La Junta High School Yoga: We Always “Goat” Your Back!

Description: What is goat yoga? Think of it as an animal therapy assisted yoga class. Learn more in this article by Dineah Moreno...


Published: 05/06/2024
Byline: Tigers Tale

La Junta High School Yoga: We Always “Goat” Your Back!

By Dineah Moreno

Mrs.Julia Barta has added a new Physical Education class and that is YOGA! Mrs. Barta has yoga during her 5th hour in the wrestling room in the gym. April 18, 2024 held a special treat for Barta’s yoga classes--goat yoga!

What is goat yoga? Think of it as an animal therapy assisted yoga class. Participants move through a yoga sequence designed to complement the goats wandering freely around as they nuzzle, cuddle, or maybe even jump up on participants. Barta was excited to do the goat yoga. She thought it went really well and seemed like everyone had a great time. The whole class didn’t really do much yoga as anticipated, but everyone enjoyed being outside with the goats. It was Barta's first time, she didn't quite know what to expect so she wanted it to flow naturally and just for everyone to enjoy the day.

She had a challenge to find the goats. She had contacted a place in Denver but it was almost $1000 to do goat yoga for a group. A place out of Pueblo said they don’t come down here but there was a lady that gave Mrs. Barta a name of Timmery Foster. Foster has been raising and showing goats since childhood and lives right here in the La Junta area. She was willing and excited to share her baby goats with us.

She thought any balancing poses like tree or warrior III would be hard around goats because they require so much focus!

Goat yoga originated in Oregon in 2015. Lainey Morse suffers from an autoimmune disease, and she started inviting friends and family over to her for Goat Happy Hour. One of Morse’s friends was a yoga instructor, and had the idea to do yoga surrounded by leaping, running, baa-ing goats. Since then, people do goat yoga to laugh, decompress, and just spend time outside in nature.

Barta wanted to do goat yoga with her students because it sounded like a laugh! She thought we’d have a great time and a part of her goal in class is to get people to laugh and have fun together and build friendships with others in class. Goat Yoga sounded like the right thing to do!

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