See Why These Cute Little Goats Are the Latest Yoga Craze | Short Film Showcase
So I have six goats: Anel and Adams, because I'm a photographer, so that seemed fitting for my first two goats. They are all mini goats, but Dodger—that's who I got next—and he's a B goat. He was going to go in someone's freezer; he's a huge pain. Then I have Preston and Quincy; they're twins, and they're probably the most lovable goats I have. And then we have Annie, and Annie is the star of the show. She's my logo, everyone loves her because she was born at the farm, so I think they feel most bonded to her.
My name is Laney Morris, and I'm the founder of goat yoga, and this is my farm, No Regrets Farm. Farms give people that special feeling like they're going back to the simple days. Even when you drive up and you see the old house and the old barn, it just is like, "Wo, this is cool." So I'm glad to share it.
Last year, I ended up getting a divorce. Then in the new year, I was diagnosed with Sjögren's. Sjögren's is an autoimmune disease. It's basically where your immune system starts attacking its own cells. Just walking into work was really hard. And, you know, I'd get at my desk and just be like, "Oh, I wonder if I'm going to have to collect disability soon?" You know, 'cause I would just look forward every day to coming home. The first thing I would do is come out in the barn and go sit out in the field.
You know, I walk out there, and all the goats follow behind me, and it just cracks me up when they're all jumping around being crazy. It's just really hard to be depressed. The hardest thing about having a disease is getting in your own head, and if you get there and you don't have any distractions, you can get in trouble. I live alone, and so I have a lot of time in my head. So that's what I needed; I needed a goat distraction.
It's kind of when I'm by myself with them that it's the most therapeutic for me. A friend asked me if I'd be interested in offering a kid's birthday party with the goats at the farm. One of the parents was a yoga instructor, and she's like, "We should totally have a yoga class out here; this is perfect!" So we started promoting it as goat yoga.
We really thought just our friends and family would show up, 'cause who does this? It was a sold-out class! Goats are strolling around, and it's just super peaceful. So we took it from there and started marketing goat yoga. How people are reacting is a huge part of my therapy. People from all over the United States sent me the most amazing things. There's a quilt in the back of the barn that I hung up, and the lady sent me a note and just said, "I've suffered from depression my whole life, and if this makes anybody smile, that'll make me happy." That gives me chills.
I want people to come out here and experience this, whether it be vets that just got back from war or people with diseases, or just people that are sad. You just have to say the name, and people smile.
Really, the most special thing is just watching their faces when a goat comes towards them and they get to snuggle. They lose their minds.