A dirty yogi walks into a spa...

As I walked into the Nordic Spa in Girdwood, Alaska on Sunday, I realized I’d never done a "spa day" with the intention of staying the entire day.

The SMELL of the place is enough to relax me — let alone the fact that an in-person yoga class was in my near future (omg)... followed by a plethora of saunas, steam baths, hot tea, cold plunges, hot tubs and more. 


I walked into the yoga studio, pulled my mat out of its bag, rolled it out... and froze.


I self-consciously looked side-to-side to see if anyone else was seeing the situation: My bright yellow yoga mat, covered in dirty smudges and paw prints. Evidence of a dog-loving yogi’s life well-lived... and, my ego (mortified) thought to herself: Sooooo out-of-place here!


I snagged a bottle of essential-oil infused cleaner, and furiously scrubbed my mat for (likely) the first time in its life. After many minutes of attempted dirt removal, I sat back, surveyed the lack of progress, and gave up. The smudges weren’t going anywhere until a washing machine was involved. 


This is me, I thought. Sunny vibes, dirt smudged, and ready to roll.


As soon as my teacher walked into the space, all shame for my mat’s appearance evaporated. I gave Andie a big hug and had another realization: It’s been many *many* years since I’ve had the honor of taking a class away from home from one of my students! 

Andie is grounded and charismatic — and always makes everyone feel at home wherever she goes. She was a student of SHEWild YTT with me in the arctic two years ago, and today, she teaches yoga (and practices massage) around Girdwood, Alaska, including Sunday mornings at 10am where I found myself this past weekend. 


As she cued up some tunes and offered props around the room, I watched in awe. Every single person in the room felt seen and heard as they voiced nerves about doing yoga after a long hiatus, or felt sore from a few days of skiing at Alyeska. Andie smiled and nodded, reassuring each student they were right where they needed to be — and the entire class could be modified to suit their needs. Dirt smudges or no, all were welcome in that room.

And then she taught KRIYA! 

It’s one thing for me to take a yoga class in-person — but it’s a treat to take a class in-person that’s taught in the style I love the most! My soul was singing with every CHHHH of Prana Shakti and CHH-CHHH of Shiva Kriya (IYKYK). My immune system sung during Lama Pranayama, and my aching body relished the asana flow in the middle.


Savasana was — literally — magic. 


By the final bow at the end of class, I knew I’d been given a gift. The gift, and the certain glow, that I’ve found only kriya yoga can give me:

Thank you, Andie <3 

Sending love,
​Mollie