for students to pet passing goats.
The goat yoga session ended with a candlelight vigil to support survivors of abuse. A silence fell over the room and the candles were held in the air in unison.
Goat yoga was certainly entertaining for many students but the underlying meaning to support survivors of abuse was sincere and uplifting.
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