Faster, harder, more, don't stop, never quit. That was me before yoga. I used to think that more is better and harder even better. I came from a martial arts background, where: "1000 kicks are good, 10000 kicks are even better". I am Jarno Härkönen and one of the teachers in Yogobe Finland. This is my story.
After martial arts I found groupfitness and started to do that with the same mentality. Of course my choices from the gyms schedule always included the hardest classes: Extreme-spinning, BodyCombat etc. A typical sunday for me would include three hours in a row of Body Combat, Army-, and spinning -classes. Sometimes I even added a fourth, called "Hardcore"!
When I started to teach groupfitness it was the same thing. My first picks were BodyCombat and spinning and I really went ballistic at my classes. Looking back now it is really clear to me that I did pretty much everything wrong. My body was not developing the way it should have been. I got lots of injuries and my metabolism was not functioning properly.
The turning point for me was when I started going to BodyBalance classes. It gave me something different to work with, more focus, more relaxation. I Started to love this practise which included parts from yoga, pilates and Tai-Chi. Later I went on to become an instructor in this as well.
I had all these weird prejudices about yoga. I thought it was just lying on the mat stretching, chanting "OMMMMM", being sort of religious and eating only greens. And that it definitely was not hardcore.. and therefore surely not for me.
Luckily I have always been sort of a perfectionist when it comes to teaching. I'm very strict on form and technique (thanks to Karate-training) and even more strict with myself to really know and understand what it is I am teaching. So I decided, despite all the prejudices, to take one yoga class.
And that is when I met Satu Tuomela. I randomly picked a class which suited my timetable, didn't understand a thing about the class names and had no idea about the teacher. But man... it was really something else. It was an advanced Vinyasa Flow -class, which included sidecrow as an peakpose. Then it all came clear to me.
This was it. This was just what I needed. I managed to get into the armbalance and saw Satu smiling and complementing me. The class was really tough physically and my prejudices were nowhere to be seen. But at the same time it also sort of made me feel more calm, relaxed (though I was physically drained) and joyful. I was joyful because I had experienced something new and learned new skills.
At that time I was really overstressed with my personal life and work related issues. I remember having all the troubles in the world running around in my head, I couldn't get a single moment of peace from my thoughts. I felt that I needed more of that ”calm” and headed back to yoga class every week. It helped!
During the class I could relax, get away from my anxiety, get away from my troubles. I could just focus on my breathing (and staying alive during these really physical classes!). After the classes I felt totally exhausted, but after half an hour I felt amazing. I felt so energetic that I could take on the world! I felt positive even though things around me and in my life were pushing me toward the negative.
This was no easy transition. My ego was big (well quite huge actually), I wanted everything and I wanted it now! I could see some yogis perform an advanced pose, I wanted to do it right away. I used to swear during a yoga class, until I realized maybe that is not the right way to go. My ego led me to injuring myself during a yoga workshop.
I countinued doing yoga reqularly and things started to change. I could put my ego a side bit by bit, I could focus more on my own practise, I could even just breath and relax during a difficult pose (where I earlier had curse words flying around my head at all times). Something had changed. It had taken me forward in so many ways that I could not even describe.
My work had been also surrounded with negative things (complaints, fraud, bankruptcies), although I always dreamed about working with sports or art. I decided to turn my life completely around, to chase my dreams and work with positive things.
At that point and with that decision I walked away from many negative things in my life and an office-career. I started studying to become a personal trainer and I attended a yoga teacher training course. I still had lots of doubts about myself about becoming a yoga teacher, I even thought that I would do it only to gain more knowledge - not to teach.
Of course Satu was the one organizing the course and she basically just told me that I was taking the course. The evening before the course started I was ready to bail out. I even called Satu to let her know about me decicion. Luckily she didn't answer.
The next day I walked into the starting meeting with one goal "to let them know I'm not gonna be a teacher". But when I entered the room and listened for a while it started to feel right. Still I thought I would not teach, but when we had these trial classes it felt good. It felt really good. So i decided to give it a try.
This led to me teaching yoga and gradually leaving groupfitness- teaching. I also started specializing more in functional training and bodyweight training, where I felt that the right way to go is with small groups and personal training.
And now here I am.. side to side with Satu and other amazing teachers as part of Team Yogobe in Finland.
What a great ride these last years have been and surely things will be even greater. I look forward to finding out what the world has installed for me, but of one thing I am certain and that is that this is just the beginning!
