What about adding a kangaroo to your “downward dog” pose? Or a baby goat walking down your back as you lie in the field side by side with your class?
Intriguingly enough, these are options for the growing number of people practicing yoga here in Delaware. Add to the list of creative and increasingly popular yoga opportunities: beach yoga and paddleboard yoga.
The yoga craze has gone viral for good reason; the misconception that it is just for women – and that it only involves stretching needs some good public relations work. Yoga is for anyone. And it works.
It’s been proven to enhance focus, build muscular strength, improve lung capacity, aid digestion, and lessen anxiety and depression. There are other benefits as well too long to list. Beyond the physical benefits, there is the mentally rejuvenating side and the social benefits as well.
Barn Hill Preserve in Frankford, Delaware offers daily group yoga in an open, green field with four Kangaroo “ambassadors.” Participants are welcome to interact with the young, male marsupials, and families are encouraged to join in the multigenerational event – a great educational experience for children of all ages. Goat Joy in nearby Harbeson, meanwhile, offers Sunday afternoon yoga with a decidedly more interactive yoga session. 
Baby goats, known to be social, affectionate, and intelligent often climb onto the backs of participants during the entire class, which ends with the students lining up for a parade of goats across their backs. (One woman describes the experience as an unexpected mini massage.)
There are several forms of yoga. Even if there are health or disability concerns, there is a practice for everyone! Chair yoga, Vinyasa, and Yoga Therapy are good examples for those looking for alternatives to strenuous activity.
For traditional yoga gurus and novices alike, there are plenty of other options as well in Delaware. Lewes Yoga, for example, offers gentle yoga, with personalized treatment and therapeutic recommendations for everything from back pain to arthritis. Dimitra Yoga, also in Lewes, offers a wider variety of classes and workshops, including evening Harvest Moon “flow” yoga on the beach when there’s a full moon.
As for yoga being just stretching for women? Wrong. Men of all ages – especially retirees looking for healthy alternative exercise are starting to fill the yoga classrooms, like the football players known for turning to ballet. They are realizing the benefits of yoga, emotionally, physically, and mentally. It enhances one’s day with reflection and focus, and there are plenty of opportunities for yoga in Southern Delaware.
To find classes of any level, workshops, instructor training, and more, check out Yoga Finder, and enjoy!
