Tragically, the Bikram yoga studio in Cobargo that had nurtured a close and supportive community was lost in summer's bushfires.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But after an exhaustive nine-month process, Bikram Yoga Sapphire Coast is about to reopen in a new location - and owner Amrei Marden said it was her students that helped her along through the journey.
"It became something I felt I had to do, and that kept me going through all the hurdles in the last nine months," she said.
"I'm proud with what we've done, the thousand choices we had to make, but I'm very happy not to do it again. I don't think we've had a proper day off since the fires."
After the bushfire hit Cobargo on New Year's Eve, Ms Marden was in the rescue centre at Bermagui when one of her students showed her a picture of her studio, which was part of the main street's retail sector, on fire.
"At first there's the shock. Then I thought maybe it is a sign that I should go and find a job that pays money," she said.
"But that lasted two minutes, then I had 20 students come to me and say 'you have to rebuild, we need a place to heal from the trauma'."
Ms Marden began searching for buildings to host a new studio, trying nine different places in Cobargo with no luck.
But she said "everything began to fall into place" when she made the decision to build a studio at her property in Brogo.
Not only is it twice the size of the one she had in Cobargo, she said she was "very proud" that it is also the world's first completely off-grid, carbon neutral Bikram yoga studio.
"I'm sure there's going to be some people who don't come - the extra 15 minute drive can be a reason not to come out for some - and that's fine," she said.
"But in the end it is now available. If someone needs it, it's here."
She said her's will be the second business from Cobargo's main street that lost its premises in the fires to get up and running.
While she was able to reopen in less than 10 months she said the reason she was able to move so quickly was because the studio does not feel like it is for her, but for her students.
Ms Marden said when she started in her Cobargo studio, about seven years ago, something she did not expect was the close friendships that began between her students, and to her they now felt like family.
"Often people would stay on an hour or two after class and just chat, chat, chat," she said.
She said her students were excited to begin yoga again at Brogo, although "some are a little bit scared because they haven't done it for nine months!"
Bikram Yoga Sapphire Coast will reopen at 1027 Upper Brogo Rd, Brogo on September 27. For more details visit its website.