The space to simply be enough
Marika, Wellness Practitioner at Eha, on presence, ease and letting change arrive in its own time
Some places ask nothing of you, and that is where the real work begins.
Marika is a wellness practitioner at Eha. Her path began in the corporate world and led her to yoga, Elemental Rhythm breath work, Singing Sound Bowl Massage and Qi-Gong.
Here, she shares how her own recovery changed the course of her life, how the stillness of Hiiumaa becomes part of every session, and the one thing she hopes every guest feels.
You are a wellness practitioner whose path began in the corporate world. What drew you toward this work, and what does a session with you at Eha actually offer a guest?
My journey into this work began with my own experience of pain and recovery. I had always been drawn to challenge and achievement, competing in long-distance road cycling races and cross-country skiing marathons, constantly pushing my limits. Yet, somehow, there was always something more to reach for. Yoga, with its quietness and stillness, was the last thing I imagined myself doing.
After knee surgery, I struggled with persistent pain and limited mobility. Having tried everything else, I eventually gave yoga a chance. Within three months, my knee was pain-free and mobile.
The experience changed my perspective so profoundly that, two years later, I left my secure corporate career to study yoga. I wanted others to discover what I had: that yoga was far more than I had imagined and could make a real difference in their lives. I had no detailed plan, only a clear intention and a deep inner knowing that this was the path to follow.
That same intentionality guides me today: being mindful of why, what and how I do, how I live, and the environments I shape for others, so that what I offer genuinely supports their well-being and allows space for meaningful change.
What I value most in the sessions I offer is presence. In a world of constant demands and information, it creates space to slow down and reconnect with ourselves. Through my own journey, I have come to appreciate that we don’t always need to strive for more to feel that we are enough. From a place of greater ease and awareness, we may begin to see our lives more clearly, discover new possibilities, and reconnect with the simple joy of being alive, just as we are.
What I value most in the sessions I offer is presence. In a world of constant demands and information, it creates space to slow down and reconnect with ourselves.
Your practice spans yoga, Elemental Rhythm breath work, Singing Sound Bowl Massage (the Peter Hess Method) and Qi-Gong. For someone unfamiliar with these approaches, how would you describe what they offer, and how do they come together within the context of Eha?
My work brings together body-mind-spirit perspective. I love to see it as a wholeness of who we are. Each approach offers a different doorway into understanding ourselves as a whole: yoga, through the body-mind-consciousness and breath; the science of human health; and awareness through presence.
Here at Eha, within a retreat immersed in untouched nature, these approaches become part of a more cohesive experience. Far removed from the demands and distractions of everyday life, the natural world invites a different pace of being. The boundaries between self and surroundings soften. Attention returns to the body (to within), the senses become more receptive, and space emerges to observe our patterns without judgement, reconnect with oneself, allowing everything to be as it is. It is the coherence of the whole environment, outer and inner, physical and experiential, that makes the difference. Rather than asking guests to do more, achieve more, or become something else, the retreat creates the space for them to slow down, reconnect, and allow change to emerge in its own time and pace.
Eha sits within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve on Hiiumaa, a place shaped by stillness and natural rhythm. How does the environment itself become part of the work you do with guests, and does a place like this change what is possible in a practice or session?
The environment is not simply a backdrop to the work, it is an integral part of it. The retreat is immersed in a landscape where nature sets the pace. The stillness, the vastness, and the absence of everyday noise create conditions in which guests can gradually shift their attention away from external demands and return to themselves.
This is complemented by an intentionally designed interior, a considered rhythm to the programme, and the freedom to engage with each practice entirely on one’s own terms. Every element works together to reduce unnecessary stimulation and create space for a deeper sense of presence.
A place like this can change what becomes possible, not by promising a particular outcome, but by changing the conditions in which an experience unfolds. When there is less to respond to, less to decide, and nothing to prove, there is more room to notice, to feel, and to see familiar patterns differently. Nature does not ask us to become anything; it simply invites us to be.
Within this setting, transformation has the space to emerge naturally, at each guest’s own pace.
Eha opened its doors to its first guests in October. What is the one thing you most want a guest to feel or understand after their first session with you?
More than anything, I want guests to experience what it feels like to be enough, not simply to understand it intellectually, but to feel it even if just for a moment, as a lived experience.
I believe that if a guest leaves their first session with even a glimpse of a felt sense of being enough just as they are, then they may have touched upon something we so often lose sight of: that life does not have to be earned, improved, or perfected to be fully lived. Sometimes, it is simply about allowing ourselves to be here, as we are.
