The Next Chapter of Kaia Yoga

A Letter from Gina Norman, Founder of Kaia Yoga

Dear Kaia Community,

For 20 years, Kaia has been much more than a place to practice yoga.

I started Kaia Yoga 20 years ago with Stan Woodman, and named it after our daughter, Kaia. From the beginning, my mission was to create a haven—a place where people could practice, feel supported, build relationships, and experience the power of yoga beyond the mat.

Since 2006, more than 1.5 million people have walked through Kaia’s doors. When I think about that number, I think less about the number itself and more about the countless individual journeys behind it: the friendships that began here, the teachers who found their calling, the students who discovered a deeper practice, and the people who simply found a place where they could breathe and feel at home.

The way we connect has changed enormously. The online world has given us incredible opportunities to learn, practice, and reach people we may never otherwise meet. Since 2020, Kaia has offered free daily meditation online, making these practices accessible to anyone, anywhere.

At the same time, the yoga landscape has changed dramatically. So much is now available virtually, instantly, and in smaller pieces. While there is tremendous value in that accessibility, we also believe there is something irreplaceable about having real places to gather, teachers who know your name, friendships that develop over time, and a community that continues to show up for one another.

The Kaia Maitri Circle is an invitation to be part of that in a deeper way.

The Kaia Maitri Circle

Maitri means loving-kindness, friendship, and goodwill. These values have always been at the heart of Kaia.

For $10 per month or $108 per year, the Kaia Maitri Circle includes daily meditation offerings in person and online, a weekly loving-kindness meditation, a monthly livestreamed community yoga class, and monthly gatherings around meditation, breathwork, yoga philosophy, wellness, and personal growth. It also includes access to the new Kaia Podcast and conversations with teachers and inspiring guests, along with opportunities to learn, practice, and stay connected from anywhere.

With the annual $108 subscription, you will also receive a handcrafted Kaia Signature Lotus Mala.

A traditional mala has 108 beads, used for meditation and mantra. For us, 108 represents intention, practice, and connection—one bead, one breath, one intention at a time.

The lotus has long been a symbol of transformation and growth. Its roots grow through the mud while the flower rises toward the light, reminding us that beauty and growth can emerge even through difficulty. Our signature lotus carries that meaning for Kaia, and the mala is a tangible reminder of the practice, connection, and intention behind the Maitri Circle.

The Three Jewels

At the heart of the Circle are the Three Jewels:

Buddha — our capacity to awaken
Dharma — the teachings that guide us
Sangha — the community that supports us

These principles have helped shape the way Kaia has been built and sustained for 20 years.

The idea of Sangha—the community that supports us—is especially meaningful to me. Yoga is not only an individual practice. We learn through one another, grow through one another, and create something greater when we practice together.

That is what the Maitri Circle is about.

A Practice Beyond Ourselves

I feel lucky to have been part of the formative yoga community in New York City nearly 30 years ago, and over the years I have studied deeply across many traditions. A thread of Bodhisattva principles has always been part of Kaia’s foundation: the idea that our practice is not only for ourselves, but should help relieve suffering and support others.

Yoga has taught me that the things that truly sustain us cannot always be made faster, smaller, or more convenient.

Practice takes practice. Connection takes time. Community takes participation.

Meditation, self-awareness, friendship, and belonging are built slowly and steadily through dedication and effort. They cannot simply be acquired, downloaded, or reformatted into something instantaneous.

At a time when so many people—especially young people—are experiencing loneliness, disconnection, and challenges to their mental well-being, these practices and relationships feel more important than ever.

The Maitri Circle is one way we can continue to create space for those connections.

What Your Subscription Makes Possible

Each Kaia studio is a thread in something larger. Every location has its own teachers, students, friendships, and story, but together those threads create the fabric of Kaia.

By becoming part of the Maitri Circle, you are joining a community committed not only to its own practice, but to making yoga, meditation, education, and connection more accessible to others.

Your subscription helps us expand scholarships for students and teachers, discounted teen memberships, teacher education, community outreach, meditation offerings, and opportunities for people who might not otherwise have access to these practices.

Since 2006, Kaia has offered free yoga, scholarships, and community outreach to local schools, nonprofits, and organizations. Since 2020, our free daily online meditation offerings have extended that work beyond our physical studios.

The Maitri Circle helps us continue and grow these efforts.

It also supports an independent, locally owned small business and the physical spaces where our communities can continue to gather, practice, learn, and build real relationships.

The Next 20 Years

Twenty years ago, I could not have known what Kaia would become or how many people would become part of its story.

I do know that I want the next 20 years to carry forward the things that have always mattered most: meaningful practice, accessible yoga and meditation, excellent teaching, education, service, friendship, and community.

Kaia will continue to evolve. The way we practice and connect will continue to change. But I believe there will always be value in having places where people can come together, put down their phones, breathe, move, learn, and know that they are part of something.

The Kaia Maitri Circle is an invitation to help shape that future.

If Kaia has been a place where you have found strength, peace, friendship, inspiration, or simply a moment to breathe, I hope you will consider joining the Maitri Circle.

For $10 per month or $108 per year, you can deepen your own connection to Kaia while helping sustain the community, practices, and opportunities that have been part of our story for 20 years.

And this is only the beginning.

With love and gratitude,

Gina Norman
Founder, Kaia Yoga