Finally!
Bushwick hipsters will soon be able to stretch into downward dog pose while surrounded by the bleats of adorable baby goats! [Editor’s Note: Alas, this event has been canceled after consultation from the New York City Health Department. No kidding.] The owner of an upstate farm will bring her “goat yoga” classes to Bushwick for a two-month sojourn starting on April 17. She decided to bring the hour-long, $40 class from Gilbertsville Farmhouse to Kings County when she realized that goateed Brooklynites were making an hours-long trek upstate to get zen with the animals.
“On the farm, we had a lot of success with the class, but we realized a lot of people were coming from the city — they were driving three-and-a-half hours, coming to the class, and then driving home,” said Sharon Boustani. “So it just felt like the natural thing to do, to bring a little bit of the farm to Brooklyn.”
For the greatest of all time yoga sessions, four of the farm’s eight baby goats will take turns traveling from South New Berlin, outside of Binghamton, to the Bushwick studio, where the animals will follow their natural instincts to cuddle and climb all over the class’s 40 lucky yogis, Boustani said.
“Goats are natural climbers, and they’re a lot of fun and very silly,” Boustani said. “When you’re in a lot of the yoga positions — on all fours, or the plank pose, or child’s pose — it’s just a natural activity for the goats to jump or climb on you. But they also love interacting with people and cuddling with people.”
Bendy borough-dwellers need not worry about gruff treatment from the rectangular-eyed animals, who all had their horns removed at birth. The bearded beasts will wear doggie diapers to avoid accidents, and a pack of two-legged “goat handlers” will roam the room to make sure no other accidents occur, said Boustani.
The yoga will consist of beginner’s moves that advanced yogis can modify to suit their exercise needs, but Boustani said the real relaxation comes from the happy atmosphere the adorable ungulates create — along with the post-workout happy hour happening every other Thursday, with drinks made from Red Hook’s Widow Jane whiskey.
“It’s an instant icebreaker, an instant way for people to connect with the animals but also with each other — as soon as the goats come in, it’s instant laughter, smiles, everybody’s just very relaxed,” she said. “The class itself is a nice escape from life for an hour.”
Yoga-lovers who do not go for goats have plenty of other options in Brooklyn this month. Those who want to stretch and sip booze sans animals can do it at the Gowanus brewery Strong Rope “beer and broga” class for dudes, happening next on April 29. There are yoga classes for human kids in Bay Ridge, sessions set alongside kitties at the Brooklyn Heights Cat Cafe on April 28, and yogis can strike a Warrior pose while poets read their work at the Brooklyn Public library on April 8.
“New York Goat Yoga Brooklyn Pop-Up Studio” (74 Ingraham St. between Knickerbocker and Porter avenues in Bushwick, www.nygoa
