About eight people and a goat met in Prospect Park in Clarendon Hills Saturday morning and did yoga together.
Sophia Slone, 21, her sister Melina, 18, and their mother, Lyn, had heard about the sessions, run by the Clarendon Hills Park District, on Facebook and at their various fitness studios.
“We were looking for something fun to do outside the house,” Sophia said.
Wally, the goat, had been trained since he was young to interact calmly with people, the goat-handler told them.
So with Wally on her back, she could push up on her arms and change her position without rattling him, Sophia said, even though the handler said it was Wally’s first yoga outing since the coronavirus shutdown.
The park district held two sessions Saturday morning, with another nine people in the second class, both held in the park’s picnic pavilion.
It definitely met the state’s guidelines for social distancing and size of gatherings, said Valerie Louthan, the district’s superintendent of recreation.
Offering yoga with goats makes it less intimidating for beginners, said Sophia Slone, who does not do yoga regularly.
The goat was the hook for Lori Thompson, who said she has done yoga maybe once before in her life.
“I like goats. I think they are relaxing and fun,” said Thompson, who persuaded her husband, Craig, to join her.
“He was up for the adventure,” she said.
