Mrs Winfield planned to open Studio Sukha - a yoga and pilates space in Horsham - in early February but difficulties with building permits forced her to postpone the opening.

And then COVID-19 lockdowns hit.

"I felt a lot of pressure at the time because I had promised my clients that I was opening early February," she said.

"It was quite stressful for me. In the meantime I started teaching classes at the church.

"Once the pandemic hit ironically enough it took that pressure off. It gave me time to plan a few finer details for the studio."

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A client encouraged Mrs Winfield to explore online classes to keep the community connected during lockdown.

"That was the prompt for me to realise that it was important to keep my clients connected," Mrs Winfield said.

"I am extremely intimidated by technology and it was something I thought I wasn't capable of doing."

Mrs Winfield started doing live-streams everyday from her backyard in Haven which were "surprisingly" well received. Clients joined from NSW, Queensland and even from South Africa.

"I have recognised that some of my clients have young children and it is hard for them to get away from home," Mrs Winfield said.

"People are still stuck at home and there is still a need for online classes. At the moment I am trying to live-stream at least four sessions a week."

The idea for a dedicated yoga and pilates space in Horsham came to Mrs Winfield when she was completing her yoga training at the beginning of 2019 in Melbourne.

Studio Sukha opened last Monday and Mrs Winfield said she has adapted to COVID-19 regulations by reducing class numbers and intensifying cleaning methods.

"I originally planned to have 14 people in a class but now I am limited to 10," Mrs Winfield said.

"At the moment the studio is less social than I want it to be because I have to make sure people don't hang around in groups after classes."

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