About us

We are a couple of yoga practicing, traveling, adventure loving 'livsnytere' (an expression in Norwegian meaning; 'the one who enjoy life to the fullest'). We both have a big passion for sustainable lifestyle and we strive to live in coherence with nature. This is reflected in the yoga retreats we offer in our little learning center in Norway, the yoga and trekking adventures in Nepal, and our handmade product line. Our love and passion for yoga, the environment, community and regenerative living is the fuel of creating 'Hagabrekka Wanderland'.

   

Yoga teacher and coordinator:

Marita Liverød grew up in Sandefjord, Norway, but started her exploration of the world in 2007. Since then, she has been conducting research, studying, traveling and working around the world. Marita has a master’s degree in sustainable development, as well as a big passion in the field personally. She has 1600 hours advanced yoga teacher training from India and Nepal, as well as a variety of courses in related fields (see education below). She has been teaching yoga across the world since 2015, retreats, TTCs, courses and drop-in classes. She has also been working a lot with permaculture and plant-based food together with her husband Sabin. The product line of yoga gear was started with a vision to create quality products for likeminded environmental aware yogis, who appreciates the unique instead of the mass produced. Living partly in Norway, partly in Nepal, and partly traveling she is working as a yoga teacher, arranging yoga treks in the Himalayas, running retreats and educational courses at ‘Hagabrekka Wanderland’ in the summer, as well as retreats around the world.

2013: 200 hours TTC - Hatha m/ vinyasa, ashtanga, yin, kundalini, Sivasoorya, India / 2013: Introduction to Ayurvedic massage, Dr.Sibis Ayurveda, India / 2015: Introduction to Tantric Yoga Practice MahaSiddha School, India / 2015: 200 hours TTC - Ashtanga/Hatha Yoga VyasaYogapeeth, India / 2016: 200 hours TTC - Hatha Nepal Yoga Academy, Telkot / 2017: 300 hours ATTC Ashtanga/Hatha Yoga, Yogadarshanam, India / 2017: Pranayama Course med B.N.S. Iyengar, Mysore Mandala, India / 2019: Thai Yoga Massage Course med Swami Prem Adeh,Himalayan Zen School, India / 2019: 500 hours ATTC - Chakra Yoga med David Goulet Pyramid Yoga, Thailand

Completed 2016: Master of science in Development Management UiA (Fieldwork Sri Lanka/Colombia) / Completed 2013: Bachelor, Interkulturell kommunikasjon NLA (Vietnam/ Mexico)

Manager, mountain guide and assistant yoga teacher:

Sabin Shrestha grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal. Sabin studied IT at university, but soon discovered that he was searching for a life closer to nature. He built his own guesthouse and restaurant in Pokhara (the main hub for starting the Annapurna Circuit), and while he was running his guesthouse, he discovered yoga and the amazing peace and challenge that is found in the Himalayas. He completed his first TTC in 2017, and has a total of 900 hours ATTC. In 2018 he completed his formal education as a certified mountain guide in Nepal and since then, he and Marita has been running yoga and trekking retreats parts of the year in Nepal. Sabin is as a passionate about plant-based cooking, and are responsible for many of the amazing meals at Hagabrekka Wanderland in the summer. He is also assisting as well as leading some of the yoga classes in the retreats in Norway.

Meet Sharada - The grunder and our main partner in Nepal

Sharada started her company in 1988. Beginning small by assembling one single piece of clothes, to small orders within Kathmandu, then little by little growing bigger. Today she exports to India, and are now cooperating with us in Wanderlust Yoga. We are working together to fill the needs of environmental conscious nature lovers out there. 

Sharada grew up in Kathmandu, and worked as a newspaper delivery from young age. She studied home science and learned how to saw. After this she started her studies at the university of Kathmandu at the same time as she started her own little company. She got married in 1986, and it did not take long before the first child was on its way. The little company she started soon became a full-time job, and a pregnant Sharada quit her studies before completing to take care of her business and family. She gave birth to a son and eventually a daughter while continuously working on her company, and supporting her family the last decades. Sharada always says that everyone working for her is family, she is not only giving them comfortable, good working conditions, but make sure that they all have full belly’s, big smiles and lots of laughter every day. Her factory is on the ground floor, and you find her own home the floor over, another floor up is her husband’s brother with children and grandchildren and another floor you find the grandfather of the family. Sharadas big heart and loving being is as contagious as her laughter, and we are grateful and proud of the cooperation and partnership we have with this hard working will powered woman.

Wanderlust Yoga Props and backpacks

We offer a range of products to support your yoga practice, all natural, environment friendly with focus on quality, and awareness on all aspects of production. Using Hemp, cotton, buckwheat, and lokta that are natural to the Himalayas we have created every product for you to feel comforted in your practice with the knowledge that your products are made sustainable, natural, providing good working conditions for the local people of Nepal. 

“Responsible consumption and production” - UN 12th sustainable development goal

With a focus on nature, environment, comfort and the idea that the unique beats the mass-produced, we are offering handmade products with elements from the Himalayas mountains and the natural materials that can be found in Nepal. The elements we are using is mainly hemp, lokta, buckwheat, cotton as well as Rudraksha seeds and stones in our Malas. Most our products come in four colour variation regarding the cotton part, while the hemp is only in its unbleached natural form. All the paper that is used, for the books and the small boxes for the malas are all natural handmade paper without any bleach, with only vegetable colouring. This means the colours might differ from product to product. Every product is unique, with handwoven fabrics there will also be small differences in the fabric, we like to see this as the specially made uniqueness of every object that we offer to you.

Lokta

For 1500 years, handmade paper has been made in the mountain area of Nepal. The raw material that is used is the bark of Daphne Cannabin or Daphna papyracea locally known as Lokta. It is renowned for its exceptional durability and special texture. The oldest available Hindu and Buddhist texts, royal edicts and legal documents are centuries old and have always been recorded on Nepali handmade paper. The bark is collected from high altitude of 2000 meter, with environmental awareness to preserve the fragile ecology of Nepal’s forests. The process involves cooking the bark, washing it twice, chopping and beating with wooden mallets. The soft pulp is poured over a wooden frame and spread evenly by gently shaking the frame in a water tank or pond and the put to be sun dried.

We believe in village-based self-reliance through the promotion of traditionally inspired hand-crafted products that reflects the unique culture and heritage. Buy buying these products we are grateful that you are also supporting this ancient craft.

Hemp

Hemp is growing wild in Nepal and is very durable, strong and sustainable to grow. The hemp that is used in our products are all unbleached, organic, handwoven with all its uniqueness, in its natural shape and colour. We strive to only use natural materials, with the exception of some details that is hard to avoid; for example, the zipper that has plastic in it. Most of the products are delivered in a cotton bag. Our aim is to offer plant based, organic products and values to likeminded people around the world.

Some of the benefits of using hemp:

  • It is sustainable and environmentally friendly; To grow hemp would save a lot of forest, working against the greenhouse effect as the rapid growth of the plant consume a big amount of CO2. It consumes more the 4 times as much as an average tree. It takes on an average around 20 years for a tree to be ready to cut, while hemp can be harvested every 3-4 months. One acre of hemp gives as much paper as four acres of woods.
  • Hemp has exceptional durability; The hempfiber is one of the strongest ones with the best durability of all the natural fibres.
  • Hemp is clean; Hemp is naturally antibacterial and can fight off mould easily, it does not have to be washed as often.
  • Hemp can be grown everywhere; Hemp can be cultivated in a wide range of climate zones, making it an excellent option in places where it is hard to make anything grow.
  • Hemp give better soil; Hemp is strengthening and refining the soil. It attracts impurities from wastewater and chemicals that can destroy the soil In Chernobyl hemp is planted to reduce the amount of radioactivity in the soil.
  • Hemp does not need any pesticides; Hemp is resistant against a lot of diseases and pests and can therefore be grown without chemicals.
  • Hemp acquire a small amount of water; You need 9800 litres of water to produce one kg of cotton, while in comparison hemp only need 2900 litre water per kg. Around 70 % less.
  • Hempseeds can feed the world; Hempseeds are more nutritious then soybeans. The seeds contain 25% protein, more essential fats omega 3 and omega 6 than any other source and they are rich in B vitamins and fibre.
  • Hemp is good for your general health; Since no chemicals or pesticides are needed to grow hemp the fabrics made of hemp will also be free of this and you avoid this poison on your skin.
  • Hemp can be used for a great variety of things; Paper, building material, bioenergy, fuel, rope, beer, washing powder, colour, food, textile, cosmetic, medicine, animal food, plastic replacements etc.

Sources: Frida; Skogoglandskap, TheHIA, FIVH, BergensTidene, Dagbladet, Hordnes, ØkologiskDebio, BioZantium