Category - Events

I know what you guys must be thinking, ‘Goats? Yoga? Goats and yoga??’  Well, the answer is YES… Goat Yoga is a thing…and it’s quite truly amazing. The concept was created by friends – April Gould and Sarah Williams around September 2016. Sarah is the yogi, who has been teaching the art form for more than 20 years, and also owns Desert Paddleboards. April is the gal who owns the cutest goats around the Phoenix area. The friends were also on American Ninja Warrior, which was where April was proclaimed “Goat Whisperer.”

Sarah felt that a lot of people are actually intimidated by going to a normal yoga class (I know I am). So that’s why she first launched paddleboard yoga, and then teamed up with April to do the goat yoga. “We wanted to do something together. Since she does yoga and I have goats, it just made sense,” April said.

The goat yoga classes first started out at April’s house in Gilbert, but soon had to move venues, as the classes just started filling up. They moved their home base to a sprawling ranch about three miles away from April’s home. They feel it gives people a real Arizona experience, and it was same atmosphere as their first venue. The adult and baby goats are all emotional support certified, and they have been trained to specifically do yoga.

The morning of the class, I had been feeling kinda shitty (ain’t gonna lie), but as soon as I arrived at the sign-in table and walked into the gated pasture, my horrible mood instantly lifted. I mean, it’s normally not everyday that you come across a yoga class that involved any sort of animal. The other great part, is that they were all dressed up in the cutest little outfits. Sarah and April told me that the outfits were mostly made from grandmas living in the area. The idea to dress them up, came up during Halloween, when they were going to be on the news. The news segment got a glowing response. “Our goal is to make people happy, so to see a goat dressed up, makes people even more happy. So we just keep adding costumes, and people will bring us costumes. The Dollar Store loves us, ” the ladies explained.

We did the hour long class, with Sarah making hilarious jokes throughout. Folks- let me be honest in saying that I could barely concentrate on doing the actual yoga part, when there were goats jumping up on us, as we were in the downward dog position. We were all taking photos and just living in the moment. A girl even got asked to prom. What a great “prom-posal,” dont’cha think?!

The 40 minute trip to Gilbert was definitely worth it. Sarah and April are lovely and witty. The goats were incredibly cute and well-trained. It’s also not every day that you have a goat walking on your back, which actually felt like a nice mini massage.

“If you go to a yoga studio, you drive to a yoga studio… you have to drive in traffic and everything. But {for goat yoga} you kinda get out in nature, and you get to see animals and you get to see people having fun. It’s just a win-win all around.” – Sarah

“It brings the community together, and that’s a big part. We really want to make people happy, bring the community together, just get away from the daily stresses of life.” -April

“So many people that come, would never go to a yoga studio. This isn’t intimidating at all. Goats don’t judge, they just love.” -Sarah

“One thing that’s special about goat yoga is that we do all kinds of yoga. We do traditional, mandala, acro ; so it’s a very good way to get to do all kinds of yoga. It’s not just regular or hot yoga. You can also meditate.” -April

Classes are an hour, but you can come early and stay late if you want to hang out with the goats. Also, $12 a class ya’ll! Check out their website to sign up, and get other information on the classes that are life-changing.

Keep scrolling to see more pictures from the morning!