About The Studio Journal
The Studio Journal was born during a sabbatical that became something much deeper, a turning point.
What began as a pause from routine turned into a journey of unlearning, rediscovery, and reconnection. I wandered, I listened, I wrote. I stepped into unfamiliar places, both on the map and within myself.
This journal is a space to share what I’ve gathered along the way. It holds reflections from the road, questions from the quiet moments, and the stories that shape how we travel, live, and grow. You’ll find pieces of my journey here, but also prompts, insights, and encouragement for your own.
Because transformation doesn’t happen all at once. It happens in the in-between. And this is a place for that.
What You May Experience Through Luontopolku — Back to Your Senses® method
✔ A renewed connection to your own nature
✔ Greater clarity about what truly matters now
✔ Deeper trust in your direction and inner guidance
✔ Courage to move forward with alignment and intention
Horse Energy
Mirka, the tranformative travel coach on a horseback with Maiju, the Kannuskylä horse stable owner and riding instructor in Vitsai, partner at the Slow Travel Horse Holidays.
There are things that pull us, quietly, yet powerfully, drawing us closer to see, explore, and experience.
For me, that pull has always been horses.
My earliest memory is of holding onto the leg of an old workhorse, hugging him with complete devotion, to the horror of my grandfather, from whom I had escaped. A few years later, I climbed from that same leg onto the back of that great Finnish breed. From there, the path continued naturally: riding school, working at trotting stables, and eventually owning my own mare.
Growing up with a horse
As a teenager, growing up with a horse was an education in responsibility but even more so in relationship.
It meant learning nuance, presence, and trust.
Learning to understand another being beyond words.
My mare became a grounding force in my life. A companion on nature trails, a quiet friend I sometimes even slept beside. We learned to read each other, to respond to the subtle shifts in energy that each day brought.
A thread that follows
Life later took me across the world from studies in the United States to family and work across Asia and Europe.
And still, horses remained.
Sometimes close, sometimes more distant but always there, gently calling me back.
A western saddle, a dressage lesson, a bareback ride by the sea.
Back in Finland, returning to my lakeside summer place in Vitsai, I connected with a neighbour’s horses and began a long relationship with a gentle thoroughbred I rode for fourteen years.
The dream
For years, I had a recurring dream.
A horse in a barn; hungry, thirsty, waiting to be fed.
Each time I woke from it, I felt a quiet urgency. As if something in my life had been left unattended. A responsibility not fully met. A connection not fully seen.
Only later did I understand.
Returning after burnout
After my sabbatical travels following burnout I found myself once again close to horses and their owners. This time, I gave space to riding in a different way.
The more I responded to their presence, the clearer their “voice” became.
I remember guiding a tinker horse who seemed to long for movement beyond the stable. Together with his owner, we returned to the forest trails. It was a quiet triumph for all of us.
Since then, I have continued working with both horses and people supporting courage, presence, and the connection between them.
Horses in the Luontopolku® journey
As my coaching deepened, horses naturally became part of my Luontopolku Back to Your Senses® experiences.
From this, an opportunity emerged to co-create horse holidays with Pegasus.
It felt like a natural progression to bring together:
slow travel
Finnish nature
and the presence of horses
At my lakeside home, Blueberry Villa, built by my father in the 1990s, I now welcome guests to experience this way of being.
Here, on Taipalsaari island by Lake Saimaa, life slows down.
In Finland, horses spend their summers on green pastures. During our 5- and 7-day retreats, we collect our horses from the nearby field, walk together to the stables, and set out onto gently curving trails through birch and pine forests.
There is no rush.
Only presence, rhythm, and connection.
Feeding the inner horse
The dream of the hungry horse no longer returns.
Somewhere along the way, my inner horse was fed.
And perhaps this is what draws people here too.
Not only to ride but to reconnect.
To listen.
To respond to something within that has been waiting.
I hope to meet you there, by the lake, and to gently support you in feeding your own inner horse.
After all, it is a time to trust your energy and follow where it quietly leads.
If something in this story resonated, you don’t need to leave it here.
Each summer, I host Slow Travel Horse Holidays at Lake Saimaa, where you are paired with your own horse and guided through nature-based reflection using the Luontopolku Back to Your Senses® method.
This is not just about riding.
It is about reconnecting with nature, with the horse, and with yourself.
→ Discover upcoming Horse retreats at The Journey Studio
→ Or book a discovery call to explore if this experience is for you
Walk the walk, talk the talk
A place to pause by the water, where thoughts begin to surface and gently find their way forward.
Coming from Finland, I know that talking is not always easy. We may find ways to explain things to others, but being honest with ourselves can be the hardest part.
When I guide reflective walks, there is no pressure to share anything. We simply walk. The trail invites us forward.
And yet, something interesting happens.
After a gentle opening and a moment to set a personal intention, I often suggest a short silence. It doesn’t take long before something begins to surface. A small observation along the path. A thought that follows. A quiet question that leads to another.
As we pause to take in a view or stand in a clearing, we breathe for a moment. Then we continue. One and a half hours passes quickly in nature when the mind is calm and gently engaged. And often, people feel drawn to return again.
Walking opens space
We are naturally drawn to others with whom we share something, even if we cannot immediately name it. There is often a thread somewhere in the fabric of our lives.
I hear often how easy it feels to talk while walking. And how easy it is simply to be.
This is not a formal setting where something is expected of you. There is no performance. Just a gentle walk, following a path at your own pace. You choose what to share. You look ahead, touch what surrounds you, pause when needed.
Walking and talking, like you would with a friend, is a natural and non-confrontational way to explore what is on your mind. Slowly, step by step, clarity begins to form when you set out with an intention.
Nature brings clarity
There is research on what nature, especially forests, and walking outdoors can do for us. It calms the mind, slows the heartbeat, fills the lungs, and clears the head.
There is an American saying, talk the talk and walk the walk, often referring to responsibility. On my walks, there is also a quiet responsibility: to guide your thinking toward greater gentleness with yourself. Many of us carry expectations placed on us by others, or by ourselves.
In Bangladesh, I learned a beautiful expression: eat some wind. A simple way of saying, step outside and refresh your thinking.
In Finland, we have long returned to the forest for calm and wisdom. Sitting on a tree stump, facing nature, and ourselves. Trees share with each other. And when we join them, they share with us too.
Returning to your own nature
I have traveled far and started over many times, yet I always return to my roots, to my own nature. It continues to teach me what becomes clearer with time.
I am happy to invite you to take an intentional walk as well.
You can walk on your own using my reflective guide through The Journey Studio. You can book an online session and take me with you on your walk. Or we can meet in person.
Winter & Spring: Montgó and Benissa Ruta Ecológica, Spain
Summer & Autumn: Lappeenranta, Lake Saimaa, Finland
You can also join a slow travel retreat and immerse yourself in Lakeland life at Blueberry Villa, where time softens and you can simply be as you are.
Take a walk
Sometimes that is where it begins.
Get your Reflective Walk Guide or book Your Reflective Walk in Spain or in Finland.
Learnings from the Finnish Forest
The lake is still holding onto winter.
Ice stretches across the water, slowly giving way under the soft spring light. The sun hangs low behind a quiet veil of clouds, not yet warm, but already changing something.
Standing at the shoreline, between seasons, you feel it—
the pause before movement.
Nature does not rush this moment.
It allows the transition to unfold.
And perhaps we need the same.
How Nature, Sisu, and the Luontopolku® Method Guide Us Back to Ourselves
Finnish forests are more than meets the eye. They protect, restore, and provide, but above all, they reveal.
There is a Finnish saying: what you shout into the forest, the forest answers back.
Yet it is not the forest that has the voice.
In the silence of nature, you begin to hear your own thoughts,
the echo of what has been waiting within you.
The Forest as a Leadership Mirror
This week, beneath tall pines and across frozen ground softened by the first signs of spring, I guided participants through the Luontopolku® Back to Your Senses journey at Lake Saimaa.
In unfamiliar surroundings at the eastern frontier of the EU something shifts.
When we step outside what is known, we are invited to draw not only from experience, but from our connection to nature and ourselves.
Working in teams, we explored leadership not only as guiding others, but as managing ourselves under changing conditions.
Because every organization, every team, is built from people.
And everything begins there.
Understanding Finnish Sisu Through Experience
Through the Luontopolku® five-step reflection process, we explored what Finnish Sisu truly means:
Pause
Sensory awareness
Threshold recognition
Integration
Forward direction
Sisu is not force.
It is not performance.
It is the quiet decision to continue with responsibility when conditions are not ideal.
Nature supported this process in its own way, through the rhythm of the landscape, the stillness of the forest, and the long, winding trails around a slowly melting Lake Saimaa.
Crossing Thresholds – Personal and Shared
As I shared my own story of crossing borders both physically and emotionally, I was reminded again of the power of thresholds.
Stepping into my grandmother’s home in lost Karelia.
Meeting the current owners in her old kitchen.
Bringing my own family to safety in Finland from a military takeover.
In these moments, I recognised something deeper:
Adaptability is not only survival. It is a strength.
And sometimes, what we carry as loss becomes a hidden gift we are only later ready to embrace.
Redefining Leadership in the Forest
After a long day in the terrain, our integration session brought new insights.
We reflected on our need to:
prove ourselves
perform
be the fastest or the strongest
And what happens when we let that go.
Leadership revealed itself differently in the forest:
knowing when to step forward
knowing when to step aside
giving space to others
adapting when conditions change
showing compassion when performance is not possible
This is self-leadership.
Returning to Ourselves Through Nature
In today’s world, we have in many ways become disconnected, from nature and from ourselves.
But when we pause, when we step intentionally into nature, something begins to shift.
We begin to hear ourselves again.
Through walking.
Through silence.
Through presence.
And sometimes, through the shared quiet of a sauna at the end of the day, we let go of what we no longer need to carry.
We rest.
And in that rest, clarity begins to emerge.
Why Finnish Nature Is the Source of Happiness
Finland has been named the happiest country in the world multiple times.
One of the reasons lies here:
In the forest.
In the relationship with nature.
In the ability to pause and return to oneself.
Luontopolku® – A Path Back to Your Senses
Through my Luontopolku® Back to Your Senses method, I guide individuals and teams to reconnect with themselves through:
reflective nature walks
coaching
slow travel experiences
retreats in Finland and Spain
This is not about escaping life.
It is about meeting it more clearly.
A Final Thought
The forest does not give you answers.
It gives you space to hear your own.
And often, that is where everything begins.
I can guide you there.
A Threshold Between Years
As we stand between the years, this quiet moment invites us to slow down, listen inward, and return to what truly matters. In this reflective piece, I share the defining moments of 2025 from a life-changing question on a mountain in Bernia to the gentle clarity found in nature, horses, and mindful travel. Welcome the Year of the Fire Horse by turning inward, trusting your path, and walking into 2026 with presence, courage, and a renewed connection to yourself.
We stand at a quiet threshold between the old and the new, with 2025 turning into 2026 in just a couple of days. This moment invites reflection. There are no New Year promises, no quick fixes, no self-help shortcuts that truly carry us forward. No one else can walk your path, pave the way, or take the steps for you.
There are practices: yoga, meditation, breathwork, deep massage that help us arrive in the present moment. There are also walks we can take, forests we can return to, places where we can finally hear our own thoughts again. These are invitations to turn our gaze inward and listen to our bodies, our intuition, ourselves.
Looking Back at 2025
I walked a long path in 2025. As the new year approaches, it feels natural to look back at the highlights that shaped me. During my sabbatical travels I knew I needed to change something, and in January I felt the earth shifting beneath my feet. After journeying far and walking far, I was finally ready; ready to feel, stand on my own and to understand the inner movement taking place within me.
A Defining Moment in Bernia
One of the moments that comes to mind from 2025 is a hike in Bernia and a powerful question asked atop ancient ruins overlooking the Mediterranean valley. A question so simple and yet so profound, one we all wrestle with:
“Will this make me happy?”
That conversation on the mountain stayed with me. It nudged me deeper into presence and into trusting my own senses. In 2025 I finally understood that letting go is an act of courage, and trusting myself is an act of love.
The Healing Potential of Travel
I also think about the power of travel, its quiet ability to heal and reveal who we are. Sometimes we set out without fully understanding why, only to discover the meaning step by step along the way.
My travel coaching, studies of transformation, Finnish heritage, raising two beautiful adults, and years living across continents have all given me a gentle trust in the world. When we slow down and return to presence, we begin to hear again the world around us, and our own inner voice.
Shared Moments
One moment I cherish this year is riding beside my coachee and her horse after a year in a new country. She had been too afraid to take that first hike with her beloved companion. But she stepped up, and so did I. She faced her fear, and something shifted in both of us.
Another beautiful moment this year was welcoming the Aktiv Resor team and a dear friend into a special collaboration, a holiday that will not end. Our Appelsiinipuut kukkivat jo wellness retreat is already taking shape as the orange trees begin to bloom. This meaningful journey will take place in April 2026, and you are warmly welcome to join us.
I trust the moment now. I trust stillness. I trust the process of working with groups, showing vulnerability, and finding our way together.
I believe in imperfection. I believe in us.
I believe in you.
My Path as a Transformative Travel Coach
Today I live as a transformative travel coach and journey designer, on a journey every day. I have taken my originally author family name as my official name. I design meaningful journeys and help you map your own way. Yes, I have my certification but more importantly, I have done my walk, and I continue to walk it.
I am here for you. I walk beside you, as close as you feel comfortable, listening to what you share as the path begins to form in front of your eyes.
Luontopolku: Returning to Nature, Returning to Yourself
I simply take you to Luontopolku, the nature trail. I guide you to nature so you can reconnect with your own inner nature. You don’t need anything special. No specific equipment, no particular practice, no performance. You simply relax and step out.
You are already enough, carrying the answers within you, moving toward harmony.
There is magic in the silence of nature.
Walking unlocks the mind’s potential.
Science has shown how walking brings clarity and creative breakthroughs.
Nature begins to reflect answers back to us in shapes, patterns, and moments only we can interpret.
One walk won’t solve everything. But it offers gentle aha-moments that open the way. When we return intentionally to reflective walks, we continue to process, to understand, to move toward what is calling us next.
The Horses That Returned to My Life
My love of horses has deepened this year as they returned into my life ever more. I hear them, seek to understand them, and myself better. Hipico Oliva, the place I visited on my very first solo day in Spain in November 2024 has become part of my working landscape. And my home stables, Vitsai Village’s Kannuskylä Stables is now a partner in mindful horse holidays beginning in summer 2026.
Welcoming the Year of the Fire Horse
Happy New Year of the Fire Horse, 2026: a year symbolizing renewal, bold energy, and transformative momentum. A year of unexpected developments, personal growth, and dynamic change.
And yet, while the world may accelerate around us, the most important thing remains the same: Slow down.
Turn inward.
Take yourself into account.
You mean the most.
May 2026 be a year of presence, clarity, courage, and a return to the path that is truly yours.
I am here for you.
Whether you are in Finland seeking a spring reset under blooming orange trees, or anywhere in the world longing to reconnect with yourself through the silence of Finnish nature, your journey has a place here. Let’s find the right path for you.
Read more about Your Journey or join our Appelsiinipuut kukkivat jo wellness retreat.