When I first started understanding Finnish around me, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Seemingly normal signs were instantly transformed into the most fascinating text! Why? Because I’d learned each word, each grammatical construction over time and suddenly, a sentence understood meant the coming together of all those little pieces. How miraculous is that?! And yet, this is the power that lies in each of us… Today I pick apart our longest sentence yet.

What do giving orders, falling in love and freedom all have in common? You can find all three in the two-word ad I deconstruct in today’s video! Join me for this 3 min quickie…

In this video, we find out what ‘Vapauden hinta’ means and the Finnish grammar behind these two little words! I love how the Finnish language packs details into concise words. Once you start to see this…

After living in Finland for over 8 years, I notice seasonal differences: like the annual asparagus weeks that take over restaurants in the spring! In today’s video, I deconstruct two words that pack a lot of grammatical punch. It’s a fun one!

I love spotting patterns… when I started learning Finnish, I noticed that there were lots of patterns in the language that repeat themselves. You learn one word and start to notice that its ending is used over and over. What’s that about? I explain how this works in the Finnish sentence I deconstruct today.

Long words can seem intimidating, it’s true. But you know what’s really cool? Once you start to look at their roots and compare them with the words you already know, you might be surprised to see some overlap. This happened with the long, compound word that’s the subject of episode 3 of the Finnish Explained video series!

In episode 2 of Finnish Explained, we uncover a few nuggets of wisdom from a sign that graces many construction sites.

I love breaking down and demystifying Finnish so I’ve used that as inspiration for this first season. In each video, I’ll take a short sign written in Finnish and explain, not only what it means, but also the grammar behind it. Sometimes there are nuances, subtleties and other fun stuff. Overall, Finnish has always been a wonder… and learning the language has left me with a lasting impression of awe about how we express ourselves, communicate and what language shows us about our perception of the world.

I’m very happy to announce the start of a new YouTube series I’ve been working on called: Finnish Explained!

Compassion allows us to take things lightly. It leaves room for play and allowing our natural abilities to bubble up to the surface effortlessly. We are wired for language, after all! Once you recognize the importance of compassion (hey, awareness is half the battle) then it’s a matter of actually putting it to use when you need it. But how? What can we do when we recognize we need more self-compassion in the moment? I’ve boiled it down to 3 ingredients:

[video] I believe self-compassion is often the missing ingredient in getting… just about anything we want. When we go after something, we tend to ignore our side of things: our feelings, thoughts, beliefs, experiences, expectations, considerations, the bigger picture, etc. – it’s insanely ironic. We’ve been so well trained to consider everyone and everything else, but who’s standing up for you? Who’s in your corner, empathizing with the entire picture of being you? No one. Not-a-single-person can really witness what it is to be you, in all your entire-ness.