Editor's Note: The video above is of our 208 Redial, where we spoke to Emily Nielsen about what she is doing now that COVID-19 has grown into a pandemic and how that is affecting her yoga instruction. The original story follows:
Yoga made its way to the West from India sometime around the late 19th century. But it's what the Pacific Northwest has done with it within that last year that has become a trend across the United States.
Boise fitness instructor Emily Nielsen has been teaching yoga for two years, but recently she's incorporated her pasture and pet pygmy goats into her positions.
"These guys provide a great little energy for us," Nielsen said of the goats wandering about while she teaches a class.
Goat yoga is a truly Northwestern trend.
"Well, it started in Portland with goat yoga there," Nielsen explained. "And so many people started sharing it with me like, 'Well, you do yoga and you have goats. Why don't you do goat yoga?' So I put it out there, and it took off."
A mere suggestion and clients were bending backwards to find a spot in Nielsen's class.
"From the moment I put the first one out I was amazed at how quickly it sold out," she said.
If this were to be a usual Idaho Life story you'd be able to see the video version of the story by in the video player above. But this time we're going to tell this story a little bit differently, using KTVB's new 360 camera. Chrome, Safari, or the YouTube app are recommended to get the immersive 360 experience. If you start on the YouTube player on the mobile site, click the share arrow to launch in the app.
In this less formal form of yoga, photos are encouraged. Because in the end it's just stretching with somewhat domesticated animals.
"It definitely fills my heart, a lot," says Brittani Bagnariol, a first-time participant in the goat yoga class. "I get this kind of giddy, childlike excitement knowing that there's goats around. I wish I could do this every day."