Farm Owner • Yoga Instructor • Dream Chaser
By Jennifer Colosimo
When Cathi Huff turned 50 years old, she decided she’d buy a retired racehorse. It was an inevitable step to discover her ultimate passion. That passion: sharing the love and blessings that animals bring into our lives by making us slow down.
She turned it into a reality four years ago, when she and her husband purchased Atlantis Dream Farm. It was the perfect place to house her new pet (Bronx, the racehorse) and to grow that group of furry friends to include cows, pigs, chickens, geese, a micro donkey and more.
But what she’s most famous for is a clique of goats dubbed “Goat Girls,” a tribe that rounds out the non-traditional yoga experience right on the farm, GOGA. “I learned all about living a holistic life in school to be a health coach,” said Cathi. “When someone said to me, ‘you should try doing goat yoga,’ I thought—what? But I gave it a shot. Before I knew it, the news was coming by to do a segment on me.”
Currently, the farm is closed for winter, but Cathi plans on opening up her barn doors for private lessons starting April 1. They’re 60 minutes, led by trained yoga instructors, and made memorable by hoofed friends jumping on your back, sneaking away with your phone or bleating to the tune of your downward dog. You may not achieve that true Zen moment because there’s inevitably a lot of laughing. But according to Huff, those distractions hold the secret to the serenity we’re all missing and is part of the reason why animal therapy is so impactful.
“A woman in my class said to me, ‘You know, what I heard you talk about in that class is more than I’ve ever gotten out of therapy.’ That meant the world, and it made me realize, it’s really all about the animals. It’s about being on the farm, in the moment, listening to the animal sounds, feeling blessed and full of gratitude,” Cathi said.
That’s when she added Mindful Seeds, programs in mindfulness and meditation, to her website and began incorporating those same aspects into her yoga classes. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to always be present and enjoy every moment,” Huff said. “At 60, I found my passion, accidentally. Now, every day I wake up and it’s not about my checklist—it’s about how I am going to interact with people and how I can help them.”
Cathi is also making plans with community leaders to take the joy of GOGA beyond her backyard, with planned events at Halcyon and the North Georgia Zoo. When not at the farm, you can nd Cathi grabbing a bite at Antico Pizza Napoletana or browsing through Apricot Lane.
Details: lovegoga.com
