As the only permanent yoga studio in Cooma, Snow Gum offers locals and visitors a peaceful haven in which to practice both yoga and meditation.

Owner/operator, Sue McPhie, has been living in the area since 1986 and after spending many years working as midwife, registered nurse, child health nurse at Cooma Hospital and Community Health, studied for her qualifications in a field that is close to her heart.

Sue has many hours (more than 500) of yoga teacher training and is highly regarded with her level two qualifications in yoga teaching. Professional affiliations with Yoga Australia as well as Meditation Australia help to maintain ongoing commitment to professional development.

After studying meditation teaching training with the Australian Centre for Meditation and Mindfulness (ACMM) in Melbourne, Sue attained her Diploma in Teaching and Guiding Meditation.

Highly regarded in this field, Sue was invited to work with ACMM, where she holds position of senior mentor. Sue works from home and trains new meditation teachers as well as supporting the other mentors on the team.

Sue really enjoys the regular opportunities to co-facilitate retreats for the college which have been held in NSW and Victoria.

“Meditation is easy to learn. It’s simply a matter of practicing regularly,” Sue said. A regular personal meditation practice can start with a simple five minutes a day. Common myths around meditation often deter people from giving it a go.

“The benefits of meditation are very broad and have been shown to include improvements in life enjoyment, concentration and memory, reduction in anxiety and stress, enhanced sleep and less reactivity.

“Group meditation really supports personal practice with the enhancement of the experience for all.”

Yoga classes in Cooma are hatha style with inclusion of vinyasa, flow, yin, chair yoga and blokes yoga.

Other events through the studio include retreats, yoga nidra (deep relaxation), sound baths using crystal singing bowls, gong, chimes etc; introductory classes in meditation and private lessons for any of the offerings.