Yoga is my life-saver: Karita

Karita Aaltonen hails from Finland, which is one of the world’s most northern and geographically remote countries and is considered the birthplace of Santa Claus. Like the Santa from the mythical mountains of Korvatunturi, Karita is all smiles, bringing love and cheer to the people around her. She’s in Kerala for the 10-day Yoga Ambassadors Tour, oganized by ATTOI (Association of Tourism Trade Organisations, India), Ministry of Ayush and Kerala Tourism. Neeraja Sadanandan from Tourism News Live catches up with her to find more about the cheerful Karita. Read on…

Karita has started practicing yoga almost 20 years back. “But I’ve no idea when did I start hearing about yoga,” she says with a smile. Karita was diagnosed with brain tumour when she was 38. “I was told that there’s only an year left for me to say goodbye. Those were days I suffered a lot,” she describes the mental and physical trauma she was experiencing. It was while she was discussing many possibilities about a better treatment, she heard about Ayurveda.

“The experience yoga gives is a very different one. During my treatment period what challenged me most was the state of my mind. I was totally depressed.” Through yoga, Karita overcame the depression and it also helped her stay positive. “A happy mind will cure most of the diseases. It was through yoga and Ayurveda that I got cured,” says Karita.

Karita dedicated her life to yoga after this incident and became a yoga teacher where she is training people in Finland and Europe. “I prefer to work among cancer patients and I am happier when I am able to transfer the happiness and wellness yoga has given to me to the ailing ones”. A music-lover, Karita enjoys doing yoga with Kundalini music. Though she has come to India once, this is her first trip to God’s Own Country. “I’ve been to Goa once, but have never got a chance to visit Kerala. I have heard a lot about this place from many of my friends and is extremely happy that I could make it happen this time as part of the yoga tour,”  says and excited Karita. She has been looking forward to visit the Mata Amrithanandamayi Math in Vallikkavu for a long time and is excited to visit the ashram on Saturday.

(Edited by Arya Aravind)