The in-person Masterclass of Happiness already became a phenomenon this past spring: news of it reached audiences from all over the world and received extensive media coverage with over 1,000 media hits. Visit Finland received more than 150,000 applications from across the world to attend. The Masterclass was attended by a handful at Kuru Resort in the Finnish Lakeland in June.

The high number of applications proved how many people were keen to become happier and find a small piece of the Finnish outlook within themselves. With the highly anticipated Masterclass now becoming available online, Finland hopes it will spread happiness and help people around the world find a bit of their inner Finn.

The Masterclass of Happiness consists of video lessons from five coaches under its four core themes. The lessons are designed to offer a simply way to get started with the Finnish happy lifestyle. Each lesson has hands-on tasks that help participants test the insights of the masterclass in their own life and every day and build concrete skills for happiness. All who complete the masterclass will receive a Certificate of Happiness.

One of the coaches of the masterclass is April Rinne, a famous futurist, change navigator, and author of Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change. Her coaching session delves into a theme that sounds especially current in the world of today: how to find balance and well-being in the face of constant change.

 “Managing your happiness has a lot to do with developing resilience that helps you live with uncertainty and thrive even when the world is in constant flux. A lot of people these days live in societies that revolve around always trying to gain more, achieve more, be more. Finnish culture is built more around the concept of ‘enough’ – knowing what is enough for you and embracing that”, Rinne describes.

Visit Finland wanted to raise and highlight aspects of Finnish life and culture that support this consistent outlook of happiness the Finns have in many ways mastered. The online masterclass is free of charge, so it is easily accessible and available for as many people as possible, describes Heli Jimenez, Senior Director, International Marketing & PR of Business Finland.

“With this masterclass, we want to give everyone a foundation they can use to build their own happiness. The key is that it is not just some mystical ability you are born with; it’s an approach to life that can be learned. At the same time, there’s no one-size-fits-all path to it: we believe you can find your own kind of inner Finn through the themes of this masterclass. In many ways, I think it’s what the world needs right now!”

The best way to experience Finnish happiness is to travel directly to the source. Here are four tips on how to create your very own private Happiness Masterclass – and enjoy Finland the way Finns do.

1. A treat for your eyes: Design is contributing a great deal to Finnish happiness. A good way to experience Finnish design is to explore Design Museum along with design district in Helsinki or to visit the new Aalto Museum Centre in Jyväskylä.
    
2. Explore the Finnish nature's own supermarket: Famous everyman’s right gives you the perfect opportunity to forage the pure local food from the Finnish nature, and there are plenty of restaurants proving the essentiality of good food as an integral element of Finnish happiness. Try recently Michelin-starred Vår in Porvoo or Aanaar in Inari, to name just a couple.
    
3. Sweat your way to happiness: One of the most crucial institutions contributing to Finn’s happiness throughout one’s entire life is the sauna. With roughly 3,000,000 saunas in Finland, you can be sure you will have a good selection to choose from while you are here. We can recommend Serlachius Art sauna in Mänttä and Saana sauna in Kuopio to get the idea. If you want to blend in seamlessly, try a dip into nearby waters – year-round, naturally.
    
4. Breathe the Finnish calm: No matter where you are in Finland, nature is close to you. Even brief trips into nature have been found to support a person’s wellbeing. Visit Nuuksio National Park near Helsinki (there is an outstanding nature centre Haltia, too), or head to Koli National Park for unique national landscapes.

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Visit Finland, a unit of Business Finland, is a national authority on tourism and an active force in promoting international travel to Finland. Its main goal is to develop Finland’s international image as a destination. Visit Finland supports the travel industry through research and helps businesses and groups develop products and services for the international market. For more information, please visit www.visitfinland.com.