A new fitness craze is spreading across America- Goat Yoga. Now it has hit Dallas.  

Goat Yoga was first introduced in 2016 by an Lainey Morse, owner of the No Regrets farm in Oregon. During a goat “happy hour” event of socializing with the animals on her farm, Morse saw how the goats interacted with people in a positive way. Believing that the goats provided a sense of calm, she thought that pairing them with yoga was a perfect fit.

In just one year, the quirky idea captured the attention of the public. Over 1,200 people are put on the waiting list for every class due to its ever growing popularity. Morse also believes that goat yoga could be a new form of animal therapy.  

“Goats don’t need a bond with a human,” Morse said. A stranger can walk in a barn, and a goat will come up to you and want to nuzzle you and be pet. I have people that have cancer and are going through chemo, and their main goal is to come to a goat yoga class when they’re done.”

Morse herself suffers from Sjogren’s syndrome, an immune system disorder, and the goats help her to find peace and unwind.   

Goat Yoga classes are now popping up in major cities, including Dallas. The Four Bullets Brewery offers goat yoga for charity, in which the proceeds are given to Here’s Your Reminder, an anti-depression foundation, and the Lone Star Ranch Rescue.

The Jewish Community Center of Dallas now offers puppy and goat yoga as a part of their Farm to Mat series. At the center, participants are provided mats and towels and led into an outdoor fenced off space where the class takes place.  

As the classes begin, instructors release the goats into the enclosure where they are free to roam about and interact with the yogis. Yoga instructor Woni Lang teaches the weekly classes.  

“It’s the new fitness trend of relaxation and exercise and I’m a fitness lover so I thought ‘why not’,” Lang said.

Whether it be a strange fad, or a new form of animal therapy, goat yoga has proven that it’s here to nama-stay.