Our Story
Lapang was made to give people room.
We're a small independent space in Kota Kinabalu sharing simple breathing and relaxation practices — one session at a time, without fuss.
About Lapang
How we came to be here
Lapang began in 2019 as a small weekend gathering — a few people sitting together in a rented room on Jalan Gaya, learning how to slow their breathing down. The word lapang means open, spacious, uncluttered in Malay. That's exactly what the founders wanted to create: not a wellness programme, not a studio with a lengthy booking form, just a calm room where people could arrive tired and leave feeling a little more settled.
The early sessions were informal. Hamidah Saari, who had spent years reading about the relationship between breathing patterns and day-to-day wellbeing, led them with a friend from her university days, Ravi Krishnan, who had a background in adult education. Neither of them set out to build a business. They simply noticed that after each session, people kept asking when the next one was.
By 2021 the sessions had found a small but steady following in the Kota Kinabalu area — mostly working professionals and parents who arrived a bit frayed at the edges and found something useful in the hour they spent breathing together. Lapang moved into a permanent space, started offering personal coaching alongside the group sessions, and eventually introduced the Year of Calm Membership for those who wanted something longer-term.
Today, Lapang is still a small operation. We don't carry bold claims about outcomes. What we offer is time, a calm room, and some useful knowledge about how breath and stillness work — for anyone who wants to give it a try. The door on Jalan Gaya is easy to find, and we'll make you feel welcome the moment you come in.
What We Stand For
Our values in plain language
Open to everyone
Breathwork knowledge should be accessible to any person, regardless of background or prior experience. We make sure our sessions feel welcoming from the first minute.
Honest about what we do
We offer education and shared practice — nothing more. We don't frame what we do as a fix or a solution, only as a useful set of tools worth knowing about.
Unhurried by design
There's no rush in our sessions, and no pressure to commit to more than you're ready for. People can move at their own pace — that's the point.
Small on purpose
We keep group sizes small and our operation modest. A quiet room works better with fewer people in it. Growth for its own sake isn't something we pursue.
Rooted in Kota Kinabalu
We're a local space for local people. The natural surroundings of Sabah — its open air, its water, its pace — inform how we think about stillness and recovery.
Respectful of privacy
What participants share in a session stays in the room. We handle personal information carefully and don't pass it on to anyone outside Lapang.
The People
Who you'll meet at Lapang
Hamidah Saari
Co-founder & Lead Facilitator
Hamidah has spent over a decade exploring how breathing patterns affect everyday mood and focus. She leads the drop-in sessions and the coaching block programme.
Ravi Krishnan
Co-founder & Education Lead
Ravi's background is in adult learning design. He shaped the structure of Lapang's coaching approach and ensures the educational side of each session is clear and grounded.
Nadia Jamil
Session Coordinator
Nadia handles bookings, scheduling, and the day-to-day running of the studio. She's usually the first voice you'll hear when you call or email.
How We Work
Standards we hold ourselves to
Participant Comfort First
Sessions are designed so no one ever feels pushed beyond what they're comfortable with. Facilitators check in gently and respect each person's pace.
Ongoing Learning
Our facilitators regularly attend independent training in breathwork education and learning design to keep the quality of sessions high and the content current.
Session Feedback Loop
We invite short written feedback after every session and use it genuinely. If something isn't working for participants, we adjust it — sometimes from one session to the next.
Data Protection
Personal information shared during booking or coaching is stored securely and never passed to third parties. Participants can request deletion of their data at any time.
Clean, Considered Space
The studio is maintained with attention to air quality, comfort, and quiet. We keep it tidy and free of clutter so the environment itself supports what we're there to do.
Clear, Plain Language
Everything we publish — session descriptions, pricing, policies — is written to be understood on a first read. No jargon, no ambiguity about what you're signing up for.
About Our Approach
Breathing education for everyday life in Sabah
The way we breathe throughout the day changes depending on how much we're holding — a full schedule, a difficult conversation, a long commute across Kota Kinabalu's morning traffic. Most of us breathe in shallow, quick patterns without noticing, and that pattern quietly shapes how the rest of the day unfolds.
Lapang's sessions are a chance to notice that and to practise something different. The breathing patterns we introduce in our drop-in sessions and coaching blocks are simple enough to carry into daily life — on a walk along the waterfront, in a parked car before a meeting, or in a few minutes before bed. The goal is always practical: give people knowledge and practice they can actually use.
Kota Kinabalu has a particular quality of air and pace — the sea is close, the mornings are cool, and there's a kind of openness here that we try to reflect in how we run the studio. Lapang is a local space, built around the rhythms of life in Sabah, and we're glad to be here.
Come and see what a session feels like
The drop-in session is a low-pressure starting point. Bring nothing, expect nothing — just an open hour.
Book a Session