Too much stress? Try yoga with an alpaca

Animals can be great stress relievers. The practice of using domesticated creatures to comfort people has gained mainstream acceptance in recent years. You'll see one example of this in airports, where volunteer programs and airline initiatives have brought therapy dogs to America’s most hectic hubs to interact with passengers.

The relationship between contact with animals and exercise for stress reduction has also been embraced. Animal yoga, for example, has become a popular trend. It might be tempting to file yoga class with free ranging pets or farm animals under “weird yoga fads” and forget about it. But the trend keeps growing and expanding to include new species of “yoga helpers.” Even some unexpected animals, such as goats and alpacas, are getting in on the action.

FULL ARTICLE on MNN