Breathing Deeply and Experiencing Nature in Juneau with Cindee Brown-Mills

Cindee joins Jennie to talk about deeply connecting with nature through breathe work and slowing down in Juneau

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Music credits:  Largo Montebello, by Domenico Mannelli, CC.

Transcript

 Welcome to the Alaska Uncovered Podcast with me, your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, my occasional co-host and full-time husband, Jay, and I bring you accurate, helpful, and entertaining information about Alaska Travel and life in Alaska. Before we jump in, we want to take a moment to thank our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible.

You can join them at the link in the show notes. Enjoy the show. 

My guest to today is Cindee Brown Mills  Cindee arrived in Alaska in 1998 to attend graduate school at Alaska Pacific University.  After that, she landed a job in Juneau and immediately felt a deep sense of belonging.

Juneau became her home, and she's been rooted there ever since. In 2023, Cindee founded Breathe Alaska, and that's what we're gonna be talking about today. The inspiration for her business sparked during a conversation with a friend about the overwhelming amount of stress, anxiety, trauma, and grief people silently carry.

Having recently faced these challenges herself, Cindee could relate. She tried everything, therapy, self-help, trends, books. She didn't find enough relief, but then she stumbled upon a breathwork class. She was skeptical but desperate for change, so she gave it a shot. The first class was life changing. It helped her release the emotions she'd been holding in her body for so long and gave her a renewed sense of hope.

In that moment, she realized she had found a powerful tool and one she felt called to share with others. Today Cindee facilitates transformative breathwork sessions for individuals and groups specializing in supporting professional women who feel overwhelmed, stressed, and disconnected. She also guides a unique wilderness experience in Alaska, inviting participants to immerse themselves in the state's pristine beauty.

These reflective journeys help people connect with nature and themselves through the quiet power of Alaska's wild landscapes. When Cindee is not working, you'll find her out on the trail soaking up nature with her family and her dogs. Whether she's exploring the forest or enjoying a quiet moment by the water, Alaska's wilderness continues to inspire her mission to help others find presence, joy and wholeness.

Cindee, welcome to Alaska 

Uncovered. Thank you for being 

here. Oh, 

gosh, yes. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited. 

Yeah, it's really, I love that this is going to be a little bit of a different kind of episode and I really love that because we're gonna be talking about both visitors and life in Alaska today.

So I think that will be really fun. And by the way for those of you listening. Cindee also has worked in the tourism industry before 2023, and I met you for the first time when you were my guide on a Juneau food tour. 

Yes. I've worked for Juneau Food Tours guiding. Food walks through Juneau and it's pretty amazing.

So it's pretty amazing. Big plug for them. 

Yeah, it's amazing. And we do have an episode about that as well. And so it was so fun to reconnect with you and learn about Breathe Alaska and what you're doing. So I am really excited to talk about that today. Cindee, I know you so I'd love to ask you how you got to Alaska and I know that we.

Gave away a little bit there in the intro, but tell us a little more about your journey to Alaska Pacific and what drew you to Alaska in the first place. 

I wanted to discover. Something exotic and new and different. But I had pets and I had to stay in the United States because of the quarantine issues with taking pets overseas.

Yeah. So Alaska was the farthest away that I could get and that's awesome. And the most exotic. I was talking with my cousins. And there two, two of my cousins, we had decided that the three of us were gonna move up together, but unfortunately it was just me. Aw. 

It's funny. I feel like exotic and pet friendly is a pretty good way to describe Alaska, actually.

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. 

Yeah. Okay. Alaska Pacific is a pretty small school. Would you be okay with just telling everybody where it's located and that kind of thing? 

Yeah, it's the campus is located right next to the University of Alaska Anchorage. If you go down the road and you there's a, like a three-way stop, you just keep going straight and the campus is back there.

It is quite beautiful. Yeah, 

it really is. They have 

a lot of of trails, of hiking trails and in the winter they're groomed for cross country skiing. Yeah. So fun. 

So how did you get from Anchorage then to Juneau? 

I, after graduating from college, I found a job in Juneau, and that's why I moved here simply because there was A position open.

Yeah. 

Yeah. And then I. Then that was it. The rest was history. That was it. Love it. Yeah. Okay. So you're living your life in Juneau. You're working through these things that you had experienced, that you were struggling with. So tell us a little bit more, again, we already touched on this a bit, but tell us a little more about how you got involved with breathwork.

I spent 20, a little over 20 years in the. Corporate world. And at the end of that, I found myself overworked, overstressed full of anxiety. And I remember coming home one day and I sat down on the ground in my bedroom and I looked at my husband and I said, I just can't do this anymore.

And that was really a turning point for me. Yeah, because. It wasn't a good fit. It wasn't my calling, it wasn't my why and I needed to find something different. Yeah. I as you read in the intro, I had tried all the self-help. I had tried therapy, I had tried everything. 



And I happened upon a breathwork class and I thought, what the heck can hurt and.

That one, that the first class gave me so much release of those motions and the stuff that I was holding onto that I kept going and over time was really able to start to reprogram my brain to react differently to the stress and the trauma and. All the things that we have in our lives. 

Yeah, 

absolutely.

Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. 'cause I think, yeah, I just think that's really magical. That's really cool. You have such a strong connection to Juneau and you have found. Breath work as a way of healing both yourself and helping others. I'd love to hear a little bit about how being in Juneau connects to that.

Like why is Juneau such a great place to do this type of work? And of course, people could do this anywhere. But tell us a little bit about why Juneau is such a good place for this. 

I think I read a statistic not too long ago that people spend 95% of our time indoors. That, to me was staggering.

Yeah. And I can totally see it. We have busy lives. We're working 40 hours a week, and when we come home we just wanna be home, so do know. Is a place where we can get outside in the quiet and you can go someplace with nobody around. Yep. You can hear the birds, you can be in the forest, in nature, and the forest trees, especially green spaces, have this profound effect on our.

On our wellness, on our bodies. Yeah. 'cause trees live off a hormone called phy sides and those, that hormone, while it protects the trees from. Fungus and all, and bugs and all of the things that they get. But it also has that profound effect on us too. It reduces our heart rate. Lowers stress levels, increases our immune system.

So when we go out in green spaces, most people would be like, oh, I just feel so good when I get outside. And that's why, because the trees are. Giving off this chemical that's just so profoundly effective and helpful and healing for us. Yeah. And we have Juneau's in the middle of the, one of the largest forests in the United States, so we have so much of that space.

Yes. You really do. And it's interesting that you describe that science a little bit. 'cause I think most people know that. They like, we have a feeling like, oh yeah, trees are good for us, we need trees. But it's more than just a feeling is what you're saying. It's actually the way it impacts our body chemistry.

Yeah. Absolutely. That's really cool. Okay. One thing I would love to know in a few minutes, we'll get more into the type of experiences that you offer through Breathe Alaska, but I would love to know just in general what your thoughts are for people coming to Juneau. Some of those super lucky folks are.

Coming and spending some time in Juneau on their own, which I would highly recommend. Side note. Yes, absolutely. But lots of, absolutely. Yeah. But lots of people are coming to Juneau on cruise ships, the majority. And so I'm curious what advice you have for people who are going to be in a beautiful wilderness area like Juneau.

And in reality are gonna be on a big ship and getting off onto a dock with thousands of other people. What are some ways that you'd recommend people find, how can people connect with nature and the place that is Juneau, beyond that busy loud doc environment? 

I would suggest that people walk.

Go and walk. Get a away just a little bit away from that busy hustle and bustle of downtown and the cruise ship docks. There's a book that is a almost a bible, if you will, of short walks around Juneau. It's called 90 Short Walks Around Juneau by Mary Lou King, and it has. So many trails that are short close by.

You can find them anywhere in Juneau and just go for a short little walk. Yeah, 

I'll put a link to the book in the show notes. Yeah. Perfect. That'll be cool. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Suggestion. Like it just doesn't, Juneau's a pretty small town, so it doesn't take very long to get away from that hustle and bustle like you said.

And there are there are walks that the city has created along the docks to go down. And honestly, even if you just get a few blocks away from town, you'll get away from that. Yeah. Huge. Hustle and bustle for 

sure. Yeah. Would you mind sharing just a couple of those spots that are like favorites for you that you'd recommend to other people?

Absolutely. There is the whale statue. Yes. That's probably, oh, love it. Quarter mile of a walk. And it's beautiful over there. Yeah. The walk is beautiful. They've put up trees to attract birds. To and eagles to along the walk. So you can often see eagles along there, up on the light poles. Yep.

Yeah, that's probably the number one. 

Yeah. Yeah, I agree. That is a great spot. I also, I know this is slightly different that than what you were just saying, Cindee, but I feel like going for like a. Even a short hike along the ridge there from the top of the tram is also it's not foresty so much, but I also feel like that's a magical spot in Juneau.

A little harder to get to, 'cause you gotta take the tram, but 

yeah. Great recommendation. That's a beautiful place too. 

Yeah. Although I guess you can walk there instead of taking the tram. You can. Yes you can. And then you got lots of tree time in the on the forest. Cool. Yep. Love it. Okay. We're gonna take a short break and then when we come back we are going to talk a little more with Cindee about the types of experiences that Breathe Alaska offers in Juneau.

 📍 Hi everyone. I hope you're enjoying this episode so far. Just wanted to jump in and let you know that you can always save 10% with the code podcast in my online shop. You've got, um, stickers that Jay designed and made that are absolutely beautiful. Also, my done for you itineraries, my on demand workshops and my planners.

So check it out. It's shop. adventures.com. Let's get back to the show.

  We are back with Cindee Brown Mills from Breathe Alaska, and today we are talking about the value of spending time outdoors in a place like the forests around Juneau and many other places in Alaska and elsewhere, of course.

Cindee, let's talk a little bit about Breathe Alaska and the programs that you offer for. Visitors. So first of all, why is this maybe actually very, first of all, tell us a little bit about what the experience is like. Like how long is it? What are people doing? Is it kid friendly? Is it not kid friendly?

Talk a little bit about some of those, like basics about what to expect. 

Yeah, I'd love to. It is a three and a half hour experience. We start in downtown Juneau where we pick everybody up. And then we drive out to North Douglas. So it's about a 20 minute drive through the forest. And we talk about the things that we see along the way.

We stop at a view of the Mendenhall Glacier that not very many people get to see. That's just breathtaking. It's across the water. We get to see the entire glacier, which even if you're right up close to the glacier, you're only seeing the bottom half. 

Yeah. 

So  we're able to see it from a distance and you can see how it looks like a river of ice.

It's beautiful. Yeah. And then we go to our trailhead, which is the rainforest trail, and. There we stop. The experience is called mindfulness in the wilderness, and it's all about being mindful and present. So we talk about what that means. We center ourselves, we take a few breaths, and then we start walking down the trail.

And as we walk along the trail, we talk about the edible and medicinal plants in the forest. So depending on the type of year, there may be berries that we can pick and actually eat. I take some little bags so people can take some with them, 

yu, but we definitely 

talk about all the amazing plants in the forest and in Alaska, in our forest and probably many others too.

So much that is edible that we don't even know. Pretty interesting. Yeah. Yeah. 

Back at the very beginning of January, in fact January 1st Alaska Mary was on the podcast and we talked about foraging in Sitka and how that's one of her favorite things. Yeah, it's fun that you talked about that and include that as part of this experience.

That's so cool. 

Yeah, it's really, it's fun, especially once the berries are ripe and there's so much along the trail. 

Yeah, absolutely. That sounds like a really like perfect thing to do on vacation. 

Reconnect so. So connect. Going further down the trail, we end up on a beach, which this beach there is something about it.

It, there's this little microclimate there where sometimes the rest of Juneau the weather may not be all that great, but for some reason the sun is shining on this beach. It's pretty amazing. And there we have some chairs and we set up and we do a mindful or a mindfulness meditation. So 20 minutes or so of a guided meditation there on the beach in nature.

It's amazing. Yeah. From, yeah, from there. Love it. Then we. Come back up the trail, get in the van and go back to downtown to the Crystal Saloon. And we have an amazing lunch made by Chef Ivan. He makes us a smoked salmon chowder homemade. In my opinion, it's the best chowder in Juneau. 

Oh, I haven't had their chowder, but I gotta add that next time I come.

Yes, 

absolutely love it. And, a cranberry spinach salad and a, a cocktail. And then we turn you loose and you can go explore downtown Juneau. 

Love it. That's so cool. And one thing I wanna add, for those of you listening, like this area that Cindee is describing on North Douglas, this is not a place that visitors really go very often, right?

So if you are someone who's feeling a little. Like overwhelmed by being on a cruise ship. This would be a great a great way to really get away from it all. I think. Yeah. 

This experience is like nothing else in, in Alaska. Yeah. Frankly. Yeah. It's not, you're not with. 2000 of your closest friends, you're not on a bus with 150 people.

It's a small experience. Yep. It's all about slowing down, reconnecting with yourself and with the forest. Yep. Yeah. 

Amazing. I love it. Okay, so let's talk a little bit to you around like logistics about this. So you are a very small company, right? So I'll of course put your website in the show notes. What do you recommend for people as far as booking? If they're coming to Juneau and they wanna do this experience, should they book through your website or is there a better way to do it? And how far ahead of time do people need to book? 

So the website is probably the best place to book because you're gonna get all of the current up to date.

Availabilities. Yep. The although it's on Viar Alaska shore excursions also is a reseller. Cool. Yeah. Okay. So there's a few options and Oh, how far ahead? Yeah. The day before I just need to know the day before. Okay. That's awesome. 

Also, you can save 10%,  on Cindy's tours on her website or by calling,  with the code podcast.  

Okay. Cindee, I would like, is there anything else you wanna share about Breathe Alaska or breath work in general before we move on to talking a little bit about Juneau?

A little more about Juneau? 

I think. Just a little plug that I also have breathwork classes available online, so a people could do them remotely. Oh, cool. That's all on my website. If you are interested in learning about breathwork and what it is, then that would be a really good way to just jump in and yeah, experience it for yourself.

Yeah. Love it. Cool. Thank you for sharing that. And I will make sure that's in the show notes too. Alright, Cindee, so you are a long-term resident of Juneau and I would love to hear maybe a couple things. So first of all, what are some of your favorite. Places to go. You already talked a little bit about like where you do breath work on North Douglas, and you talked about the whale sculpture.

Are there any other places in Juneau that you feel like are really important for visitors to see from a local's perspective? 

I would say the shrine of St. Therese. Oh yeah. In my opinion. Tell us a little more about that. 



Yeah. It is a. 40 acre property owned by the Catholic Diocese of Juneau.

It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places on earth. 

Yeah, it is. One of my best friends. Got married there and yeah, it's 

pretty great. For sure. One of the beautiful things about the shrine is that they have. Cabins that you can rent. Yep. And I had one of their cabins sleeps like 24 people.

Yeah. I had some family come up a couple years ago and we just rented the lodge for them and we all stayed together. 

Aw. And 

it was, yeah, it was magical. Love it. Oh, that's so cool. 

Yeah. It is a beautiful place. Yeah, it is. 

If somebody is staying longer. I would recommend, spend a few days in Juneau.

It's a great place, but get out to some of the smaller communities. 

Yeah. That's where 

you're really going to experience Alaska. 

Yeah. Yeah. Which like, which ones in particular come to mind as good places to check out 

the ones that are most accessible from Juneau? I would say GUstavus Hoonah. Yep.

Probably my favorite. My husband's from Hoonah, so Of course. Yeah. We spend a lot of time there and Yes. And love it there, but yeah, get out and explore the smaller communities. 

Yeah. I agree. That's great advice. Love it. Okay, so Cindee, I know this is gonna be extremely difficult because not only do you live in Juneau, but you also have been a guide for Juneau Food Tours.

Just people who listen to the podcast already know that in my opinion, Juneau is one of the two best food cities in Alaska. The other one being Fairbanks. And so I would love to talk about food a little bit. And normally I ask people for their favorite restaurant. I feel like a Juneau that is. A cruel position to put you in.

So maybe instead, like you mentioned that the smoked salmon chowder at the Crystal Saloon. Either like a couple other restaurants that are. That are locally owned, like most of them are, as far as I know. But places that you feel like, if you're in Juneau, you gotta have this meal or you gotta go to this spot, but you can have more than one.

Okay. 

Yeah. So I would say explore the food trucks. Yes. 

In judo. Yeah. 

But my favorite during the summer by far is deckhand Daves. 

Yes. 

You've got to go and try their fish tacos, their, and really in Juneau in the summer it's fish. 

Yeah, 

that's, yeah, for sure. Definitely. 

And I'm gonna just say when you get up to Deckhand Daves and there's an eight mile line, get over it and just join the line.

Absolutely. It goes really fast. And a The food. Yeah. Yeah. And the food is 

so worth it. Totally. Totally. Yeah. Okay. I love that. And yeah, seafood. What about, okay. Since you mentioned seafood, a lot of times people of course want to have seafood, but I have also had quite a few clients or and guests on my tour or people in my fa, I have some people in my family who do not like seafood, and so sometimes they're like, will I be able to eat in Alaska?

And I'm like. Yes you will. Are there any like options that you'd recommend for non 

seafood lovers in Juneau? First of all, I would suggest that you try the seafood in Juneau. Yeah. I've done a lot of food tours and our tours are mostly seafood. They're all seafood. Yeah. And. I have had so many people where I'm like, just try it because it's different when it's fresh.

It is. 

Yep. And it's, it's, yeah. So try it first because you may discover that you really like it. 

Yeah. 

If not, then, yeah, we have some great food trucks that are. Filipino style food. 

Yeah. 

We have er Wilson's, that is a burger place that, oh my gosh. His burgers are like the big juicy. Get all over your hands.

Nice. Put 'em down. Burgers. Is that in the Food Truck Village or is that somewhere else? It is. Okay. It's right by deckhand. Dave's there cool. In the summer. 

Yeah. 

That would be my recommendation Yeah. Is to look at the food trucks. There are some places that serve pizzas. The Crystal Saloon does pizzas that are really good too.

Yep. Nice. 

Dig it. Okay. Those are great suggestions. Finally, Cindee as we get ready to wrap up here. What is a piece of advice that you have for visitors coming to Alaska for the first time? 

I would say get out away from the tourist places. 



And walk. Yeah. Discover. Go into the pubs, go into the coffee shops, talk to people.

People of Alaska are so friendly and inviting for the most part. Yeah. You may just even make some lifelong friends by sitting in a brewery chatting with somebody at the table next to you. 

Yeah. I love that. That's really true. That's been my experience too. I love it. 

The other thing that I would say about Doo or about Alaska is it's not just a summer destination.

There is so much to do in the winter skiing, Northern Lights. Yeah. A lot of snow recreation. Don't write Alaska off in the winter. It's pretty beautiful then too. 

I agree with that. And when we were talking about food. Of course not everywhere is open in the winter, but a lot of places are.

Yes. It's not like everything is rolled up in winter. That's not true at all. Especially in Juneau, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Wonderful.  📍 Cindee, thank you so much for coming on the pod today and sharing about your life in Juneau and about Breathe Alaska. 

Thank you so much for having me. It has been a pleasure.