Filed under: No joy is ever wasted

Jason dreaming of a farm just like this, but with rescue chihuahuas

On Sunday, we pile into the car and drive away from the ocean. Winding roads take us past sprawling pastures where horses graze and roll in the mud. Western estates are set back from the road, their sloping hills dotted with lemon trees and enclosed by big white wooden fences. It’s a peaceful drive. Our family is happy and quiet; we’re headed for an adventure we did last year and one that checks all the boxes for us:

• Getting our kid to do yoga? ✅

• Learning about pigs, donkeys, goats, guinea pigs for two hours? ✅

• Celebrating Valentine’s Day in a way that feels authentic to all of us? ✅

When we arrive, Farmer Bubba guides us into our parking spot and we’re escorted down to the tennis courts to lay out our mats. Sofia has a hard time containing her wiggly excitement as we peer over the hay bales in what we can only be described as a “goat green room.” There’s a herd of all sizes and colors, adorned with bright bandanas and name tags waiting for their time to shine.

There’s this collective delight when the goats are released from backstage. They come skittering out at full speed and we all coo. They sidle up for scratches, search for grub, and simply go about the business of being goats.

Suddenly, we silly humans who are caught up in our personal mental grind du jour snap out of our existential reverie and into the present moment. For the next hour, it’s pure chaos and pure joy. An experienced Goat Yoga teacher leads a very sensible all-around hatha class and lets us know that the nearby chicken is making so much noise because, “she’s very proud of the egg she just laid.”

When you’re around animals, you absorb their pure, unfettered consciousness. This is the consciousness we try to get in touch with during meditation or Savasana; the consciousness we speak of when we refer to the “nature of the mind.”

There are a lot of kids there and there’s nothing like seeing kids light up when they’re around animals. The kids do some yoga, pet some goats, do some yoga, watch the goats. I’m just happy that my kid is learning Chair Pose in this setting that makes it feel natural to her, and laughing while she does it. This is what I want learning yoga to be like for her — fun and natural.

I’m well aware that I’m a city slicker — my friend whose parents have goats thinks I am insane to pay actual dollars for such an experience — but I don’t care, because it feels like yoga. And I don’t mean the asana part. It feels like yoga because I’m completely present and alive and happy and in love.