Happy New Year 2025 from the happiest country in the world!

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Finland has been chosen the happiest country in the world for seven years in a row, and there’s no better time to reflect on the secrets of happiness, than a New Year’s Eve. To share our wisdom for fulfilling life, these two remarkable books unlock the secrets, offering insights into well-being and balance.

Stop Chasing Happiness: A Pessimist’s Guide to a Good Life by Frank Martela

In Stop Chasing Happiness, academic and philosopher Frank Martela – hailing from Finland, the world’s happiest country – reveals why our fixation on happiness and achievement is making us miserable. With wisdom rooted in science, philosophy, and personal experience, Martela shows you the path to a life of energized contentment.

I have been waiting for a new book by Frank Martela since I finished reading Elämän tarkoitus (A Wonderful Life). Frank simply helps me to think better and live better. And I am not alone so we cannot wait to publish his anticipated book and bring it to the hands of the impatient Finnish readers. We might be the happiest nation on Earth but we too need gentle guidance to happiness–or to understanding to avoid chasing it, to be precise. And who would be a more perfect thinker to deliver this message to us than Frank who has a phenomenal ability to present complex ideas in a comprehensible and thought-provoking way. We are honoured and inspired to continue to be his Finnish publisher.

–  Johanna Laitinen, Publisher at Gummerus, Finland

 

The Power of Hot and Cold. From Sauna to Sea: The Finnish Way to a Happy, Healthy Life by Carita Harju & Katja Pantzar

This definitive guide by two experts takes readers on a journey into the transformative powers of hot and cold by pairing the sauna, that quintessential hot Finnish steam bath, with a cold-water dip. Along the way, it serves up the inspiration and practical tools for creating a wellness retreat using the Nordic contrast bathing philosophy, wherever you are in the world.

The Finnish hot and cold method boosts happiness by increasing wellbeing and encouraging connection with nature. It’s the secret to how the world’s happiest nation keeps calm and carries on – no matter what life throws at them. Now you too can learn their secrets.

What a wonderful, powerful book! The Power of Hot and Cold by Katja Pantzar and Carita Harju summarises in a very fresh, informative and cheerful way the positive holistic effects that sauna and a bath in cold water have on body, mind and soul. A promising trend that is also becoming increasingly popular in Germany.

– Berit Hoffmann, Editor, Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe GmbH

 

At its core, Finnish happiness is about simplicity, connection, and embracing life’s rhythms. Here’s to a 2025 filled with serenity, and Finland-inspired joy.

Hyvää uutta vuotta, Happy New Year 2025!

About author


Carita Harju

Carita Harju is a Finnish sauna experience expert and marketing professional whose mission is to share the Finnish sauna’s positive health and wellness benefits with the world. She is the founder and executive director of Sauna from Finland, which represents an international network of more than 200 sauna industry companies. The organization’s mission is to create the world’s best sauna experiences, and Harju loves her work, because it allows her to advance an idea that she is personally so passionate about. Carita Harju has always enjoyed saunas, goes to sauna with her family nearly every day and gives talks all over the world.

Her first illustrated guide, Sauna - The Way of Finnish Life (2016), has been published in four languages, including German and Chinese. Her second book, Soul of the Sauna, was released in Japanese and Hungarian, while her newest title Saunafulness (Hyvää oloa saunomalla, 2021) has been sold to 4 territories.

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Frank Martela

Professor Frank Martela, PhD, is a philosopher and researcher of psychology specializing in the question of meaning in life. His articles have appeared in Scientific American Mind, Harvard Business Review, Salon, CNBC and his work has been featured on Quartz and on the BBC. His research has been published extensively in numerous academic journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Journal of Personality, Metaphilosophy, Southern Journal of Philosophy, and Academy of Management Review. He has spoken to more than one hundred audiences worldwide, including invited lectures in universities on five continents, including Stanford University and Harvard University. He’s been interviewed by the New York Times, Discover Magazine, New Scientist, Vice News, Fox News,and Monocle Observer among others. He is Assistant Professor at Aalto University in Finland. Outside of work, Frank is a father to three lovely children, an amateur-level soccer player, with an occasional skiing trip in the winters. He is made in Green Bay, so Packers holds a special place in his heart.

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Katja Pantzar

Katja Pantzar –  Katja Pantzar is a Helsinki-based writer and journalist who swims in the Baltic Sea year round. Raised in Canada, with stints in New Zealand and England, she is the author of The Finnish Way (Penguin Random House/2018), a bestselling non-fiction book about Nordic well-being, winter swimming and sisu (resilience) that has been translated into 24 languages. Her second book on sisu, Everyday Sisu: Tapping into Finnish Fortitude for a Happier, More Resilient Life (Penguin Random House/2022) explores through expert interviews and research-based information how we can better support our mental and physical health while taking care of each other and our planet. Everyday Sisu has also been published in Japanese, Thai, and Indonesian. Pantzar’s work has been widely covered around the world in media ranging from Le Figaro, Le Monde, and El Paísto Vogue the Washington Post and the New York Review of Books. . She is also the author of three mini-guides to the Finnish capital, including 100 things to do in Helsinki (Siltala/2024).

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