HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. — It's a miracle that Redondo Beach resident Gail Goldstein can move her body.

She is a former marathon trainer and competitive runner but suffered an injury a decade ago, which prompted her to have four back surgeries and become wheelchair-bound.

"They said I wouldn't walk again without a cane and a back brace, and I used yoga to strengthen and heal me," Goldstein said.

Yoga replaced running and kept her pain at bay. But in the pandemic, her former yoga studio went under, and Goldstein's pain began to return in lockdown.

Then she found Soho Yoga's beach yoga classes and returned to a daily practice.

"I was trying to do my stretches at home, but there's something different about being with the community and doing the class," Goldstein said. "It's not only a physical — it's actually, for me, it's become a very emotional experience."

While yoga can soothe and destress, the pandemic pushed the industry to the edge. But Soho Yoga's yoga director, Natasha Needles, is teaching her classes what she's learned: the good comes from the hard times.

"We wouldn't particularly be in this space on these little granules of sand if it wasn't for a very untidy year and a half," Needles said.

Since Soho Yoga opened in Hermosa seven years ago, they tried to have classes on the beach but were never given permission until last year, when the city gave the green light to help businesses survive.

Even though their indoor studio is now open, beach yoga is here to stay.

"I'm thinking about all of the connectedness that we have gotten to foster over this past year and a half because of being able to open up on the beach," Needles said. "We have met so many new people."

Their student base has grown because of their yoga platform expansions, both on the beach and online. They'll continue to offer them, meeting each student at their comfort level.

While there were many obstacles for Soho Yoga, the pandemic also brought silver linings.

"You know when something's taken away from you, and it's given back in maybe a different wrapped package, you're just like, 'Oh my goodness.' You're just like, 'Thank you so very much,'" Needles said.

Like Needles, Goldstein also has gratitude, not only for being able to practice on the beach but for how her body has transformed because of a daily yoga practice.

"I want to be a crusader for it and tell people who have had injuries, it's healing, physically and emotionally."