UTULA NATURE IN THE MEDIAS SINCE 2020
9/2025 Kauppalehti
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Third Career as a Retreat Entrepreneur
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Maiju Vohlonen has experienced two professional crises and three careers. Today, she helps people slow down at a retreat center in Ruokolahti.
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According to the dictionary, a retreat is a gathering held in a peaceful place, often to reflect on a particular topic. For Vohlonen, however, a retreat means much more. On a warm autumn day at Utula Nature in Ruokolahti, silence fills the air. The sounds of the forest drift into the yoga tent, where Vohlonen sits cross-legged.
“Many people come here because they want to pause. There are no obligations and no everyday noise. You can be completely carefree — but in a state of weightlessness,” Vohlonen says.
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She identifies four main client groups who seek out Utula: highly educated professionals, entrepreneurs, those experiencing burnout, and people working in creative fields. Those who are exhausted long for deep, holistic rest and personal space. Highly educated guests often come to reconnect with themselves and reflect on questions such as the relationship between their work and their values. Entrepreneurs arrive to contemplate the next direction for their businesses. Creative professionals look for space for thinking and new ideas.
“One client recently said she wanted to be far away from busyness and external noise so that she could hear her own voice,” Vohlonen explains.
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Around 60 percent of Utula Nature’s guests come from abroad. The most distant visitors have traveled from the United States and Australia.
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Guests Often Arrive Alone, but Community Forms Naturally
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Vohlonen did not originally plan to become a retreat entrepreneur. She earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration and worked in marketing and branding. Her first professional crisis struck when she began to feel her work lacked meaning.
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“I thought that if we are developing products that have no genuine value, then I want to do something else. I wanted to do something creative.”
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Vohlonen went on to study design and worked in visual design. During her second crisis, she realized she longed for deeper meaning in her work. She trained as a logotherapy instructor, mindfulness teacher, and yin yoga teacher.
“I wanted to do work where people can pause and encounter themselves. A retreat brings all of this together.”
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Utula Nature was born from the idea of creating a place where silence is central. A digital detox and periods of silence are key elements. Guests have the option of leaving their phones in the care of the hosts.
“The digital age overloads the nervous system. When stimuli decrease, recovery begins. People often say that in just a few days their thinking becomes clearer and their sleep deepens.”
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There is no strict daily schedule at the retreat; guests move at their own pace. Yoga, meditation, and reflective writing are available, but participation is not mandatory “The most important thing is having permission to do nothing.”
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Vohlonen believes that the need for silence and stillness is growing. Clients’ budgets and trends may change, but the longing for peace remains.
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“When a person dares to pause, they begin to hear themselves. That’s when insights can arise that change the direction of a life.”
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Vohlonen sees retreat entrepreneurship as her third career — a calling that integrates her previous experiences.
“For me, this is a way of living out what I truly believe: that silence and nature can heal.”
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5/2023 Beauty and Health magazine
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Silence and Gentle Presence
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What would it sound like to put your smart devices in park mode and spend your holiday surrounded by nature — without needing to speak to anyone? That is possible, for example, in Rautjärvi at Utula Nature, where guests can combine their stay with a digital detox or choose to spend time in silence.
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From summer through early autumn, the weekly program includes guided yin yoga, meditation, mindful movement, and forest walks, as well as independent reflective writing. Participation is always optional — you may just as well skip the program entirely and enjoy your retreat on your own terms.
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Unplugging from Smart Devices
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One of the major international wellness travel trends in recent years has been the digital detox — intentionally disconnecting from smart devices — a concept now offered by many wellness centers around the world.
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The idea is simple: devices are handed over to the retreat organizers for the duration of the stay, and participants slow down either alone or together with others. The goal is to allow both body and mind to recover.
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The time freed from screens is used for exercise, gentle body care, enjoying nature, and self-reflection. A digital detox is already available in Finland, and it can also be combined with more traditional forms of fasting if desired.
At Utula Nature, the focus is not on performance or strict rules, but on creating space — space for silence, presence, and a softer rhythm of living.
6/2023 Ruokolahtelainen / Summer edition
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Utula Nature Invites You to Slow Down and Relax
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In Ruokolahti, in the village of Utula, on the shores of Saimaa, lies a unique holiday destination. Utula Nature offers retreats whose length can be defined by the guest — from a single day up to three weeks.
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Maiju Vohlonen founded Utula Nature as a retreat center designed to support rest and self-reflection. The weekly program is created to holistically support recovery of both body and mind. The retreat includes accommodation, meals, sauna sessions, and a wellness program. Guests may also choose to spend their stay in complete silence if they wish.
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Utula Nature is located directly on the shore of Lake Saimaa. The long sandy beach invites visitors to swim or take unhurried walks surrounded by the peace of nature.
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The accommodation at Utula Nature is cozy and welcoming. Retreat participants can choose a private room or share one with a friend. There are also separate cabins on the property.
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The weekly program includes yoga, meditation, and guided nature walks. Guests may also take part in writing exercises and silent retreats. The daily schedule is always optional, and everyone is free to participate according to their own energy and needs.
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The aim of the retreat is to offer a space to pause, restore, and reconnect with oneself in the midst of nature. Utula Nature is suitable for anyone longing for a break from everyday busyness and wishing to focus on their well-being.
1/2023 Scan Magazine / Top Experiences in Finland
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Special Theme:TOP EXPERIENCES IN FINLAND 2023
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A restorative nature retreat deep in the Finnish wilderness
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Perched on the forested banks of Finland’s vast Lake Saimaa is a restorative retreat unlike any other. Hosted in remote lodgings couched in stunning Nordic wilderness, Utula Nature’s flexible programme of wellness activities for body and mind is a rare opportunity for a total reset.
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“Our retreat experience is created to slow you down and give you space to reflect, by bringing you to the present moment and reconnecting you to your body,” says Utula Nature founder Maiju Vohlonen, a Yin yoga teacher, Nature Therapy guide and Logotherapy Instructor, Jochanen has considerable experience in therapeutic practices.
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At Utula Nature, she and her partner, yoga and breathwork instructor Paolo Zambeze, create and deliver an all-inclusive weekly programme, suitable for all levels, of mindful movement, yin yoga, restful meditation, reflective writing and sharing. The pair are warm hosts, who put the comfortable lodgings and natural beauty of the forest and lakeside are irresistibly recuperative.
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Tailor your experience
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The woodland haven in Ruokolahti is a maximum of ten guests at once, to ensure it retains its sense of space. Silence is integral to the concept of the retreat, with silent lodgings, breakfasts and “Mindful Mondays”, in which guests are invited to experience a whole day of silence.
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“Cutting down on stimuli is a powerful way to bring your focus into yourself, hear your own thoughts, and to feel your feelings and body. Once you’re in silence, you realise how liberating the ‘right not to engage’ is – to not have to be constantly responding,” explains Vohlonen.
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Those yearning for a deeper experience can also take part in a digital detox and leave their devices in the care of the hosts for the duration of their stay.
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Every aspect of the retreat can be tailored to suit your needs, for example, the duration can be adapted from three days to three weeks, as preferred.
1/2020 Economist magazine
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Nature Is a Mirror of Life
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Entrepreneur Maiju Vohlonen offers restorative and calming nature experiences on the shores of Saimaa. A former stressed-out career woman, she discovered the healing power of nature firsthand.
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Modern-day stress often stems from overload and constant over stimulation. Maiju Vohlonen knows what she is talking about. She spent years in a hectic working life before finally coming to a stop.
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“I had everything that was supposed to mean I was doing well, yet I wasn’t well. I was constantly busy, constantly performing my life. Eventually my body began to show symptoms, and I could no longer ignore it.”
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Vohlonen shares that in 2015 she suffered severe burnout. She was forced to stop and began reflecting on what truly matters in life.
“I had lost connection with myself and with what was meaningful to me. Stopping was painful, but it was necessary.”
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Over time, she found refuge in nature. The forest and the lakeside landscape brought a sense of peace she had not felt in a long time.
“Nature demands nothing. It does not judge or expect performance. In its presence, you can simply be.”
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Spending time in nature helped her return to her body and recognize her own needs
Gradually, the idea emerged of creating a place where others could pause and experience the same restoration.
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This is how Utula Nature was born — a place where silence, nature, and gentle presence support recovery.
“Nature is a kind of mirror for us. It reflects back what we carry within. When we dare to face it, we can become whole again.”
Vohlonen believes that everyone has a need to return, from time to time, to simplicity.
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“We don’t need more stimulation. Often, we need less. Space, silence, and connection to what is true.”