BRANDYWINE HUNDRED — A group of students from St. Elizabeth School were just a mile or two off busy Concord Pike, but that seemed like a million miles away when they traveled to Ramsey’s Farm in the Brandywine Valley on May 27 for a unique field trip.
The students — freshman health class students with a few sophomores and juniors — gathered under a tent, took off their shoes and settled in for an hour of yoga. Not just yoga, but goat yoga. The animals wandered around and over the human visitors who were in for something new.
Several goats, including a few born as recently as April and one named “Ferris Bueller,” wandered under the tent, eating Cheerios out of the students’ hands or from the grass. One goat found a girl’s hair was worth a few nibbles, and others played around, drawing plenty of laughs from the students.
St. Elizabeth health teacher Alissa O’Connor said she got the idea for the field trip while on a visit to Ramsey’s Farm last fall with one of her children’s classes. The staff told her to come back in the spring for goat yoga.
“I said, ‘Hold on. I’m the health teacher at St. Elizabeth.’ I said, ‘Could I bring my class?’” she recalled.
Almost none of the students had experience with yoga before this visit, she said. A major focus of health class is mental health, and this fit right in. They have discussed yoga in the class.
“Yoga was one of the things we brought up, meditation and things like that. They were all in for it. And who doesn’t like to pet a little baby goat?” O’Connor said.
“Some of these kids have never even seen a goat, let alone pet one or fed one,” she continued. “And then on top of it, you get to do some yoga, step out of the classroom, get some fresh air. I think it was a wonderful experience.”
Amy Kendall, the instructor who led the class, held on a humid, rainy day, said it is not unusual for the goats to jump up on the backs or walk between the legs of those doing yoga. She especially enjoys seeing people give it a shot.
“It’s nice to see them experience something for the first time, especially in Wilmington. There’s not a ton of farmland or a ton of green space,” Kendall said. It’s just a way for you to get some physical activity outside with nature and learn about life on the farm. And it’s just fun.”
Freshman Tommy Murphy found the experience to be relaxing. He wasn’t sure what to expect, “but I figured it was going to be fun and we’d have a good time.”
After the conclusion of the Vikings’ baseball season, Murphy appreciated an exercise that helped him stretch out some tired muscles.
Michael Jones, a junior, described the experience as “pretty chill. It’s pretty relaxing, actually. I’ve never done this before.”
He said he doesn’t do yoga as part of his basketball warmups, but he found it an effective way to loosen up while having fun.
Photos by Mike Lang.
