The author and farm owner, Ellen Beaulieu, with goats<\/span> (Photo: Blair Braverman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe goat space, as it were, is an airy room off the side of the barn, with painted blue-and-white walls and a floor strewn with fragrant hay\u2014which was, at the moment, teeming with what appeared to be 10,000 three-week-old kids, who swarmed our legs when we walked in. (In fact, there were only seven of them, a fact I know because Ellen told me, and not because they slowed down enough for me to count.) We sat together on a bench and the kids immediately started launching onto our laps, crowding for space and butting our chins. Even when clients don\u2019t come specifically for therapy, Ellen tells me, \u201cThey still walk out of here and go, \u2018wow, that\u2019s so therapeutic.\u2019 That\u2019s no accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you make it therapeutic?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t seem to hear me, and anyway, there was too much to do\u2014the goats piled onto my lap, soft and slightly dusty, surprisingly warm, and when I wrapped my forearms around them they seemed to melt into my chest. They had little pointy faces, their lips nibbled impossibly fast. Their ears were speckled with miniature white spots. A cream-colored kid licked my nose repeatedly, its tongue the size of a fingertip.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich one reminds you of you?\u201d Ellen asked.<\/p>\n
I looked around. A brown kid was launching against my crossed legs, making it almost onto my lap before sliding sideways again and again. I scooped him up with one palm and he settled on my thighs. I related to him, but it took a moment to figure out why. \u201cThis one,\u201d I said, \u201cbecause he doesn\u2019t mind falling. I think I\u2019m like that too. I get to do cool things in life because I\u2019m not so afraid of falling down.\u201d<\/p>\n
No sooner had I said it than Ellen\u2019s eyes twinkled, and I saw what she had done. Ask someone about themselves, and they\u2019ll tell you something they already know. But by observing the goats, feeling a connection and putting words to it, they have the chance to learn something new.<\/p>\n
Herself, Ellen relates to a little boy named Chia\u2014\u201cHe\u2019s an equalizer,\u201d she says; \u201cHe helps everyone get along.\u201d Her visitors are mostly women\u2014not just therapists and their clients, but also friend groups, a skydiving club, moms and daughters of all ages. The other day, Ellen walked in and found adult sisters lying on their stomachs, laughing uproariously. They weren\u2019t even petting the goats; just being near them was enough. Blue Sky\u2019s yoga classes sell out fast\u201425-person sessions, with clients from as far as Iowa and Indiana. (Ellen launched the classes a decade ago, expecting the trend to be short-lived, but this will be her ninth summer straight.) Goat yoga isn\u2019t just a gimmick, she explained to me: the goats are a means to the ends of yoga, and vice versa. People who are self-conscious in their bodies feel freer, more present, because everyone\u2019s attention is on the goats, not them. As for goats, they\u2019re prey animals, and can get nervous when too many people reach out (\u201cThey\u2019re like, I\u2019m not sure why you want me so bad!\u201d) But when visitors are doing yoga, the goats feel comfortable to approach.<\/p>\n
Ellen\u2019s ultimate goal for the farm is to turn it into a sober living home for women, who would help to care for the animals. The idea came from her personal experience helping a friend with sobriety. \u201cI checked her into 13 rehabs in 10 years,\u201d she explained, \u201cand realized how broken the system really is. After 30 days in rehab, you can start to see past your addiction, but that\u2019s when the hard work begins.\u201d A residential home would offer support longer-term\u2014plus, you know, fun with goats. (Her friend, who\u2019s lived on the farm on and off, has now been sober for several years.)<\/p>\n
I\u2019d been looking forward to my own therapy later that week; there was something I wanted to bring up that had kept my heart clenched for days. But now, sitting there, it felt much easier to wait. I wrapped my arms tight around a tan-and-white goat, kissed its flicking ears, inhaled its goaty smell. Beside me, Ellen did the same with Chia, who seemed to have melted entirely into her chest. \u201cPeople don\u2019t always need to talk through their problems,\u201d she said softly, head tucked, as if telling a secret to the goat alone. \u201cSometimes, they just need space to breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published June 6, 2026 03:37AM I like my therapist a lot but she doesn\u2019t nibble my sleeve, or smell like cedar chips, or press her tiny nub-horns into my arm, which\u2014no offense\u2014really diminishes her ability to make me feel immediately great. Sure, she\u2019s brilliant and supportive and leaves me with clarity, but clarity can hurt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wild-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}