Today we’d like to introduce you to Kiara Ana Perico.
Kiara Ana, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My journey started on the east coast in Massachusetts. I am an only child and was raised around a strong community of neighbors. I grew up on Middle Street and my father was referred to as the Mayor of Middle Street as he knew every single person by name and their work. My school was a mile from our house and my papa and I would walk home every day. It would take us 2 hours on average and if we were really stopping at everyone’s houses, we could arrive back home with a container of local honey, a few new books from the library and a belly full of tea and cookies, 4 hours after school let out.
The idea of community has really shaped my life and how I exist in every situation. Through my college, my apartment was always filled with laughing friends, watching Friends and cooking meals together. I moved to Brooklyn after college, landing a $300 a month basement room (more like a large closet, but hey, I was so grateful for it) with no windows in Sunset Park. While my apartment wasn’t the hang-out spot like it used to be, the local park was, as well as the yoga studio where I cleaned mats for yoga trade and new communities were formed.
One year later, I bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles and have lived here ever since. I hated LA when I first arrived, but as has always been my way, as soon as I discovered donation-based yoga in Runyon Canyon, my community and sense of belonging began to grow. I met my now-husband soon after that, in the midst of another beautiful community.
Flash forward many years, we now live in our little home in Pasadena. I work as a freelance violinist and violist, I teach (and continually study) yoga and meditation and I’m in the middle of training to be a doula now too! My tours with Ariana Grande, Adele, Panic! At the Disco and Yoshiki have taken me from Taiwan to Brazil to an eight night run at the Staples Center. My yoga, meditation and Thai massage studies have had me by the beach in LA, in the redwoods in NorCal and in the jungles of Bali. I have created connections in each of these spaces that have inspired me to continue to explore, connect and create.
This time of physical distancing has been a huge lesson for me in trusting myself, my process and finding other ways to connect with my community and all the people who aren’t yet in my community, friends I don’t know yet!
During this time my string quartet has been able to record remotely from our own home studios for multiple artists, I have performed virtually for a charity benefit concert with Halsey, I have started teaching more yoga and meditation online and my latest journey has taken me into the world of Twitch Streaming, in an effort to bring yoga and meditation to more people, and once again, expand my community. I stream Monday 9am (Quiet Time), Wednesday 11am (Yoga for Gamers, or anyone who sits and/or types a lot!), Thursday and Saturday at 6pm (yin yoga).
Quiet Time is a practice I developed over a year ago in local parks. It’s a practice of cultivating community in stillness as we connect through a daily theme, music, meditation and self-reflection. It morphed into a zoom meeting for the first part of quarantine, and now Quiet Time welcomes a new week with a fresh intention on Twitch.
I think our community is the family we choose, and I so look forward to connecting with all of you, my friends I haven’t met yet. Please come join any streams and send me a message on Instagram too!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I work hard. I always have. I’m a driven person who is focused on the task at hand. A natural leader, I grew up hearing “you’re such a leader!” and it was a positive thing until it wasn’t and I would be at fault for the drama in the classroom. The thing is, while I am a leader and I do like to know what’s happening, I have often felt like I don’t have the option to really let things sink in or go with the flow. I have also felt a strong urge to be the one making decisions, moving projects forward, propelling through momentum because if I don’t do it, I don’t know if it’ll get done.
My father got sick and died very quickly a year and a half ago, when I was on the other side of the world in China, on tour with my string quartet. The journey through grief, understanding, peace and love has led me closer to myself and my true path, I believe.
My father meditated for four hours every single morning. In the wake of his passing, as as I’ve deepened my relationship with my inner self, cultivating a stronger connection to meditation and deep yogic practices, I have been working through the experience of being the observer. It is okay if I rest, it is okay to have strong opinions, it doesn’t matter what others think of me as long as I am being kind and compassionate, being flexible as well as having strong conviction are good attributes. This is a constant journey, challenge and opportunity for growth in my life.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
When I’m meeting new people I always say “I work as a freelance violist and violinist for artists and bands and I also teach yoga!” This is all true. This is what I do. I used to think the things I did for work were really distant from each other, but I don’t really believe that anymore.
Something that guides me through my work is the power of a strong foundation. I strive to build positive and trusting relationships with all the people I’ve ever worked with. From the historic recording sound stages to my own home studio, from the stadium stage to the private yoga class in a park, the foundation of trust, an open mind, the willingness to troubleshoot and work through challenges for the best outcome is what I truly strive for every day.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moments are the connections I’ve made and the community I’ve built around me through this grand adventure. My family’s support makes me proud, my career that felt so far away when I was in college makes me proud, the life I am continuing to build inspires me everyday.
Pricing:
- Private Guided Meditation – 30 mins $35 (via Zoom)
- Private Yoga Class – 30 mins $50 (via Zoom)
- Private Yoga Class – 60 mins $80 (via Zoom)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kikisway.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/TheKiaraAna
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ItsKikisWay/
- Other: youtube.com/thekiaraana
Image Credit:
Morgan Demeter, Ozamataz Buckshank, Cynthia Parkhurst, Lenore Seal, Kevin Winter
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