What if you could get off your blood pressure meds with a daily dose of goat yoga? New study released today confirms you just may be able to do that. Follow me on an investigation of the health benefits of this trendy exercise.
To study the effects of goat yoga on the human cardiovascular system, I headed down the road to meet Lainey Morse, the goat yoga lady who started it all. With 700+ people on a waiting list, she invited the first 25 to her field on this beautiful autumn day. A reporter even stopped by to cover the event for The New York Times.
Of the yoga students who were present, 6 chose to participate in our study. I measured blood pressure, pulse, and oxygen levels before and after one hour of goat yoga. Everyone was really happy to be there!
The goats welcomed us all to their pasture. Some nibbled on yoga mats and water bottles. Others snuggled with guests. One baby goat started nursing on our instructor’s mat. Be warned: you may have to wipe goat pellet poop off your yoga mat.
After a day at the office nothing beats stretching in a field of goats and breathing the crisp Oregon air.
Plus after class you get to hang out with your new furry friends and take selfies with goats!
I repeated blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen levels. Even The New York Times reporter participated.
Results: though one student was diagnosed with hypertension, she and all the others benefited from the antihypertesive effects of goat yoga. Average systolic blood pressure reduction: 10 mmHg. Average diastolic blood pressure reduction: 7.5 mmHg. Average pulse reduction: 6.1 bpm. In fact, goat yoga offers more cardiovascular benefits than many prescription medications. Doctors may now recommend goat yoga as first-line therapy for hypertensive patients.
Got high blood pressure? Check with your doctor to see if goat yoga may be the right treatment for you.
Pamela Wible, M.D., is the author of Pet Goats & Pap Smears. She is a practicing family physician in Oregon where her patients actually bring their pet goats to medical appointments. 🙂
Where is goat yoga held
This particular class I attended is in Albany, Oregon. Though anyone with a field and a few goats can do this. Funny that the BBC (Belgium) and other international goat yoga enthusiasts have made a trip to Oregon to experience this!
Dr. Wible,
Thank you so much for performing this study! My empirical experience with several thousand Goat Yoga participants over the past 2 years has been one never-ending stream of observable peace and joy. I am grateful for your published results as they offer the first hard, scientific evidence of the positive effects I have seen over and over again in my classes.