Love Yoga expands with new studio in Kalispell

With overwhelming support, Love Yoga’s founder and owner, Holly Purdy, decided to open a second location in downtown Kalispell to make yoga, hot yoga, and barre classes more accessible.

Previously, dedicated yogis traveled from all over the Flathead Valley to Whitefish as it is one of the only studios to offer hot yoga. Love Yoga opened its studio in Whitefish in 2019.

Now with a more central location, Purdy hopes to see the Love Yoga community flourish.

Purdy has practiced yoga since 2008 and became certified in 2017. Her yoga journey started at the end of her undergraduate program when she began experiencing anxiety. After a few classes, Purdy said something finally clicked for her.

“I was already a teacher and I have this love for being creative, weaving words together, and telling stories and I found that I could do all of that through my yoga classes. I also have a huge love for music so I could make playlists and bring everything I love into the yoga room. I can be creative. I can tell stories. I can make playlists. It's all the things that I'm good at and it just keeps growing more and more,” she said.

After graduating with her master's of education, Purdy taught English. She acknowledges that her education has helped her create a space for learning and growing.

“I don't feel like any of my education was wasted. As a teacher, you have such a sweet opportunity to impact people. And I feel like the most potent teachers we have are those that are really passionate about whatever it is that they're teaching or sharing,” explained Purdy.

One of Purdy’s favorite parts of her job is leading yoga teacher classes. With students from ages 18 to 70, Purdy still weaves the classroom experience into her space.

“We spend a lot of time thinking about our lives and what has brought us to this moment and how we can use that to teach,” Purdy said. “A good yoga teacher teaches from their life and applies yoga philosophy to it, but also brings in the proper amount of fun or humor or whatever their personality is. We do a good job teaching well rounded classes that include personality, music, yoga, philosophy, and history.”

In November, Love Yoga held a retreat in Mexico for yogis wanting to become more involved in their practice. Purdy said that the retreat was incredible and that they hope to do more retreats in the future.

“The resort we stayed at was right on the ocean in Tulum and we did yoga every morning and a different kind of offering every afternoon. I brought in some um music artists to do a Kirtan which is like a group sing-along and you can dance. It's all about accessing that childhood essence of singing, playing, dancing, and not being too serious about life. I definitely want to do it again and I'm already looking at retreats for next year,” she said.

Purdy is excited about the new Kalispell studio which is located at 201 Third Avenue West and invites both beginners and advanced yogis to check out the space.

“This is a safe and inclusive place where people can come and be at any level in their yoga journey. Whether they're straight up beginners or advanced practitioners, they can come try out all the classes and all the teachers. Sometimes it takes a few classes to find that right teacher and the right type of class for you.” Purdy continued, “And to the beginners, I would say we're never good at anything until we do it for a while. So just give compassion to yourself if you're new. Try it out and remain open and curious about what gifts might be there.”

To sign up for a class or learn more about Love Yoga, visit their website at loveyogamontana.com or visit their Instagram @loveyogamontana. Love Yoga can be reached by email at info@yogamontana or phone at 406-290-8887.

Reporter Summer Zalesky may be reached at szalesky@dailyinterlake.com.