The “Hood Chicken” that Started Chicken Yoga for the Soul
From the streets to the yoga mat, “The Mayor” was Karen Finnegan’s inspiration to connect people through chickens and yoga.
Imagine a six pound chicken standing on your lower back while you maintain your breath in downward facing dog. Sounds intriguing? Owner and founder of the business, “Chicken’s with Attitude” Karen Finnegan shared her story and inspiration for starting “Chicken Yoga for the Soul,” the poultry-friendly yoga practice.
It all started when Finnegan saw a post on facebook that a lone chicken was wandering the streets of Beacon, NY. Later getting its name “The Mayor” due to her ability to socialize with the people of Beacon, The Mayor had become a local sensation that even had her own hashtag, #beaconhoodchicken. Finnegan gave the red hood-chicken a real home off the streets as she took the chicken into her own hands along with the rest of her five other feathery-friends.
During the Spring of 2021, a friend of Finnegan that lives on a farm gave her a a large amount of fertilized chicken eggs. Finnegan began to post about the hatch on social media and she soon had a large following. The countdown for the hatch sparked an interest in the public for the chickens and the birds soon became a local sensation. Finnegan later found out that each of the chicks that hatched had personalities of their own, naming all of them Christopher, but creating unique first-names for each of the chickens to differentiate them such as Goth Christopher and Karen Christopher.
The social-media countdown for the hatch lead Finnegan to an idea. She shared that COVID-19 had allowed her to bond with her birds and she came up with the idea of combining chickens with yoga. “During the middle of COVID, everyone was isolated and not connecting, and kids didn’t have their peers. There were a few things I did on my own to connect and yoga was one of those things. It’s outdoors, you can breathe and decompress and I can bring the birds into it. They’re fun and relaxing to be around.”
Having a chicken on your back while in yoga poses has some benefits. Finnegan shared that the chickens add pressure to wherever they are on the body — whether that is on the back during downward dog or on the shoulder during tree pose. “It’s just a few added pounds that ends up feeling really good. It keeps (the chickens) socialized, and it’s silly and connects the community.”
Besides the calming experience of practicing yoga with local animals and having the connection between the mind, body and the chicken, “accidents” can always happen. “Generally I can tell when they are going to go to the bathroom. I have wipes, but sometimes I discreetly have had to clean up. It’s not like we don’t expect it to happen and it happens less than you think.”
Chicken Yoga for the Soul can be found on the Facebook group page “Chicken Yoga for the soul” and on Tik Tok, @chickenswithattitude. Finnegan hosts chicken yoga on the weekends in Beacon and it is available for all ages and experience levels.
