KAAIAA is the difference between working out to change your body … and working out to change your life.
This morning, the P.E Nation team joined Leah Simmons of KAAIAA to participate in a group sunrise session in celebration of World Meditation Day. In partnership with Seedlip, KAAIAA held the event on Sydney’s breathtaking foreshore, in the Royal Botanic Garden, with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge as the backdrop to an hour-long session that incorporated breathwork, movement, meditation and spiritual integration.
KAAIAA is a training program that focuses on the four pillars of health - mental, physical, emotional and spiritual – to support, strengthen and enhance every aspect of your life. Its founder, Leah Simmons, is a certified Pilates instructor, personal trainer and kundalini yoga teacher who has dedicated 14 years to helping others train, heal and grow physically, emotionally and spiritually.
“Meditation can take many forms. It can be a moving meditation, it can be sitting in your breath, it can be spending time in nature,” explains Leah. “It can be so many things, but what it requires is a little bit of time and it’s a gift that you give to yourself to be able to practise it and be fully aware and fully present in the moment. And that’s what we’re celebrating today, on World Meditation Day. Working across those four pillars, KAAIAA is all about really being in the present, it’s about being in your body, it’s about being with yourself in this moment.”
World Meditation Day with KAAIAA
During a KAAIAA session, students are guided to push through physical limits and access a powerful new reality within. Through music, movement, strength and stillness, the practice encourages people to move beyond the noise of the mind and tap into a transformational release.
“The session begins with breathwork,” explains Leah. “To flood the body with oxygen, open up neural pathways, activate the nervous system. It’s a really true, internal warm-up that prepares us for the bodywork, the physical pillar – a great workout for the whole body, incorporating challenging, functional strength sequences with some deep core conditioning. It increases mobility to get the body going. We then move into the beautiful meditation and integration which allows us to balance and align all of our energy centres. To finish, we focus on the spiritual pillar which is an integration technique that connects you to the space you’re in, and allows you to feel that strength inside you. For me, this is the part that really connects me to nature; it helps me realise that I am not separate, I am a part of this incredible universe.”
Taking inspiration from the Maharishi Effect, the donation-based class saw more than 200 people harness the power of group energy, coming together to raise the collective consciousness of Sydney. All proceeds from the event went to the Royal Botanic Garden to further the discovery, documentation and conservation of plant life.
Physical Education with P.E Nation
In collaboration with KAAIAA and David Jones, P.E Nation are hosting two hour-long workout experiences at Brisbane’s Howard Smith Wharves on Sunday, May 23. To learn more, click here.
Try KAAIAA at Home
KAAIAA On Demand has just launched, allowing you to participate in online classes with Leah anywhere. To learn more about KAAIAA and try KAAIAA On Demand free for 7 days, go to www.kaaiaa.com.
Photography by Simon Davidson.