Sahala Estate, Rautalampi

UPGRADED OFFSITE Biohacker Summit Helsinki 2019

I didn't expect to go for upgraded offsite; however, Teemu invited us to this fantastic offsite trip a day before! My wife and I were not prepared for Lapland weather, but thanks to many bits of help, we got all the gears we need and made it. Even though most of our time in Finland was in Helsinki, just one night experience in Lapland was beyond the above and an unforgettable experience in my life. I am so glad to write this blog as I try to remember what we did there.

Biohacker Summit Helsinki offered an exclusive wild adventure to the north to visit the legendary Sahala Estate. This epic biohacking retreat taught me everything I need to know about survival tactics, "Holy Smoke" smoke sauna, ice swimming, and other true and tested methods for longevity and increased performance.
This trip literally tested my limits and provided stress relief in nature I have never experienced before in the Lapland area where Santa Claus is from.

DAY1

The official after-party took place on the white sand beach in the mall of Tripla last night. We didn’t go crazy, so the only concern we had was lack of sleep. Other guys looked exhausted because of super active party activities such as dancing, beach valley balls, and binge drink last night. We all gathered at Helsinki Railway Station and took a train to Suonenjoki. It took about 4 hours to get there. On the way to Suonenjoki, we took a break and found an old steam locomotive.

After we go off at Suonenjoki station, we took a bus to the Sahara Estate area. The bus dropped us off in the middle of the forest, and we all took a walk to the place we stay for the night. By the time a guide showed up to pick us up, I had no idea about who the host was. The host was Vessi, CEO of Salli chair. He owns the property and invited us for an upgraded offsite event. Vessi showed us around in the forest and taught us how to “feel“ nature. We gathered and made a circle warm ourselves at the fire in the forest.

Sahala Estate is an active, modern, and innovative country seat. The size of the Sahara Estate is 1100 hectares; forest 900 hectares, fields 68 hectares, own water areas approx. 54 hectares and other areas approx. 90 hectares. Sahala is situated 3 kilometers north from Rautalampi town center, by the road which leads up to Tervo, in the halfway between two towns: Kuopio and Jyväskylä.

The Sahala Estate was occupied by Russians over the war period (1810) and was taken over by the Jalkanen family in 1873. Sir Jalkanen the 4th, Vessi (imagine one of the fittest 69-year-olds you have ever seen, a bald white Viking with 36 kg stone kettlebells in both hands sitting on a saddle ready to protect his farm from invaders) was hosting and immersing the crew into long lost archaic Finnish biohacking techniques. He served homemade/handpicked wild berry smoothie and raw milk hot chocolate. Sounds like Weston A price diet, right? When I am in a foreign country, I try to leave all of my egos and respect the local culture and lifestyle as much as possible. On the way to Vessi's house/ buildings. I had been fasting since last night, so smoothies and hot chocolate satisfied my appetite a little bit, but I couldn't wait to eat dinner! Blueberry is Vessi's primary superfood because he told me that it is the most healthy wild berry you can find. It's the same as we have the Alaska wild blueberry, which you respect a lot in the US.

Stripped Down With Strangers for Finnish Sauna Treatment

First of all, sorry for no picture because it was a very sensitive situation. Once we stopped by the house we stayed and dropped our stuff there, we all went to Smoke Sauna place for sauna treatment program by Vessi. In Finland, it is traditional to get butt naked in the sauna room. I know it is weird to stay in a sweltering place with male and female strangers/friends with no clothing. Of course, Finnish people understand foreign people hesitate to 

After we went to traditional Finish Smoke sauna and cold plunge at a lake (imagine wintertime in Finland!), my body was completely relaxed, and I felt strongly parasynthetic nervous system dominated state after sauna program. The healing power of the sauna has long been known for the Finnish people. Vessi offered us the most exciting and exotic smoke sauna program in a holistic way in Holy Smoke. A pellet heater heated the traditional sauna room, so the air is clean and, of course, hot! I had a seat at a higher level, so warm air come to the upper level, and I sweated a lot.

Vessi was happy to lecture about the health and social benefits of sauna. And I have learned and experienced three sauna treatments. One is a traditional Finnish dried birch whisk treatment, another one is peat moss ”muddy paste” treatment, and the last one is real hot/cold therapy. 

“Vihta” sauna whisks

Sauna whisk, called vihta in Finland, is a unique accessory. To many sauna bathers, it is a compulsory item. A whisk is a bunch of young tree twigs which are used to give a specialized message in a sauna. As an essential part of Finnish culture, gently slapping skin with this bundle of dried birch twigs stimulates circulation and gives off a fresh aroma. There are many types of whisks, but birch is most popular for relieving muscle pain, cleaning the skin, and promoting ventilation of the lungs. Vessie explained and immersed it first in lukewarm water for 20-25 minutes, then carefully loosened the netting and let the whisk sit in warm water for another 5-10 minutes. When I get slapped by sauna whisks, my skin pores opened up and sweated more than ever.

“Cold Therapy”

The Finnish sauna culture includes cooling off in between going into the sauna. Cold exposure results in many health benefits. Cold showers and ice swimming affect mood, improve stress tolerance, and relieve pain. As you see in the pictures above, Vessi wears no sleeve clothing and tries to expose himself to cold. The human sympathetic nervous system is activated in the cold and nerve endings release noradrenaline, which has been noticed to have a pain-relieving effect. Cold also affects the brain’s neurotransmitters that affect the mood. Most men, including myself, repeated smoke sauna and diving into the river near the sauna at least three times. It was a cold river, but my body was warmed enough from the smoke sauna, so it was a very mysterious experience. After repeated 3 times, I felt, “I am going to sleep like a baby tonight. “

“Turve” treatment

Peat (in Finnish ‘turve’) is a 100% natural product and contains no additives. It is drawn from underground where bioactive ingredients have been combined and formed a substance with acids and minerals. The therapeutic effects of peat are numerous. It is used for muscle relaxation, skin cleansing, an increase of metabolism, and body detox. In addition to all these effects, it is proven that peat is suitable for practically any type of skin as it has not allergenic effects. It was mixed with herbs and felt like chalky mud. After Vessi explains about peat treatment, we constantly rubbed on ourselves to smooth the peat into our skin and stayed in sauna for 20-30 minutes, as Vessi recommended. This is a completely anecdotal opinion, but I felt “detox“ more than ever and p, eat made me sweat a lot even though I already repeated hot and cold 3 times.

What does Vessi eat?

Vessi doesn't follow a special diet, but he shared his basic concept with me. He does smoothie with wild berries, soaked seeds, one banana, some plums, and about different kinds of superfoods. He has one glass of that in the morning a couple of hours after waking up, and then one in the afternoon. He doesn't eat red meat except for elk his team hunt in his property. Elk is not among the most commonly raised and consumed meats in the United States, but wild elk meat is considered a valuable source of protein with various beneficial nutrients.
His cafeteria provided fantastic meals based on Vessi's diet. He doesn't eat any grains except oats. Oats have been found to be the best by their fiber quality. He has his own organic oats flakes, what he gets from his farm in the property, and mainly eats enormous amounts of organic vegetables and sauerkraut, plus a bit of protein for lunch and dinner. The cafeteria served us traditional Finnish rye bread, so we experienced traditional Finnish food with health/biohacking conscious concept. I mean, if I prepare traditional Japanese food for biohackers, I would serve perfect Japanese rice with traditional preparation such as washing and soaking to get rid of anti-nutrients and boost bioavailability for people from biohacking community. I didn't care about gluten and just accepted this amazing plate with my full respect and ate two plates with dessert.

I did a crazy thing. Yes, I survived last night. Yes, I sleep outdoor with those who are looking for real experience in Finland last night. Wild camping in Finland is an experience everyone should have once in their lifetime. I had no clue about what everyone was talking at first after we ate dinner. Vessi offered sleeping outside as a wild adventure. So what did was that some folks, including myself, spent overnight in a Finnish tent, called” Savotta” and each of us added a piece of wood by turns per an hour to keep warm inside. That means that if we miss fire inside, we all die of cold temperatures. At every hour, someone kept eyes on fire and added a piece of wood every 20 minutes and woke up a teammate sleeping next to him/her. Fortunately, my turn was the last, so I got woken up at 6 am. I slept like a baby because of sauna treatment and a fantastic dinner that night.

All of us from the adventure group survived from last night and shared each experience and feeling from sleeping outdoor in Lapland. Gazing at fire reminded us of comfort that soothes our thoughts and eases our anxieties from a busy life. Axana, Vessi’s assistant, brought morning coffee for us, and yes, that was the best coffee I had ever had in my life in the middle of the forest of Lapland. After we exchange our own thoughts on the importance of nature, we walked back to the building for breakfast and briefing.

Everyone was looking at me because my appetite blew their mind, and a Japanese kid was eating tons of food for breakfast like a horse. I felt hot/cold sauna treatment last night burned a lot of calories; my body needed more food. (I came back to the U.S and still lost 3 pounds anyway).

After breakfast, we had a briefing and planed for biohacking experience in this program. Guess what? Teemu asked me to guide everyone’s morning workout, so I did a group martial arts session. Everyone told me that they liked the morning workout I provided. I was so glad to hear that!

It is not new news that exercise is a crucial factor in a healthy lifestyle. Morning exercise is precisely what to do every single day for a mind and body biohacking-boost that will last all day long! If you try to burn fat and boost productivity at the same time, it would be great to train your body’s ability to burn fat for energy and also lose weight, all without having to be on a full keto diet. We all got energized and ready for hiking in the forest.

This retreat was full of adventure! It started with hiking and end with hiking in nature. We are nomadic by nature, and the art of walking is part of our ancestral evolution. It is a natural mood enhancer, and Vessi took us his unique hiking course to explore the forest. Before you learned how to run, deadlift, CrossFit movement, or punch/kick a heavy bag, we learned to walk. After crawling, it is the first movement we acquired, so why not include it into our life. Taking a little time in the morning to walk can reconnect you with the body’s circadian rhythm, turn on your immune system, and even help regulate some relevant biomarkers like blood glucose. But most importantly, what I experienced here was speechless and extraordinary, such as fresh air, views, negative ions, and relaxed feeling from nature.

We came back to the building and prepared to go back to Helsinki. The last meal in the Sahara Estate was Scandinavian gratin and lots of vegetables. Once again, a Japanese kid still amazed everyone with his appetite. I ate up 2 plates. Love Finland!!

Anthony and I guided our morning workout together. I knew him through Onit Kyle Kingsbury Podcast, but haven’t met him in person. Anthony DiClementi is an author, a trainer, and a biohacker. Besides being one of the leading executive wellness coaches specializing in nutritional science and functional medicine that helps CEOs, professional athletes, and Hollywood celebrities, he aims to transform lives of men and women from all around the world who are willing to take their physical and mental performance to the next level.

This epic biohacking retreat gave me new insights on survival tactics, smoke sauna, ice swimming, and other real and tested methods for longevity and increased performance. It was once a lifetime experience where I had been immersed in nature with cutting-edge health science technologies, ancient healing techniques, and strengthening practices. Let me make a statement, Vessi! I am going to come back here soon!

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