Surrounded by farmland as far as the eye could see, nearly 20 yogis spread their mats on the hay-covered dirt at Pink Alpaca Farms in Wellman on a sunny Saturday afternoon last weekend for an outdoor practice. But they weren’t alone.

They’d be sharing the mat with the hobby farm’s many curious critters, including alpacas, goats, cats, ducks and chickens.

And while some might think farm animals in your Zen zone might be a bit of a distraction, farm owner Kristi Pearson disagrees.

“It’s more true to the practice than doing it in a studio surrounded by mirrors,” she said, theorizing that when yoga first started, it was likely not in a controlled studio environment, but outside with nature.

“The way I see it, people have been doing yoga with animals for years,” she added.

Read the full article on the Cedar Rapids Gazette website.