A small army of goats roamed a small area of the vast, grassy expanse of McKeldin Mall, dutifully surveilled by passersby. No, it’s not a scene from Severance —  it’s a Student Entertainment Events goat yoga session.

The event was held in two sessions on Tuesday afternoon as a part of “Spring Mania”— a weeklong series of events leading up to SEE’s annual Art Attack concert.

Senior information science major and SEE executive board member Cade McDonald put the event together after being inspired by another school’s goat yoga event.

[DBK Dishes: 4 easy recipes for your newest go-to bite]

“I reached out to a couple companies and last November, I started talking with this one, and then it just happened to pull through,” McDonald said.

Long before the event began a line of students already stretched down the mall — as did a distinct farmland smell — braving the cold and windy weather for a chance at a caprine encounter.

Excited students cooed at about eight baby goats, ranging in color, size and manner — from excited to terrified to boisterous.

The multi-tasking of yoga and goat wrangling posed a challenge, but for many attendees, the goats were a welcome change to the exercise and a way to get rid of stress and lingering anxiety. Some said that the event allowed them to get back into yoga, something they had become too busy to do regularly.

“I feel like we get so caught up with our work and our jobs and just anything like even just relaxing and laying in bed that we kind of forget to be mindful and do things like yoga,” said Moumita Afrin, a senior anthropology and biology major.

BreakAway Yoga provided the lessons during the event. The studio’s owner, Jennifer Lucas, has taught yoga at her own studio since 2017.

After the pandemic, she shifted from her brick-and-mortar location to doing mobile yoga events at breweries and dance studios.

She said she always wanted to work in goat yoga, and that she worked with people in the salon next door to her yoga studio to bring the idea to life. Although the event was meant to allow students to unwind, many came to see and play around with the goats.

[Juggling enthusiasts find community, performance opportunities in UMD club]

Participants made their way through warrior poses and downward dogs as the goats stumbled across mats, between legs and, in some cases, onto backs. A few, tired from their acrobatics, fell asleep on the back of participants’ mats.

“These events typically bring in a lot of people, and they bring in people that are already friends, but they also are opportunities for people to meet one another,” Lucas said.

McDonald said the event was ultimately motivation to prioritize self-care and wellness at a time near the end of the semester where academics can become overwhelming.

“Especially around now during April, just during midterm season … [it’s] a little bit of de-stress for the students just to have them get their minds off things, hang out with their friends and obviously just do yoga, which is always good for you,” McDonald said.