FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 32, 2025
Hamilton, Ohio – Take a deep breath. Donkey yoga arrives at the Fitton Center this summer.
The community arts center has offered in-person and online yoga courses for many years as part of its education program. A new partnership with Jewelenberry Farms in nearby Ross Township brings four burros to the Fitton Center dance studio for a new twist on the ancient breathing and stretching practice.
“This is a huge opportunity for us,” said Fitton Center Executive Director Ian MacKenzie-Thurley. “We’ve been looking for some new offerings. Donkey yoga has been sweeping the southern French countryside for several years, so it’s not exactly new, but to my knowledge, this is the first donkey yoga class in Butler County, if not all of Ohio.
“Yoga with people is old hat. Puppies are cute, but they lack focus. Goat yoga is trendy, but goats would tear up our landscaping. We thought about bikram, but didn’t want to put that kind of stress on our aging HVAC system.”
Enter Jennifer Anesse of Jewelenberry Farms.
She will lead two sections of donkey yoga – one in person and one online - in the Fitton Center’s Summer II education session which kicks off Monday, July 7.
“This course not recommended for beginners,” Anesse said. “It takes intense focus to hold an abhaya mudra pose with a full-grown donkey braying in your ear.
"I can’t say it’s a great Creative Aging option, either. Donkeys are heavy and their hooves could do permanent damage to aging bones.
“This is a fairly advanced form of yoga practice. But if you’ve mastered the four padas of the 196 yogic sutras, donkey yoga might be of interest to you. We will explore the silver threads of light connecting all living things in the universe to one another and aim for a higher plane through breathing and meditation.”
Anesse grew up in Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, a picturesque village of 700 close to the French Alps, where donkeys remain the primary means of transportation. For generations, her family managed a large coffle of asses and rented them to neighboring villages for a variety of tasks.
However, Anesse imagined a life where her pack animals were more than beasts of burden.
During the pandemic, she sold half her herd and bought 164 acres of Ross pasture sight unseen with the proceeds. She has since absolved the remaining donkeys of work responsibilities and lets them roam free at Jewelenberry.
“Who says humans have the only path to enlightenment,” Anesse asked. “I’ve seen donkeys work for 24 hours straight and I’ve seen donkeys stop working and not budge for 24 hours straight. Some people say they are stubborn. I say they are in tune with the infinite and that we should learn from them.”
Fitton Center Director of Education Kate Rowekamp is 3-D printing replica donkeys for students who will take the online version of the course.
Contracts for the class arrived too late for inclusion in the recently released Summer Education Brochure, but registration will go live online at 9 a.m. right here.
The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Avenue on the Riverfront in downtown Hamilton, Ohio and is by no means offering goat yoga. If you’ve read this far and have clicked the link, you probably realize this is an April Fool’s gag.
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