Thank you for joining us for episode 414 of Live Happy Now.

We've been talking about Finland being the world's happiest country for several years,

but this week we're getting an insider's view on why it's so happy.

I'm your host, Paula Phelps, and this week I am sitting down with Heli Mende of Visit Finland.

She talks about how the country is embracing being named the happiest country in the world

for six years in a row.

That designation has inspired them to offer a happiness masterclass and also has helped Finns realize and appreciate some of the things they had taken for granted.

Helly talks to us about happiness Finland style, including the value of connecting with nature

and, importantly, the role that saunas play in the country's overall well-being.

Let's have a listen.

Heli, thank you for joining me on Live Happy Now.

Thank you for having me.

I'm so excited to talk to you because we at Live Happy have been talking about Finland for years and just honestly from the beginning of

our existence. And so it's so wonderful to be able to talk to someone about happiness and Finland.

Why don't you start by telling us what your position is? Yes, of course. So I'm working for Visit

Finland, which is the National Tourist Board of Finland, and I'm based in New York City. So my

responsibility is to promote Finland here in North America. Well, I think the happiest country in the

world makes it a lot easier to promote it. Yeah, it certainly has been helping my job. So every

year we have been waiting to see the ranking. And now for six years, we have been the happiest

country in the world. So it is quite amazing, I have to say. You know, it's so interesting because

at Live Happy when we talk about happiness, we're not talking about that euphoric, jump up and down kind of happiness.

We're talking about overall well-being and a content lifestyle.

...