Yogis embrace the chaos at goat yoga fundraiser for North Grenville ranch

Giggles and goats mixed in with the yoga mats at Big Sky Ranch animal rescue south of Ottawa on Sunday for the first of a month-long series of fundraisers for the farm.

Goat yoga is, as the name suggests, doing yoga where there are also goats roaming around.

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It's been creating a stir in other parts of Canada and the United States, and on Sunday the North Grenville ranch hosted its first classes.

"We were looking for a fundraiser that we could do here at the ranch. A lot of our fundraisers are done bringing animals out into the community to raise awareness and donations," said organizer Debbie Purkiss. 

"I had seen goat yoga floating around on the internet a little bit and decided to give it a try. We have goats and we have space."

First class sold out

Purkiss said they originally planned a single class, but it sold out in one day. They added one more, then another, to the point where they're bringing in around 240 people from as far away as Hamilton and Montreal for a total of eight classes between each Sunday in June.

The money they're charging and donations they're gathering is all going back to care for the animals, she said.

"We end up getting animals that are either abandoned or abused … a lot of family breakups or seniors going into a home or into care so they can't keep their animals with them, they end up bringing them here," she said.

"We don't receive any funding, we're completely donation-based. This type of activity where we can raise money for the animals is really helpful."

'Not as much concentration as you'd like'

Many of the people who went to the first class left happy, despite having more than a dozen goats of all ages wandering around, throwing off their poses and nibbling on their mats.

"There was a lot more giggling and not as much concentration as you'd like, but it was still a lot of fun," said Brenda DellePalme from nearby Mountain, Ont.

"It wasn't a hardcore yoga practice, it was a really simple practice," Crystal Anderson said. 

"Part of it was that we would be distracted because of all the activity. I ducked a few times because I thought they were coming at my head, they nibbled at my toes, things like that. It just makes it more interesting."

'They came more for the experience'

The teacher said she wasn't sure how her goat yoga debut would go, but was really happy with her first class.

"The main thing was to just make light of it and have fun," Amanda Keeley said. 

"I don't think anyone here was 100 per cent focused on the yoga anyway, they came more for the experience of interacting with the goats."

Purkiss said she might do more goat yoga in the fall and is definitely interested in hosting more classes next summer.

There's also goat yoga happening at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum this week — but it, too, is sold out.