Meet Your Local, Goat Yoga Instructor: Chanel Lobdell

Photo by: Kiana Hughes

Chanel Lobdell, is a senior public health major with a concentration in public policy at the University of Tampa. When she is not studying, you can find her at UT’s fitness center, teaching yoga. Chanel, also is the coordinator of Balance UT, an organization on campus, that encourages a healthy brain and body, through the practice of yoga, meditation, and knowledge. Oh yeah, and she is a goat yoga instructor for the Grady Goat Foundation at the Hat Trick Ranch.

Photo by Kiana Hughes.

Read the one-on-one interview with Chanel below to get all the interesting details about goat yoga and the Grady Goat Foundation.

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When did you start teaching goat yoga and how did it all begin?

"My friend is a photographer and he was taking photos to advertise Grady Goat Yoga. He is the one who connected me. That’s how I got started. I’ve been there since April. That was my first gig, goat yoga. I love using that too. For my yoga interview at UT they asked me 'So do you have experience?' 'Yeah, I teach goat yoga.' They look at you like you are crazy. And I teach beer yoga. You do yoga at a bar and drink your beer whenever you want. I am trying to get a fundraiser for Outpost. But, I have always practiced yoga since I was little kid and now the stars have just aligned."

"...now the stars have just aligned."- Chanel Lobdell. Photo by: Kiana Hughes

What is the most rewarding part of your job as a goat yoga instructor?

"Seeing the smiles on every face there. They 'had fun' is my favorite thing to hear. They will say, 'I’m sorry I didn’t do any yoga.' But I start all my yoga sessions by saying 'you can either do some yoga with me or you can grab a goat and cuddle whatever is fine with me.' "

"Seeing the smiles on every face there."- Chanel Lobdell. Photo by: Kiana Hughes.

What are the benefits of goat yoga compared to a more typical yoga?

"The benefits are very different but they have similar goals. Goat yoga helps people who struggle to be in the present. They can’t think of anything else because the goats keep their minds busy. Instead of making grocery lists at yoga you play with goats. It brings a playfulness that I think is missing in typical yoga."

"It brings a playfulness that I think is missing in typical yoga."- Chanel Lobdell. Photo By: Kiana Hughes.

Do you have a favorite yoga goat?

"I love them all. Liam, I knew since he was baby. He is the super star. You will see people in two table tops and he will pose on them. Also, there are two babies, one all black and then one all white. They are called yin and yang. But, there are two types of goats. There is one group who jumps around and are all very active. Then, there will be a goat sleeping on the mat the entire class. Bob is new. He’s a little mean, not mean, just a show off. One person will be in table top, then he jumps from one person’s back to the next. One time, Bob jumped on this woman and she was not even down in a position like table top."

"There is one group who jumps around and are all very active."- Chanel Lobdell. Photo by: Kiana Hughes.

"Then, there will be a goat sleeping on the mat the entire class."- Chanel Lobdell. Photo by: Kiana Hughes.

Why do goats make the best yoga partners?

"They’re adorable. They’re easy going. They’re super agile. They love scratches and cuddles and kisses. It doesn’t get much better than that. I swear the goats know what yoga is. Plus, my bunny does not do yoga, she hates me."

"I swear the goats know what yoga is." - Chanel Lobdell. Photo by: Kiana Hughes.

Relaxation is a huge element of yoga, but with goat yoga there are goats jumping around and nibbling on you. Is goat yoga actually relaxing?

"No. I mean the stretches will loosen up your body, that’s kind of relaxing, but it’s all just laughter."

"...it’s all just laughter."- Chanel Lobdell. Photo by: Kiana Hughes.

What are some of the things your students say after a goat yoga session?

"They want a pet goat now. 'I feel so relaxed' even though it’s not relaxing after all the child’s play. That’s the best part of the goat yoga. Most of the class just plays with the goats they don’t even do yoga. Sometimes they will ask 'How did you keep your cool during the entire class?' I say 'I just gotta keep teaching.' "

" 'I just gotta keep teaching.' "- Chanel Lobdell. Photo by: Kiana Hughes.

Is there anything you want to improve on as a yoga instructor?

"There is always so much to learn about yoga. I think I just want to take the child’s playfulness from goat yoga into my own practice so that I can make my own practice fun and playful when I am not at goat yoga. I think I lack that when I’m not in goat yoga and I think it should be involved in every class. That’s the biggest thing I got in yoga training: don’t try so hard. Let things naturally happen. Try to keep notice when thoughts come up but don’t take yourself seriously. I never take myself seriously. Every day is different. Your mind is different."

"Every day is different."- Chanel Lobdell. Photo by: Kiana Hughes.

Is there anything we have not talked about, that you would like readers to know?

"The Grady Goat Foundation was inspired by a goat named Grady. He was born on the ranch with a disability. He couldn’t walk. He was blind and deaf. With some treatment we, I say we [laughing], this is not my family at all, they bottle fed him, they tried to raise him, he started walking, he lived a lot longer than they expected. He passed away recently before Irma. He was the inspiration behind it all. All the money raised through Grady Goat Yoga goes to a nonprofit for kids with disabilities. He was a sweetheart. You would pick him up and he would just fall asleep in your arms. He was really cool."

"He was the inspiration behind it all."- Chanel Lobdell. Photo by: Kiana Hughes.

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At the start of Chanel's college years, she imagined herself working in a career focused on food policy to ensure children, in public schools for example, were receiving the proper nutrition. Now, Chanel will direct her passion for nutrition and children to her new life vision. Chanel, plans to start her own urban farm, when she graduates, where she can grow nutritious foods that children can eat and get their hands on. And of course, her urban farm will be alongside her future yoga studio.