Goat yoga helping Beachner through difficult times

Editor's Note: From August 2022

By Jimmy Gillispie

Goats might not be vital or even helpful to a successful yoga workout, but for some, the four-legged creatures provide solace and create an unforgettable experience.

That’s exactly the environment Melody Beachner has tried to create at her farm northeast of Harrisonville, just east of Twin Pines Country Club. She started her goat yoga classes early the first full weekend in May, and she’s hosted nearly 10 sessions with the next scheduled for Aug. 29.

“Obviously, I didn’t create goat yoga,” Melody Beachner said. “I saw it somewhere and thought it would be really cool.”

Beachner has hosted people from all around the area, including teachers and staff members from the Harrisonville School District. She set up an online sign up at www.eventbrite.com, and nearly every class has filled up during the first few months.

Seeing folks come check experience a goat yoga class from a couple hours away or less has been a thrill for Beachner. A handful of people have come back for more than one class, while others drove to rural Harrisonville for the first time.

The Morris family from Parkville tried Beachner’s goat yoga class for the first time at the beginning of the month. Darren and Kris came to Beachner’s farm with their two daughters, Macy, 13, and Mallory, 13, and all four of them enjoyed the session.

“We wanted to see goat yoga and this one was available,” Kris Morris said. “It fit our time frame with the sunset, and so we picked this one. It’s good to try new things.”

Darren Morris said having the goats walk through and around you while doing yoga makes the 45-minute session go quickly, because you’re thinking about the goats more often than the exercise. For Macy, it was a fun experience because the goats aren’t shy.

“It’s very interesting,” Macy Morris said. “I think I was surprised at how much the goats are on you. I feel like animals like to do their own thing, but not goats. They were everywhere, but it was really fun.”

Macy and Mallory were two of the people who one of the youngest goats stand on their back while they kneeled on all fours. The goat ate food on their back for a minute before jumping off.

“It was kind of funny,” Mallory Morris said of having a goat on her back. “It kind of tickled a little bit.”

The classes are taught by Elizabeth Vasquez, who also teaches yoga at one of the local fitness gyms. She has taught yoga for approximately 20 years, she said, and got her certification about three years ago. 

Vasquez enjoys teaching the goat yoga classes, even if they are outdoors in the evening. She said she enjoys the less formal setting, and people tend to respond better to it with the animals around.

“It’s that animal therapy quality,” Vasquez said. “I think people let down their guard a little more when they are around animals, so they’re a little less self conscious. It’s a little bit less serious of a yoga class, and it introduces them in more of a casual and non-threatening way.”

“I think the goats are used to me now and I’m used to them, so we don’t scare each other any more,” she added. “But, I do keep my eyes open more than I do in a typical class, so you don’t get a hoof in the eye. It definitely makes me more aware of my surroundings and it centers me more.”

Goat yoga was one class she hadn’t taught until she met Beachner. That came through recommendations when Beachner was searching for an instructor to teach the goat yoga classes she was beginning to create. Vasquez came highly recommended, according to Beachner.

They met at a coffee shop and a partnership began. Their first class was May 7.

“We actually sold out within just a few days,” Melody Beachner said. “I ended up offering a second class on that same day and we got nearly full. We ended up having about 46 or 47 people that first day.”

Their joint venture had a successful beginning, and it all began months before when Beachner endured one of the worst weeks of her life. In late January, she lost her job of over five years and was diagnosed with breast cancer in the same week.

“I had put off getting my checkups and other things because of work,” Melody Beachner said. “Before that, I could physically tell there was something wrong, but I was trying to schedule around work calls and zoom calls.”

Once Beachner lost her job, she made an appointment with her doctor, and that’s when her second round of bad news came that week. She was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma.

Although the news was hard to take, it taught her advice she feels other should know, and that is to listen to your body and don’t put work ahead of health.

“It was noticeable, which I’m glad it was, because I probably would have put it off again,” Melody Beachner said of the lump. “My big thing with all of this is I tell people don’t put things like that off. The other big thing is to be an advocate for yourself. When you know something is wrong about yourself, it really is wrong.”

On March 25, Beachner underwent surgery and it was successful as she came back with clear margins, which means there were no cancer cells at the outer edge of the tissue. That was the positive news.

The negative news came later when she found out chemotherapy was going to be needed in addition to radiation. Beachner did her radiation treatments every weekday during May before beginning chemo June 6.

It was rough at first, and she was hospitalized for a week because of how sick the treatments made her. However, Beachner said it’s been going slightly better, especially by the last of the three-week sessions. That’s usually when she’s scheduled the goat yoga classes.

Those classes are not only planned around when she feels up to it, but they’ve also been therapeutic for her in different ways. Additionally, the proceeds go to paying her medical bills.

“Honestly, it’s been really cool and something to do with my daughter, especially with her going off to school,” Melody Beachner said. “Being able to do something with her has helped me. There have been a couple of times I’ve sat here and a song will be playing, and it’s a song I listened to 1,000 times. 

“Yet, I sit here and I say, ‘I never thought I’d be sitting here doing goat yoga.’ I want people to have a good time. I’m glad they are taking a moment for themselves, because that makes me happy. It also gets me out and walking around, which is good for me, too.”

Her daughter, Melaina, has been quite helpful during the entire process, but she’s headed to college at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado. She will be a collegiate wrestler, after helping Harrisonville High to a girls wrestling state championship in 2020. She was preparing for her district meet this year when her mother was diagnosed cancer, but she never knew until after she qualified for the state tournament. 

It was on their college visit where Beachner’s idea for goat yoga gained traction. She had heard about it, but she admitted her family thought she was crazy. Then, on the college visit, she walked into a gymnasium and on the wall was a poster for a goat yoga class coming to their campus.

Beachner returned home with proof goat yoga was real, and the process began. Months later, her daughter helps feed and wrangle the goats during class while helping with anything else Beachner needs.

“It’s a learning experience, but I like bringing people out and watching them interact with the goats,” Melaina Beachner said. “They’re such crazy animals, so sitting and watching them can be so satisfying. They’re ornery and they make you laugh.

“We’ve had so many people come out, but you get a different crowd every time,” she added. “Some people are more into the yoga and some people are more into the goats, but the goats tend to bring out the childish side to people in both crowds. I think that’s really important in life, trying to find that playful side in yourself and having fun.”