About Marjo

Marjo Rautaoja is a Finnish yoga instructor who motivates people to strive for a healthier life by combining Western and Eastern ways of life in her Marjoga Day Spa. She weekly instruct yoga classes, well being lectures and organize yoga retreats and does her best to find a balance between work and two small children.

Marjo’s story

I have been interested in beauty and health ever since I was a child. I remember reading books about wellbeing already at the age of 12. When my sister and I were little, our mother treated us with natural remedies that she had learned from her own mother. If we caught a cold, she would heat currant juice that she made herself, give us a spoonful of honey for our coughing, and make us gargle with salt water if we had a sore throat. Every fall, my parents went to the forest to pick berries and mushrooms, which we then enjoyed throughout the winter. When I was a child, our foods were mostly made, from the outset, of unprocessed natural ingredients. Fast food and foods heated in the microwave were extremely rare. The foundation of my respect for health and the healing properties of nature was, therefore, already built in my childhood.

When I was 24, I hurt my back and sought help from various places with no results. The pain continued, and there were times when I could barely breathe. I was desperate to find a natural cure for my back, when one day the word “yoga” suddenly popped into my head. I began practicing hatha yoga three times a week. At first, my back felt even worse than before, but a small voice inside me encouraged me to continue and to ignore the pain. It was only natural for my back to feel worse, as the muscles were struggling to find a new balance. The muscles that, until then, were cramped with pain, received regular stretching, and combined with controlled breathing, I felt the warm healing energy at work in my body. After a few weeks, I realized that the pain had gone. If I do not practice yoga regularly, the pain reminds me to continue and I am thankful for that.

Yoga instructor

I told my friend years ago that I love yoga, but there was one thing that I was sure of: I’d never be a yoga instructor. Now, I can only smile at this. Life decided for me, and suddenly I realized that I had studied yoga for seven years. I graduated from Suomen Joogaliitto to be an international yoga teacher. The groups that I have instructed in yoga have included children, pregnant women, people with MS, and groups open to everyone. In spring 2009, I began to develop Ayurveda yoga and love it.

Yoga clothes on the picture by  Bahianetstore.com