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
Finnish Happiness Camp: What Can Happen in Two Days?
A person stands at the end of a wooden pier with arms spread wide, facing the calm waters of Lake Saimaa under the open Finnish sky, embracing a moment of freedom, reflection, and connection with nature.
Not much. And everything.
We continue to protect ourselves from others, from a world that meets each of us differently, and from ourselves, the thoughts and old stories we carry. We cross our arms without even noticing.
When I welcome people to the 2-Day Finnish Happiness Camp, I begin with simple questions.
Where are you now? How do you feel?
As we leave the city behind and make our way to Blueberry Villa on its island, we cross bridges where Lake Saimaa stretches out on both sides of the road. The conversation slowly settles into what each of us has brought along in our invisible backpack.
Arriving Without Expectations
When we arrive, I invite you to pause.
This is your time. Your time only. Time you have deserved and chosen for yourself.
You do not have to do anything. You may simply sit on your chosen corner of the terrace or the pier and listen to the birds.
After local refreshments; spruce tip refreshments, fresh strawberries, rye crisps with goat cheese, we wander into the garden and forest, following whatever feels most alive that day. Perhaps it is foraging, walking quietly beneath the pines, reflecting together, or taking to the water.
Lake Saimaa usually has the strongest pull.
We row to nearby rock paintings, created more than 5,000 years ago, where our ancestors travelled these waters as their highway and settled beneath the ancient Castle Rock. The lake has always connected people, and somehow it still does.
The Quiet Magic of a Nordic Summer
There is something magical about Nordic summers.
The white nights. The soft evening light. Collecting wildflowers for midsummer crowns.
The gentle act of gathering flowers and weaving them together becomes a quiet reflection on our own lives; choosing what still calls us forward and leaving behind what no longer belongs.
Nobody knows you here.
There may be a public version of you somewhere else, but that is only one part of who you are. Here, you are free to set every role aside.
You need no titles, no expectations, no hats.
Only your new crown.
The Sauna, the Lake and the Senses
We slowly light the fire in the 18th-century wood-burning lakeside sauna and prepare fresh birch whisks, gently blessing ourselves as generations before us have done.
The warmth of the sauna followed by a swim in Lake Saimaa becomes one of the most natural ways to experience the Finnish summer, with every sense awake. The heat, the cool water, the scent of birch, the silence, the smooth stones beneath your feet.
Become aware of your senses.
Perhaps somewhere along the way you notice yourself crossing a threshold.
Simple Food, Deep Nourishment
Dinner is built around the season.
Fresh salads, local cheeses, rye bread, new potatoes, salmon smoked or baked with chanterelle sauce gathered from our own grounds, and blueberry pie with a rye crust served with vanilla sauce.
Simple, pure tastes.
The kind that remind us how little we actually need.
Just Be
As the evening sun turns red and melts into the lake, colouring the water with the sky itself, there is nothing left to do.
Only be.
Not do.
We often speak about being human beings, not human doings.
And I quietly ask:
Who are you when you are no longer defined by doing?
Taking Something Home
The next morning begins slowly, entirely at your own pace.
Perhaps you swim before breakfast. Perhaps you pick blueberries in the garden, sit on the terrace, or spend a quiet moment with the horses grazing in the neighbouring field before riding through the forest.
Brunch is filled with local favourites: homemade lepuskas, rye bread, Karelian pies, nettle and feta omelette, homemade juices, berries, yoghurt, muesli, tea and coffee.
Before we say goodbye, I hand you a small card or one of my little signature notebooks.
I invite you to write.
What are you taking with you?
What did you realise during this pause? During this sensory awareness?
You tell me what you want to carry into everyday life, and together we reflect on how that new understanding can become part of the way you live, long after you leave Blueberry Villa.
Leaving With Open Arms
At the pier, there is one final goodbye to the lake.
Some people throw a small stone into the water. Others choose one to take home, a quiet reminder of this place, together with the note or drawing they created.
They spread their arms wide and simply twirl in the wind.
I trust your inner nature.
Like the willow that bends with the wind without breaking. Like plants that somehow find their way through concrete toward the light.
This weekend's Finnish Happiness Camp was beautiful.
The arms that arrived crossed tightly over the chest left wide open.
Sometimes, happiness doesn't arrive because we find something new.
Sometimes, it arrives because, for two quiet days, we finally remember who we were before we began protecting ourselves.
I remain here for you. You can book Your Happiness Camp here.