On a recent February morning, about 80 people spread out their yoga mats on the dewy grass at the Myakka Elephant Ranch in Manatee County.
Some 20 feet away, three lumbering elephants moseyed around behind a double fence, twirling hay with their trunks before stuffing it into their mouths, batting their long eyelashes and flapping their ears.
“Your gaze can be looking out toward the elephants or up toward the sky,” Dan Bue said as he guided students through an hourlong class simply called “Elephant Yoga.”
Bue, 50, is a retired Navy veteran and trauma-informed yoga instructor for Operation Warrior Resolution, a local nonprofit organization.
When he first heard about elephant yoga, he was a bit skeptical. Perhaps it was just another gimmick.
“I’m going to do yoga outside on the grass, and there’s going to be animals there. OK. I’m still doing yoga,” he scoffed.
But now, he is a firm believer.
"It's the uniqueness. And just being outside in nature alone – even with yoga set aside –can have a very calming and grounding effect on people," said Bue.
The classes, held every couple of months, are free for veterans. Civilians pay a fee to attend, and the proceeds go to Operation Warrior Resolution, which hosts retreats to help veterans recover from trauma.
The retreats span several days and include yoga, massage, equine therapy and a type of mental health therapy called brain-based healing, which Bue said aims to help military members “resolve trauma without having to relive trauma.”
Combat-conscious yoga classes are also available at the American Legion in Venice.
“Most of us are addicted to racing thoughts and ruminating over the past or the future,” said Scott Schwalm, director of programming for Operation Warrior Resolution.
Elephant yoga neutralizes all that, and it is “a great exercise of being in the now,” he added.
Nancy Ross, a Navy veteran who worked in antisubmarine warfare, said attending an Operation Warrior Resolution retreat helped her recover from post-traumatic stress – and shifted her perspective.
“The program is very helpful,” Ross said.
During elephant yoga, “I could feel the energy. I had to keep opening my eyes. This is amazing,” she said.
Luis Colon, who served in the Army and Air Force, said elephant yoga is something like therapy with horses, except that the elephants stay at a distance.
Large animals, like elephants and horses “relate not only to veterans, but to the human being. And if you're going through any stress, emotions, something in your life, you'll be able to channel that through the animal, and they will perceive that, and somehow you can connect with them,” Colon said.
“And after the exercise, you will feel lighter. Like a weight off your shoulders,” Colon said.
Even though the elephants are not doing downward dogs or chaturangas, they get something out of the classes, too, according to Lou Barreda, who heads the Myakka Elephant Ranch.
"We have three elephants right now. They're all retired. They mostly did entertainment throughout their lives,” he said.
"Seeing new people, new smells every day, really kind of enriches them. They love being outside, but they also like things to do. So even with the yoga in the background, they do notice," Barreda added.
The number of elephants is in decline worldwide, with only about 350,000 African elephants and 45,000 Asian elephants left.
That's why Barreda says he opens his ranch to nonprofits that host events on a regular basis – so people will see the elephants, get some education in conservation and ultimately want to help save them.
Operation Warrior Resolution uses the proceeds from elephant yoga toward its own programming costs and also makes a donation to the Myakka Elephant Ranch each year, a spokesman said.
Most of those in the class were civilians, like Denise Wallace, who said she has done yoga with goats and foxes before, but it wasn’t as relaxing because the critters were sniffing around people’s bags and digging into their shoes.
"This was subtle. It was perfect,” Wallace said after class as she rolled up her mat.
“The weather was cool, and the way they presented it, it's not just a photo thing. You're going to actually do a practice. And we're contributing. So what else is there?"
The next elephant yoga class has not been scheduled. Once a date is confirmed, it will be on the calendar of events posted by Operation Warrior Resolution.
