Combining the physical and mental benefits of yoga and the fun of a barnyard visit, goat yoga is an entertaining way to exercise while surrounded by some furry friends. If you've just completed yoga teacher training and you get the opportunity to lead a goat yoga class, you'll likely enjoy doing so. Your yoga teacher training may not have specifically focused on leading goat yoga classes, but you'll have learned a number of valuable lessons that will help you to excel in this role. Here are some assorted tips that you should employ to be an effective teacher in a goat yoga class.

Briefly Explain The Class

In a typical goat yoga class, you'll get participants ranging from those who are avid yoga practitioners and are looking for a new way to enjoy yoga to those who are attending their first yoga class ever. Given the wide variety of students, you need to briefly explain the class so that everyone has realistic expectations of what will unfold over the next hour. Share how you break down the class — for example, you might say that students will spend roughly half of the time performing yoga poses and the other half of the time petting the goats and snapping photos with them.

Have A Set Structure

While it's true that many of your class's participants will simply be there to see the goats and snap selfies that they can share on social media, you need to take this class seriously. Think about what you learned in your yoga teacher training about setting a structure for the class. For example, you want some warm-up poses that your participants will perform while sitting, and then some standing poses and poses that challenge the participants a little more. Generally, you'll conclude with some cool-down poses — and make sure that there's enough time to play with the goats, too.

Focus On Fun

In a traditional yoga setting, you'll probably have practitioners who carefully abide by the written and unwritten rules of yoga and don't reminders about how to act. In the goat yoga environment, there will be people in your class who aren't taking the yoga part too seriously — and that's OK. Don't make the mistake of being a stickler for the rules. For example, if people are laughing and talking to the goats, you don't need to reprimand them for doing so. Above all, goat yoga is a fun way to give people a chance to practice a little yoga in a different environment, so make sure that your approach reflects this mentality.

For more information, get in touch with a business like YogaOne.

Share