FairyTail Acres The Rescue Lets You Do Yoga With Pigs

Pig yoga is a thing now, combining a little bit of yoga and a lot of hanging out with snacking pigs.

Tuck Barre & Yoga held its first pig yoga class in July 2018, and it was so popular they quickly scheduled more. The guests of honor included six pigs and a goat named Squeaks. All the animals are from FairyTail Acres, a rescue group founded in 2015 by Chris Hainley after she was diagnosed with cancer.

“Animals don’t judge you. And people tend to feel a lot more relaxed and more themselves around animals,” Hainley explained. “It changes [people’s] perception, they’re not the dirty, stinky, farm animals. It’s a cute, sensitive, even cuddly animal.”

Many of the pigs at FairtyTale Acres were pets that outgrew their homes.

“Anything smaller than your standard farm hog which is used for meat is considered a mini-pig,” Hainley said. “So you can have a 300 or 400 pound pot belly pig and that is considered a mini pig.”

The pigs from FairyTale Acres do more than just yoga, they also go to nursing homes, schools, daycare centers, and hospitals.

“And we don’t charge for any of our events really. You know, if somebody wants us to come and they wanna give a donation we certainly won’t turn it down,” Hainley said. “But that’s not the criteria for our therapy program to come out.”