Marina Wolff - about me

I was born and raised in Leningrad, USSR – now Saint Petersburg in Russia. Since childhood, my life has been connected with sports. At 7 years old, my parents took me to swimming school. By the age of 13, I was swimming competitively and even made it into the Olympic junior league. However, although I loved swimming, the constant pressure and competitiveness of professional sports took a toll on me. That's why I quit competitive swimming.

Then came a break from regular training, and, to be honest, from any physical activity. A new life in the USA, then to Great Britain, a family, a successful career in IT, and extensive global travel followed. 

At the age of 35, while living in Boston, I became interested in yoga. I picked the most physical and challenging form of yoga that was becoming popular at that time – Bikram Hot Yoga. I practiced Bikram religiously for the next 15 years – finding new studios in all the cities my life took me to – Boston, London, and Dublin. As if that was not enough, at 43 I discovered strength training: Body Pump and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). I jumped into it with gusto, exercising at least 4 times a week. 

At 55 years old, I was in excellent physical shape, had a successful career in The City of London, and, most importantly, I was happy and enjoying life. My body radiated healthy energy.

But this was the year 2020. Within a few months, tragic changes in my life broke me. By November of that year I was put on medical leave with nervous exhaustion. In December, at the height of the epidemic, I fell ill with COVID and ended up in hospital for more than two weeks. After returning home, I was so exhausted by the disease that I could hardly walk up the stairs. Doctors diagnosed Myopericarditis -  inflation of the heart, and Pulmonary Fibrosis - scarring on the lungs.  The worst were constant panic attacks, memory problems, and extreme fatigue. I could not do any of the things I loved: I could not work, I could not exercise, I could not enjoy my life. Eventually, my symptoms were termed “Long Covid.” I became part of University College London’s Long Covid Research efforts. 

Specialists from the UCL could not help me with medication, so they advised me to engage in meditation and breathing exercises. I tried many different methods, some of them better than others. Eventually, I discovered Bioginnastica. One of my friends suggested I see Oksana Alekseiva, who was trained by and worked alongside Stefania Tranconi, the founder of this unique method. Oksana pulled me out of this painful state - very carefully, step by step. We worked on my breathing, physically improving the capacity of my lungs and literally restoring my breathing function. More importantly, she helped me to overcome constant panic attacks – teaching me techniques to relax both physical and mental tensions in my body. After a few months of training, I was again able to breathe deeply and, slowly but surely, I was able to get back into my former physical shape. By the end of 2021 I finally got off antidepressants. 

In 2022, I managed to hit the gym again. I started to feel like my former self. This is when I made one of the biggest decisions of my life. Having seen the effectiveness of Bioginnastica first-hand, I decided to become a certified Bioginnastica Instructor (who are called “Operators”). 

I quite sincerely want to introduce as many people to this unique technique as possible, as I have experienced its benefits first-hand and love to share my knowledge and passion with you.