I popped down to White Post Farm to find out why goat yoga is all the rage - and this is what I discovered

But it’s advice that bubbly yoga instructor Polly Wiltshire has been very happily ignoring for many years now.

That is because Polly can be found during the summer months running very entertaining yoga classes at White Post Farm, which sees traditional stretching exercises mixed alongside goats roaming free.

Unsurprisingly the unusual classes, which take place inside a pen at The Silver Barn, have proved to be a big hit with animal lovers visiting the much-loved Farnsfield farm attraction.

During the relaxed sessions pygmy goat kids are given free movement around the pen to munch on food, to explore - and even climb on - those giving their limbs a good stretch.

And, as Polly told me after the final class of the 2026 season, it’s a venture that continues to grow in popularity.

“It has naturally spread in terms of the word getting out there as well as people returning. There’s a lot of people who haven’t tried goat yoga before who hear about it and then come to do it with us, which is really nice,” she said.

“It is very different from a traditional yoga session and I think people get very different things out of it. Sometimes the session is very calm and relaxed, sometimes people come and they just giggle constantly for 45 minutes, which is also what it should be.

“It all depends on the behaviour of the animals that you are with. I saw videos ten years ago or so of people doing it in America and one or two places in the UK started to do it.

“We started doing it here to try it for a season and it went really well and we expanded it. Numbers have been good throughout every season with most sessions selling out.

“Generally you get a tonic from being around the animals and other people just enjoying that animal encounter.”

Sessions are run over a spring to summer season every week or two weeks, with the 2027 season set to begin in late April or early May.

Wirksworth-based Polly, who runs her own Polly Yoga business, has been teaching yoga for more than 20 years and also has another job teaching how to care for animals.

But, despite her two decades of experience, Polly admits that working with the goats certainly keeps her on her toes.

“There are totally different dynamics leading a class like this, but I absolutely love it. It is very different from a normal class but I have never not enjoyed doing one.

“We have changed quite a lot over the years we have been doing it, such as how we do them and what we try to deliver. We think about how we can move the animals in and out differently to make it a bit easier for the animals and us. There are always things we are looking to change and improve,” adds Polly.

“You also learn from the animals about what they do and don’t want to do. It changes depending on the nature of the goat and then you really have to work with it. From my perspective there is a lot of improvising and shifting what I am doing based on their behaviour. That is good, it keeps me on my toes.”

But it’s not just humans who get plenty out of getting up close and personal with the animals.

Hayley Goodwin-Abbott is one of the animal keepers at White Post who helps Polly run the sessions and has seen first-hand how the goats benefit from the close-knit interaction.

“The goats get a lot out of this event because it helps them with socialisation and bringing their personalities out. It helps them calm down around people, so it's good for them as well as the people who do goat yoga,” she explains.

“It is incredible to see their personalities grow and how much more confident they get in the sessions.

“It gives people experiences that they wouldn’t usually get and a chance to learn about their behaviour. Things change over the years to ensure we keep the animals best interests at heart. We have to assess how the animals are enjoying it and if we feel they are not enjoying it and want to go back then we can do that.”

For more information on Polly Yoga and the goat sessions, visit her facebook page.