Retreat into holistic bliss. Gail Cooper gave up her 25-year career to set up a crystal shop in Newport and a wellbeing pod in her garden. Heather Large chats to the wellness guru. Find a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life”, goes the well-known saying. And it’s certainly rings true for Gail Cooper who stepped away from a successful career in the house building industry to follow a new path. After more than 25 years working in a very stressful and target driven environment, she knew it was time to make a change. Embracing her love of holistic therapies, she decided to qualify as a coach, yoga and meditation teacher, crystal healer and journal therapist.Three years ago, she set up her crystal shop, Meridian Life in Newport Indoor Market and has also recently opened her own wellness studio, The Wellbeing Pod. “Although I loved my job, I found I was being called along a different path in life, that path being to help others on a one-to-one basis through my love of all things holistic,” says Gail, who held a number of sales and marketing management roles in the house building industry. “I was practicing yoga and meditation on a daily basis myself, along with using crystals to help with my health and I found that the combination was doing wonders for my wellbeing,” she explains.
After experiencing the benefits first-hand, Gail decided to take the leap by changing career – and says she hasn’t looked back since.
“It really changed my life and I took the step from having a corporate career to running my own business as a holistic therapist. It was definitely the right decision,” she explains.Since then her business has gone from strength to strength and she continues to run her healing crystal and holistic gift shop at the indoor market on Fridays and Saturdays, advising people of the benefits of using crystals for healing and your overall wellbeing. Alongside this, Gail offers bi-monthly retreat days as well as yoga and meditation workshops. She also works closely with several businesses delivering yoga sessions and corporate wellbeing events.
The unique purple Wellbeing Pod is designed around working with clients on a one-to-one basis with therapies such as crystal healing, reiki, yoga, meditation, mindfulness and coaching, helping clients to rebalance and feel better in themselves on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level. Situated in her tranquil garden, Gail says the aim was to create the perfect spot where people could indulge in a little time of their own, enjoy a chance to escape and get away and leave feeling rejuvenated and at one with themselves. “I have spent many months looking for the right place to open a studio and all the time it was right under my nose – our beautiful garden. “I wanted to create a little haven for clients to come and totally relax, and I feel that I have achieved just that,” explains the volunteer for Cats Protection. Gail offers half and full day one-to-one retreats which will be bespoke to each individual client and could include treatments along with relaxation time in the established garden or a guided canal walk in the surrounding countryside. The Wellbeing Pod was officially opened by Karen Woodcock in her capacity as chairperson of Newport Chamber of Commerce and All About Newport Ltd. As well as supporting others to achieve their goals in a variety of areas from health and wellbeing to setting up new business ventures to increase self-confidence, Gail is also constantly working towards turning her own ambitions into reality. This has included trekking Mount Toubkal in the Atlas Mountains, The Inca Trail in Peru and walking 600 miles in a year. Gail, who trained with the British School of Meditation, also enjoys developing her skills and is currently working towards the advanced 300-hour yoga teacher training certification to extend her knowledge. Her courses include a five-week introduction to meditation, a six-week coaching course and an eight-week beginners yoga. She believes more people are choosing to proactively take steps to improve their health and wellbeing, especially in the wake of the Covid pandemic. “I think people are opening up more about their mental health and turning to alternative therapies. “I’ve certainly seen more people become interested in the benefits of crystal healing over the past three years. “I think more people are taking an holistic approach to wellbeing,” explains Gail. She is looking forward to welcoming more customers to her Wellbeing Pod and says seeing the difference holistic therapies can make to people’s lives is very rewarding. “I enjoy every aspect of what I do, I’ve created something that I love, from start to finish. Even the mundane tasks still bring me joy, there isn’t a part I don’t like, I love doing it all. It’s not really a job for me,” Gail tells Weekend. Anyone who would like to find out more about Gail’s Wellbeing Pod, can call 07917 787617, email gail.meridianlife@gmail.com or visit www.meridianlife.co.uk
