OUR ETHOS

WE ARE COMMITTED TO PIONEERING REGENERATIVE TOURISM AS OUR SMALL OFFERING TO THE WORLD IN NEED OF HEALING.

The Healing of Nature: Maruia River Retreat’s Ethos

Over the last four years, we have tried to be true to our vision for Maruia River Retreat to become a place of wellness and healing. Intrinsic to this vision was the communion with nature that our modern lives have stripped us of. Guests at the retreat have come to appreciate the primal power of our private forest estate and purity of our waters, and most leave understanding that much like us, nature needs protection and healing.

Much of our effort over the next few years will continue towards achieving this at many levels. By 2025, Maruia River Retreat will be a fully electric resort powered by renewable sources, including an on-site mini-hydro plant. We intend to define a future of adventure and wellness travel that is part of the solution to climate change rather than a contributor. Much of our resources will be dedicated to managing and improving the onsite 180-hectare private nature reserve that has been certified to be of HIGH ecological significance by the Native Habitats Criteria of the Tasman. Abutting the Kahurangi National Park, the reserve is home to various old-growth trees, over 15 rare bird species, and other flora and fauna unique to the West Coast of New Zealand.

Planned additions of e-bikes, e-scooters, and buggies, as well as the expansion of onsite tracks, will allow guests to access the entire property and activity areas quietly and cleanly. We are also improving our kitchen and how it operates, sourcing as locally as possible, and involving the guests in minimizing food waste.

Simply put, our objective is that your visit here will be carbon negative regardless of where you travel from. Recent global events continue to reaffirm how inextricably interconnected we are. By choosing to visit Maruia, you are supporting the protection, conservation, responsible development, and protection of an important part of our planet's ecosystem. We hope not only to help you leave light ecological footprints but perhaps help erase those that came before.

We invite you to come and enjoy all that nature has to offer into what we believe is regenerative travel; a learning and educational holiday experience. Your stay allows you to experience the meditative rhythm of nature walks, the calming and soothing benefits of forest bathing in the river hot tub and forest sauna, the nourishing fresh meals and deep sleep experience in your luxury villa, the restorative effects of a gentle yoga practice and the connection with others in our private retreat events.

You can also choose your own nature adventure with white water rafting, kayaking, a visit to the Maruia Falls and the Buller Swing Bridge, or the nearby nature trails around the Shenandoah.

We look forward to your time with us and we thank you for joining us in this journey of regenerative and purposeful travels.

Cristina & Lasse Holopainen

YOUR HOSTS

CRISTINA HOLOPAINEN

Cristina has been teaching well-being classes and workshops for the last 12 years, focusing on the healing benefits of Yoga. She is known for creating a nurturing and safe place for her students with classes that are accessible for all kinds of students.

Cristina has been consistently teaching and training yoga to resident guests, teachers, work-from-home workers, business leaders and older adults both in person in New Zealand and online via Urban Ashram and The School of Yoga. She has had an extensive corporate career in banking and marketing, and as a businesswoman over the last 25 years.

She is a co-founder and teacher at Urban Ashram for the last 11 years and she is currently focusing on teaching older adults, sleep and posture clinics and the business of yoga courses through the School of Yoga. In 2011, she completed her RYT-200 with YogaWorks under Joan Hyman and her RYT-500 with SmartFLOW under Annie Carpenter. She has also trained with Dr. Francoise Freedman of Birthlight Yoga for prenatal and postnatal certification, Dr. Ray Long of the Daily Bandha for biomechanics and anatomy, gong and sound healing with Yoga Mehtab and specialized courses with Marla Apt, Leslie Kazadi, Jason Crandell, Jeanne Heilemann and Carrie Owerko.

Currently, she is one of the Resident Yoga Teachers and the General Manager for Maruia River Retreat.

LASSE HOLOPAINEN

Can you open up a bit about your work and career?

I have been many things, from professional scuba diver to investment banker, at some point heading a university while establishing the electricity market in the Philippines. Over a decade ago I took stock of my life and what was important to me, and chose a different path. From competitive downhill skateboarding, to piloting light aircraft and paragliders, I have tried to experience as much in life as I could, and still do.

Hatha yoga is the basis of my practice, and Yogic philosophy the framework for my life choices. I seek to understand the truth, and to explore the full potential of my being. I seek to cultivate the human and tame the beast.

Read more in Lasse’s interview with ShoutOutLA here.

What can a guest expect to experience with the yoga classes offered here at Maruia River Retreat?

The first thing they can expect is that it is not compulsory. And I find when the “must” disappears, then people are a little more open. And the second thing, I’d like to create an experience where it is about them, it is about their practice.

My goal is, even if you have never practiced yoga before, that you leave here with the fundamentals for a solid life-long practice. And if you have been to yoga before and have a practice, that you go away with a deeper insight of what that practice is.

As a yoga teacher, I am trying to find the moment of ‘yoga’ or union for the student. That is what makes people come back to yoga classes. You remember what it was like the first time you got bitten by the bug. A good yoga teacher can inspire a sense of the profound. You sense a moment of ‘aha!’ in a person and you know they are hooked.

Yoga can change the neuro pathways and connections in the brain. The asanas create moments of elasticity in the brain when you are reforming all these neural connections. At those moments, we are childlike again.

Read more about Lasse and his interview here.

Lasse is a certified RYT-200 teacher, graduating from YogaWorks in 2010 under Joan Hyman and has continued his studies with Dr. Ray Long, Dr. Francoise Freedman and the many visiting international teachers from Urban Ashram, which he co-founded in 2011.