SALA, an Auckland-based group movement studio, was born from the desire to create impactful experiences, community and healthy habits. In many ways, you could say that this is what Supreme is about too, but over a cup of coffee, instead of a kettlebell. We sat down with Sarah, SALA’s founder, to hear more about the studio, movement and her dream yoga class.
Q. Hey Sarah, tell us about SALA. What is it, why is it so awesome?
SALA is a multidisciplinary movement studio. I believe all movement is meditation when set with the intention of moving in tune with your needs. So many of us have subscribed to particular movement modalities, and unintentionally this may be limiting our potential to tune in with our natural Biorhythms.
I wanted a space where people could enjoy diversity and variety, in a small intimate setting, with a friendly atmosphere. A place where they could really be a part of a like-minded community. I’ve stopped referring to SALA as a gym, if anything it’s an anti-gym. I call it a creative community, which just feels so right to me.
Q. What led you to start SALA? And how did you land on the name?
I envisioned SALA so strongly before it was built into existence. I knew exactly who I wanted to come and how I wanted the space to make them feel. It isn’t finished either, I have strong hallucinations of the next stage of this project. I’m allowing them to manifest on their own timeframe.SALA is an abbreviation of my name, Sarah Lindsay! Not very profound, unfortunately.
Q. Who and what do you look to for inspiration?
I’ve always considered myself sort of counterculture. An artist at heart. My biggest inspirations are Patti Smith, Beat Generation poets like Allen Ginsberg and Anais Nin for the way they lived their lives in unapologetic ways. I look to my community a lot for feedback on how we steer the studio, otherwise, I try not to look too far afield for inspiration but rather look inward. I don’t follow any other studios or keep up to date with their offerings. They do them, and I do me.
Q. What’s your coffee setup at home or office?
We bought a coffee machine during the first lockdown and have never looked back. It’s amazing being able to create that cafe experience at home and really elevates your relationship with drinking coffee. It's become quite ceremonial in our home. We have an ECM machine, and I love all the accessories from grinding the beans to streaming milk. Nothing beats having a friend over and being able to impress them with your coffee skills, my husband’s even getting into coffee art.
Q. Got a favourite Supreme coffee?
We’ve always been huge Supreme fans. It’s less bitter than a lot of other brands, and I love the richness of the flavours. We drink the Supreme Blend religiously at home.
Q. Smooth or crunchy?
Smooth!
Q. Fave snack in Auckland?
A cacao smoothie from Crush in Ponsonby Central. It’s a rich, thick cacao smoothie with cayenne pepper for a hot kick. It’s so yum, and surprisingly filling.
Q. If you lead a yoga class with anyone, who would it be?
Hmm, dead or alive? Maybe a class with Frida Kahlo and Hilma Af Klint, but just so I could fangirl them afterwards.
Q. What’s in the pipeline for SALA?
Ha! Something very exciting, but I can’t quite say yet. But I can tell you that community will be coming to the foreground of the studio as the studio begins to evolve into a more multidisciplinary space as a whole. Watch this space!
Keep an eye on SALA here:
Sala.studio
@sala.akl
