Clouds brush the top of the Smoky Mountain peaks around Winchester Creek Farm. A flock of magpie ducks waddles around the grounds, their orange feet pitter-pattering across the grass by the pavilion that’s hosting this morning’s farm yoga class. The mats are laid out, acoustic music plays softly, and a breeze tousles the wildflowers in the garden beds nearby. It’s the perfect setting for an uninterrupted yoga session.
“Place your hands just behind you, lift your hips, and let your head fall back,” the instructor says. The students follow, tilting their heads back — only to come face-to-face with an alpaca just a few inches away. OK, so there might be some interruptions during alpaca yoga, but that’s the best part. On this morning, two mother alpacas and their babies, called crias, roam among the yogis, munching on scattered hay — and one curious cria named Artie munches on the mats, too.
Alpaca yoga is one of many memory-making experiences for visitors at this 22-acre property in Waynesville, but for the alpacas, it’s an enrichment activity designed to build their social skills. “We raise them so that they’re not fearful,” co-owner Gayle Woodis says.
Gayle and her husband, Ken, believed in the healing power of animals long before purchasing the farm in 2019. Originally from the Midwest, they grew up around creatures of all kinds: Most of Gayle’s family members had farms, and Ken’s first job in high school was at the Minnesota Zoo.
After they married, the couple spent years hobby farming while working full-time and raising their two adopted children, both with special needs. They trained therapy dogs and horses and raised livestock like pigs, miniature horses, and goats. Their son and daughter tended to the animals, and Gayle and Ken saw the positive impact these chores had on them from a young age…