Goats, yoga, healing come together at Hidden Timber Soul Sanctuary

Rachel Sankey

Staff

June 24, 2024

FALL CREEK – In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Kristina Brett-Buckman said – like many others – “I hit a wall.”

“I hit rock bottom in terms of job satisfaction, burnout – the whole thing,” she said. 

After working in customer service for the last 30 years, dealing with a worldwide pandemic and experiencing the loss of her wife’s mother, Kristina said she knew she needed a change and hired a business life coach.

“We started doing some soul searching for me, and we discovered what lights my fire is animals – being in tune with, taking care of and reconnecting with them,” she said.

That, coupled with a “life-changing” experience she and her wife, Tiffany, had at a goat yoga session in Illinois, inspired Kristina to start her own hobby farm.

“(I thought), ‘how can we share this experience with other people?’” she said. “Because I’m not the only one who needs healing from life – as adults, we forget. We forget how to laugh. We forget we’re our own human and need to have some self-love and self-care.”

Kristina said the more she and Tiffany discussed it, the more they wanted to create a place where adults could recharge and reconnect.

“I made a promise to myself,” she said. “My youngest (of three) at the time was a junior in high school, and we said, ‘when he graduates, we’re leaving the state.’ We had been living in Illinois where I’ve spent the last 20 years of my life.”

The Door County native said they considered a few options – such as Vermont – but decided the move would take them back to the Badger state, where she was raised.

However, instead of returning to the lakeshore, Kristina said she and Tiffany decided Eau Claire was the perfect place to start their hobby farm.

“The Eau Claire area hit a lot of buckets for us in terms of the space we wanted to have,” she said. 

In June 2022, Kristina said they officially moved to the new property and started working toward opening Hidden Timber Soul Sanctuary (E18970 County Road N) – a goat and alpaca yoga studio.

First move, now business

Once Kristina and Tiffany were moved into their new home, Kristina said the next step was getting the ball rolling on the hobby farm – which meant mentoring had to come first. 

“I spent that first year doing mentorship with different local farmers (to further understand what it takes to care for farm animals)…,” she said. “What I learned is, home – the State of Wisconsin – and the people in it, haven’t changed one bit. They’re still willing to help you and stand by you.”

By spring of last year, Kristina said they started creating the physical space for the animals to live and roam.

Through her mentorship, she said she knew she wanted goats and alpacas and purchased five huacaya alpacas and seven Nigerian dwarf goats.

“Tiffany (tells) me they’re the most well-taken care of animals in the tri-state area,” she said. “I want to make sure they’re in the best spirits they can be so they can help heal our guests. It’s important.”

In addition to creating homes for their new animals, the couple said they also needed to build a space where yoga sessions could be held.

Because the studio currently doesn’t have a bathroom connected to it (a port-a-potty is on-site), Kristina said Hidden Timber is only open from spring through the fall.

Though the studio officially opened last fall, she said they hosted an official grand opening this spring.

Animals + yoga

Kristina said the last big aspect needed before Hidden Timber Soul Sanctuary was up and running was yoga.

“We have (four) certified instructors… who lead entry-level yoga,” she said. 

When guests arrive, Kristina said the goats are not yet in the building, which gives people time to get settled on their yoga mats – and receive a little pile of animal crackers.

“The goats are highly motivated by the animal crackers,” she said. “(Then) Tiffany gives some background information about Hidden Timber Soul Sanctuary, how it got its name, why we’re here and our mission.”

Kristina said most people who come to the studio have never experienced goat yoga. 

“(When we) bring the goats in, everybody goes crazy, interacting with the goats, and of course, the goats are like, ‘where are my animal crackers?’” she laughed. “That motivates the goats to be interactive… They’re like dogs where they don’t understand personal space. They will jump on you like a dog would. Though, if you’re in poses, they don’t jump on your back like some Instagram videos show.”

Kristina said guests can expect the goats to weave in and out of their legs while doing certain poses.

Throughout the yoga session, which lasts anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, she said participants can do whatever they feel most comfortable doing, even if that means sitting and petting a goat the entire time.

Kristina said, for her, the best feeling is when she looks around the room “and our guests are smiling, and I hear them laughing and giggling like little kids.”

“When people come with their friends and their family, they’re having a good time,” she said. “We have people who will throw animal crackers on their neighbor’s mat so the goats (go over by) them.”

Toward the end of a session, Kristina said it’s not unheard of for someone to go from being happy to shedding a few tears.

“You can see the whole gamut, from joyful, excited, to giggling, to happy, to sometimes releasing some of those pent-up emotions,” she said. 

Some of the stretches and poses the instructors teach, Kristina said, are designed to release some of those emotions.

“It’s all interconnected,” she said. “Laughter alone releases endorphins and allows us to get that euphoric high… We often ask people to give us their feedback. Joyful, happy, lighter, feeling peaceful, connected – are all words people have used to describe how they feel when they’re done with goat yoga with us.”

Though Kristina said she and Tiffany also planned to start yoga in the pasture with the alpacas, she said the program is currently postponed due to some of the girls experiencing health issues.

“(Alpacas) are in tune with who’s not feeling good – they’re protective and need to focus on getting well,” she said.

In the past, Kristina said she has brought guests to the pasture to take pictures with the alpacas and feed them, though she warns they can be a bit stand-offish.

“We say they silently judge everyone…,” she laughed. “But they are a unique animal. Not everyone has them, so most of our guests have never been around alpacas… We try to make it as interactive as possible, as much as the alpaca ladies will let us.” 

A hidden haven

Though the business’s name doesn’t mention the four-legged friends, Kristina said it encompasses the “sanctuary” they live on and all Hidden Timber Soul Sanctuary stands for.

When the couple bought the property in the Eau Claire area, Kristina said they had never physically seen the home and land themselves – they were shown through video chat with their realtor.

“The first time we drove up to the property, the night before our home inspection, was the first time we had seen it in person,” she said. “When we drove up, we were like… where’s all our property?… Most of our property is hidden timber – it’s like 90% woodland area. That’s where the (first part of the) name came from.”

The future, additional programs

As the duo continues with Hidden Timber’s first full season, Kristina said they also have other plans in the works for the studio, such as wellness retreats.

“We have a holistic, half-day wellness retreat in a few weeks,” she said. “We want to do those once a quarter. This one is focusing on healing modalities for the body.”

In the future, she said they would also like to do retreats on healing modalities for the mind and spirit and continue to rotate through those.

In addition, she said Tiffany is a life coach offers those services at the sanctuary – “so it’s all interconnected.”

“We can expand on the goat yoga, but by incorporating team building activities beyond the goat yoga – because of Tiffany’s certification as a life coach, (we can offer more),” Kristina said. 

As of right now, Kristina said she still works her corporate job in addition to the sanctuary but hopes to eventually step away and focus on the studio full-time. 

To learn more about Hidden Timber Soul Sanctuary, visit hiddentimbersoulsanctuary.com.