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
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.
Space, Time, and Clarity
Space.
Time.
Conversation.
This is where clarity begins.
When Vision Returns
A friend of mine had eye surgery this week. Finally, after gathering courage for a long time. It was high time; his vision had greatly deteriorated. As the procedure is done one eye at a time, he removed the bandage with hesitation. What would he see? Would he see?
And he did.
He saw colors. He saw the world in hues he had forgotten existed. He was so moved by his restored vision that he wept. Now he cannot wait for the second eye to be treated and prefers to rely only on this newly opened eye in the meantime.
We cherish what we regain — especially something as precious as eyesight.
When Life Comes Back Into Focus
There are moments when I feel the same way about my own life. Sometimes I have tears in my eyes from the simple happiness of where I am today. I feel I have my life back; no longer waiting for vacation, for a break, for “someday,” but living fully in each moment.
There is a life waiting for each of us. We sense it. We work toward it. Or we quietly feel that something more is possible.
Things are not always clear. But when we pause, truly pause, and begin listening, reflecting, and gently examining our thoughts, a path starts to appear. When we voice what is within us — to ourselves, to a friend, or to a coach — we begin building forward movement.
The Power of a Pause
There are many ways to pause and reconnect. To understand what brings us joy. What we might release. What we might refine. What we might add.
I believe in slow movement, not performance but presence. Nature helps. So does stepping into new environments. When we expose ourselves to unfamiliar surroundings, we step out of autopilot. We become someone without roles to perform. We see more clearly.
For me, living part of the year in another country creates that space. I cannot control everything. I do not master the language fully. I move through daily life with curiosity rather than certainty. I follow selected news, chosen podcasts, and the rhythm of the place.
Years ago, when I lived in Bangladesh, we experienced long hartals; citywide strikes when driving through Dhaka was not possible. At first, I felt frustrated. Then something shifted. I had no power to change the situation. I could not fix it. I could only stay. And in staying, I relaxed.
There was a profound calm in simply being present with family and neighbors. No urgency. No movement. Just time.
I experience something similar at my Lake Saimaa villa during summer. Days stretch. Nothing demands. We sit on the pier. Time hangs. There is nowhere else to be.
Bringing the Island Home
When I coach people, they often mention Bali, the feeling they had there. I gently ask why. And then why again. And again. What exactly did the island give you?
My intention is not to send them back to Bali. It is to help them bring that feeling into their everyday lives. The calm of the summer cabin. The clarity of a faraway island. The surrender of a moment when you are no longer in control — and it is enough.
To make that clarity last.
To integrate it into daily living.
To return to it whenever needed.
A Gentle Invitation
Clarity does not arrive through force. It arrives through space.
If you feel that something in your life is waiting to come back into focus, perhaps it is time to create intentional space for it, whether through a reflective walk, a slow travel experience, or a structured pause guided by Luontopolku Back to Your Senses®.
Sometimes all it takes is one clear step to begin seeing differently.
Walk gently. Listen deeply. Return to your own nature.
The Circle Closes
Between movement and stillness, I found myself smiling again. This is what transformative travel offers: intentional journeys that restore wellbeing, deepen self-connection, and bring you back home to yourself.
This January 2026, I am returning to Helsinki Matka Nordic Travel Fair an altogether different role: as a fellow traveler.
Once a travel executive and promoter of the Lake Saimaa region, I now stand here to tell how travel can take us to places, but more importantly, how it can bring us back home, within. When we travel intentionally, paying attention to ourselves and our surroundings, connecting with people and places, we also journey deeper into ourselves. Travel shows us how else life could be. It takes us off autopilot, sometimes even out of our comfort zones. In doing so, it resets us, supports our wellbeing, and invites reflection: are these new experiences something we want more of in our lives?
Travel as a Counterbalance
While the world speeds ahead and constantly pushes our boundaries with its demands, travel becomes a counterbalance, a resetting force that allows us to slow down and return to something that calls us. A feeling. A place. A moment where we see ourselves glowing again. As travelers, we are free, at our purest. When nobody knows us, we can shed our masks. We no longer need to play roles. We can simply be.
And we do not need to travel far. Or for long. We only need to turn our ear inward and allow ourselves the moments we truly need.
Nature as the Way Back
For me, nature has always been that place of return. It has echoed my answers back to me, allowed me to be alone in safety, and reminded me of who I am. Solo moments in nature; walking trails, slow rituals, quiet reflection, inner conversations bring us back to our own path. The more often we return to nature with a question in our hearts, seeking clarity, the clearer the picture becomes. Our breath softens. Our direction sharpens.
I believe it can be that simple.
Our nature is calling us all.
Listening Instead of Performing
We do not need yoga or breathing techniques, although I know they are wonderful and do much good. We can simply begin by giving ourselves time. By walking. By listening. By allowing what moves us to guide our choices and, in time, our travels.
A Year of Transformation
Last year marked a profound turning point for me as I founded my own business as a transformative travel coach. It has been a year of change, of reconnecting with wonderful people, both familiar and new, and of building wellbeing-focused travel experiences in Finland and abroad.
Returning to Helsinki Matka Nordic Travel Fair
At Helsinki Travel Mart this year, I am speaking as the founder of The Journey Studio, sharing my story and my Luontopolku Back to Your Senses® method. I am also honored to represent my dear partner Aktiv-Resor, speaking about how travel can bring wellbeing into our lives through experiences such as our “Appelsiinipuut kukkivat jo Valenciassa” retreat.
I will be available to meet from Friday 16 January to Sunday 18 January, and on Saturday 17 January from 13:00 to 14:30 you are warmly invited to join us at the Aktiv-Resor stand 7p128 for a connecting hour with my inspiring friend Saimi Hoyer.
Back Where I Belong
Travel and taking time for myself brought me back to where I belong: happy, present, and on a journey I now build consciously, day by day.
I look forward to meeting you at the fair, later this year, or wherever your path may take you. I would be honored to walk alongside your journey.
Happy travels,
Mirka
Read more about:
Seeking Answers
Mirka Kristiina Bruun, travel coach, in nature during a Finnish Happiness reflection walk.
Transformative travel coach and founder of The Journey Studio, smiles warmly while leaning on a wooden railing at dusk. Soft evening light highlights her face as Mediterranean pine trees rise behind her, capturing a moment of calm presence and the ease that nature brings.
I still get lost sometimes and need to return to my nature trails to reconnect. Even in the excitement of building something new, there is a mountain of tasks waiting, not always favourites, yet necessary.
What Is Weighing on Me?
This week, between pitching competitions where I got to speak about my Luontopolku Back to Your Senses® method, the way to Finnish Happiness, to the finals and receive supportive feedback from wellness-tourism leaders, I found myself wondering: What is weighing on me?
There is the pressure of things undone, the constant whisper to do more, the old feeling, shared by so many of us, that we still need to prove something. Even after letting go, the echo returns. In conversations this week, we explored that balance: how to stay engaged without losing ourselves, how to understand what is “enough,” and how to find a renewed sense of meaning and direction.
When I Return to the Trail
Every time I return to a trail intentionally and start listening to the nature around me, something shifts.
The stormy waves inside quiet down.
A pigeon lands and meets my gaze.
A poster on a wall brings back a memory of who I used to be.
When I note down the intuitive thoughts that arise, I begin to see what is missing, why I feel the way I do, and what needs to be released or added to feel whole again.
Nature Shows Us the Way
Nature shows us the way if we choose to listen.
But when we are burned out, overwhelmed or moving through transitions, we often don’t hear anything at all. We operate in a trance, not fully present in our own lives.
We need to break that cycle. Step out.
Travel helps awaken the senses and shift perspective, but we are not always able to travel far. In the end, it wasn’t the height of Machu Picchu that changed me. It was the depth I needed. Myself I sought.
About Luontopolku Back to Your Senses®
The Luontopolku Back to Your Senses® method I developed during my Travel Coach studies doesn’t require distance. It requires listening.
In Finland, we say:
“The forest answers what you shout into it.”
Luontopolku Back to Your Senses® is a nature-based transformational wellbeing and travel method that guides individuals back to clarity and inner balance. Rooted in mindful presence, nature practices and reflective guidance, it offers a structured yet intuitive pathway toward emotional renewal and meaningful change.
Finnish research shows that even 10 minutes in nature calms the heartbeat. Nature walks lower cortisol, support burnout recovery, prevent depression and increase mindfulness.
Luontopolku, nature trail in Finnish, draws from ancestral knowledge, Finnish science and global wellness insights, including the principles of Japanese forest bathing.
Slowing Down to Listen
Meaningful change happens when we slow down, tune in and allow nature to support our inner journey. Through movement, reflective exercises, sensory awareness and meaning-centered travel coaching, Luontopolku becomes a gentle companion toward self-understanding and inner clarity.
By following the steps in the Luontopolku® guide, you begin by asking what you wish clarity on. Then you step into nature, holding the question lightly.
Magic happens: answers appear in leaves, patterns, symbols.
You pause. You listen.
You write down the intuitive thoughts that surface.
The more intentionally we return to nature, the clearer the inner voice becomes.
A Path You Always Walk With Yourself
At 54, I gained the courage to change my life.
And so can you.
You are always journeying with yourself: listen closely to know when to stay on your path, or when it’s time to turn.
Wishing you a wonderfully slow weekend.
Take a mindful walk.
And if you feel called to explore your personal journey through a guided session, online or as a reflective Luontopolku Back to Your Senses® walk, you’re warmly welcome to make a booking.