Horse Energy

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

When Nature Becomes a Mirror: A Reflective Walk on the Ruta Ecológica in Benissa

Have you paused lately, I mean truly paused, taking yourself out not to perform, achieve, or respond, but simply to listen within?

On the Ruta Ecológica in Benissa, the landscape quietly reminds us how time reshapes everything.

Walking along the cliffs, you pass old sandstone quarries. Places where stone was once extracted and landscapes were capitalized on. Today they are protected nature areas. We walk through them gently, observing rather than taking.

Time has shifted their purpose.

Small yellow flowers grow through dry soil and rocky ground. Fragile yet persistent, they slowly reclaim the terrain. Spring approaches quietly here. Nature does not rush, but it always finds its way forward.

Watching this, it becomes difficult not to reflect on our own inner landscapes.

Just like the land, our inner nature also moves in cycles. Some seasons are productive and outward-facing. Others ask for restoration, protection, and listening.

We have learned to protect natural environments: to leave them as they are given to us.

Perhaps we need to offer the same care to ourselves.

Pausing, keeping ourselves close, staying in conversation with our inner voice. Noticing what might be quietly sprouting within us again; an idea, a direction, a courage that had been waiting for the right season.

Nature has a remarkable way of reflecting what we carry inside.

When we walk slowly and intentionally, the landscape begins to mirror our own thoughts. A question carried quietly in the mind often finds unexpected clarity along the path.

This is the foundation of my Luontopolku® reflective walk practice: creating space where nature becomes both guide and mirror.

Along the Ruta Ecológica in Benissa we slow down, observe, and listen, not only to the sea breeze, the pine trees, and the rhythm of the waves, but also to what is stirring within.

You may arrive with a question, a transition, or simply the feeling that it is time to pause.

Nature has a way of answering in its own quiet language.

I offer guided reflective walks at the Ruta Ecológica in Benissa for individuals and small groups through The Journey Studio.

If you feel the need to pause, listen, and reconnect with your own direction, you are welcome to walk with me.

Reflective Walk Experiences
📍 Ruta Ecológica, Benissa – Costa Blanca
Solo sessions or small groups

Read more and book your walk through The Journey Studio.

Back in Time

A Saturday at Xaló Market

I return to the Xaló Saturday market every so often.

Sometimes I go searching for something particular. Most often, I go simply to wander along the riverside; to enjoy the music, the hum of mixed European languages, and the possibility of unexpected treasures.

In sunny February, when spring quietly breaks winter’s spell and almond trees begin to bloom, the village feels especially alive. Cyclists move through the narrow streets. Conversations flow in Spanish, Dutch, German, French, English. The market becomes a meeting place of seasons and stories.

A Gift of Time

This week my son is visiting with his friends. I asked him to find a birthday gift during our Xaló day; something I would buy for him, a small reminder of time spent together here.

I wasn’t looking for anything myself. I was simply following the young ones, enjoying their reflections, their laughter, their rhythm.

And yet.

It didn’t take long before I found myself standing before a stack of vinyl records. Ever since restoring the old record player at Blueberry Villa, these records have been quietly calling me.

Recently back in the western saddle with a new quarter gelding as a coachee, I instinctively picked up My Country – Songs, die dir Freiheit geben, with voices like Johnny Cash and Kenny Rogers.

Two euros later, “Country roads, take me home” accompanied me along the riverbank.

Treasures That Carry Stories

There is something about touching and even smelling objects from the past.

They carry lives lived.
Dreams pursued.
Time that has passed and yet lingers.

I have never felt lighter than I do now. Owning less. Needing less.

I admire the handbags I once collected. I smile at the Tiffany lamps I once searched for. Letting go has brought me closer to what truly matters.

I bought one more thing: Jules Verne’s Viaje al Centro de la Tierra in Spanish. It feels like a promise. This will be the first full book I read in my chosen language.

And then, a simple green glass jar for the stones I collect during my walks. It has been empty for a long time. Now it waits again.

The Village That Holds Stories

Our final stop was the Xaló vintage store, always worth visiting. Its owner, a photographer, once captured Finnish band Hanoi Rocks in the 1980s. The shop feels like a museum disguised as a boutique.

Whenever I bring people here, we rarely leave empty-handed. This time, my son found a shirt that felt right. Not because it was needed but because it resonated.

What Is Calling You?

During my retreats, I bring guests to this market at the end of their stay.

Before we begin wandering, I ask them to pause.

To listen.

What is calling you here?
What do you want to carry forward, not just in your bag, but into your life?

It is always meaningful to hear why they choose what they choose.

Often, the object is small. The shift behind it is not.

Choosing How We Spend Our Days

We all choose, every day, how we spend our time.

Slow markets.
Shared afternoons.
A record.
A book.
A jar waiting to be filled.

I have become ever more mindful of how I spend mine.

And if you ever feel called to wander these riverbanks, listen to what is asking to be noticed, or experience the rhythm of this valley more deeply, you are welcome to join me.

Sometimes a market is just a market.

Sometimes it is the beginning of something quieter, and more meaningful.

You can explore further here.

Whycation to Youcation; From Another Level to Gravity

While listening to morning news podcasts, I’m bombarded with advertisements about how to capitalize on the transformation AI is bringing to businesses: reducing costs, elevating customer and entertainment experiences, making 3D mainstream, promising leverage to grow.

I shiver a little. I am no longer walking those endless corridors or joining meetings where I was already thinking about the next one unpresent in the moment, and unpresent in myself.

I had another glimpse into the state of today during a sustainability communications training I recently attended. Suddenly our group found ourselves in a shared room, tasked with solving a problem together to be presented in 15 minutes.

I was the only one with my video on, introducing myself and asking for input.
Silence.

I suggested an approach. One voice, calling from a car, said: “Great, and sorry, I’m barely able to participate.”

I solved the issue, shared it with the group who remained quiet, busy with other tasks or unable to face others, and then presented it to the full class.

Today, I am in a privileged position: I choose where to be present.
Not necessarily financially, but mentally and emotionally.

We are expected to grow businesses, utilise the newest tools, and take experiences to “the next level.” But with all these loops, hurdles, and levels, we begin to lose our ground spinning like whirling dervishes.

Presently in Bangkok, between executive speeches about growth and market insights, we heard the Tourism Authority of Thailand share how, in just one year, they shifted from cultural experiences and parties to a new theme:
“Luxury of Healing.”
Soundless nature escapes, singing bowls, natural spas, stories, and sustainability.

Again I was reminded of the balance we all need.
There is a gravity pulling us back: a craving for nature, for simple ways, for nostalgia.

When transforming and growing businesses, we should not lose the most important factor:
ourselves.

Companies and people should invest first in wellbeing, inner connection, and personal growth.
Machines still need humans to learn from: people who can think for themselves and for others, after first taking a deep breath for themselves.

Whycation to Youcation

There are deeper reasons we travel.

Why means more than where.
You mean more than anything.

I walk alongside you, observing and listening. I offer my ear so you can shape the solution you already carry within you, once you start listening in.

You might be amazed by how much you have inside when you lend yourself an ear and quiet the noise.

It may be Thailand, Finland, or another land entirely that wakes something in you, but you are the one who takes the learning home and integrates it into daily life.

My gentle solution is simple:
listen to yourself when you step intentionally into nature, wherever you are. Pay intuitive attention and begin to notice what your inner self is whispering together with a trusted coach, next to you or online, present.

Take a leap, and allow yourself to land for a moment.
You will be happy you did.

Schedule a Complimentary Discovery Call

Your nature is calling you. Luontopolku Back to Your Senses® and I are ready when you are. Book a complimentary call.