Kaila White

The Arizona Republic

If you haven't heard, the best new yoga accessory is a goat.

It began this summer, when a woman in Oregon invited people to bring a yoga mat to her farm, park it on a patch of grass, and do yoga while goats grazed, sniffed, wandered between legs and even jumped on people's backs.

Soon after, national news publications scrambled to cover the new trend that is goat yoga.

There's good news for Arizonans who love to be on trend: Goat yoga is already here.

Right now it's only at a farm in Gilbert, Ariz., so you might have to make a trek for a unique Instagram photo. The next classes are Oct. 25 and Nov. 19 near Ocotillo and Lindsey roads.

All eight of the farm's goats are pregnant now, so you can bask in their motherly energy or wait for the January classes to meet about a dozen newborn kids.

It all started with American Ninja Warrior

The Gilbert farm belongs to April Gould, a 38-year-old mother of three and self-proclaimed "goat whisperer" who appeared on American Ninja Warrior last year.

While Gould was training for the show, she met Sarah Williams, who is now her business partner. They own Desert Paddleboard, a company that offers yoga classes on stand-up paddleboards in large pools.

For years Gould has worked out with her goats, doing parkour around them and putting them on her back while she does push-ups and squats. They're Nigerian Mini goats, weighing in around 30 pounds.

Williams has done yoga for more than 20 years, so when they heard about goat yoga they knew they were the perfect pair. They started goat-yoga classes in September.

A different kind of animal therapy

There currently is no cap for the class, thanks to the size of the classroom: An acre of pasture.

The classes are an hour long, but people usually stay after to take photos and play with the goats, which Gould said are "extremely friendly."

"We’ve raised them from babies and we bottle-fed them all, and my kids are out there all day long, so they are the nicest goats you will ever meet. They will just go up to you and they’re very curious."

"There is something about being in nature with the goats," Gould said. "The goats are so calming and therapeutic and that combined with yoga help relieve the daily stresses of life."