Sisu Lab

In the spirit of the season, here's a true gift from Aalto University in Finland in the form of an introduction to a framework called systems intelligence (SI). While the name might feel a even a bit cerebral, this work has deeply changed my personal overlook on life and relationships some ten years ago. It's also the practice to which I root my sisu to raise it from only a quality of surviving hardship to an expression of leadership with a hope of creating something of higher good around us....

By now researchers have made wonderful strides in mapping the mental and physiological side of human capacity. We understand how muscles grow and endure, how fatigue plays into our vitality, and we also have a plethora of concepts (such as resilience, perseverance, mental toughness, grit and so on) to help us describe the curious landscape of what makes humans endure. What we know less about is the life energy behind this enduring and persevering that becomes visible usually only when we are ...

Sisu speaks of the extra reserves within individuals everywhere to endure challenges and take action against slim odds. However, while sisu denotes extraordinary power to overcome the extraordinary and do the extraordinary, it can also end up creating extraordinary problems. This would most likely happen with mindless sisu that is out of balance, is done at all cost, and happens usually when we are out of touch with our blind spots.The possible negative outcomes of unbalanced or hard sisu inc...

Welcome to a new episode in which we muse on how to deal with life's headwinds - and how to do it with less damage and more grace. Take aways from ultra running that apply to everyday life (thanks, fellow adventurer & runner Annastiina Hintsa) and a note on deep-seated humility, as well as making our awareness and body our allies in the process.For this episode, finally after years of procrastination (not as bad as the Ironman which took 16 years to conquer) I learned to do sound editing ...

Dear sisu pilgrim, I hope you are well and held by all the courage ands compassion that makes up your unique you. This episode is a slowing down to feel into...grief; a recognition of that something gentle and sometimes heavy within us, buried deep into the cellular wombs of our experiences and too often bypassed by constant doing and going. I share some of my favourite poems and introduce the concept of "edge emotions" by Drs. Kaisu Mälkki and Larry Green.For those in the woods right now: lo...

This is a 23 minute calm and guided meditation to help you relax and calm your nervous system, connect to your breath, and set an intention. There is no background music or sounds and there is an additional 45 seconds for silence after the session ends, so that you can integrate back slowly. No intro or outdo in this episode for that reason either to not startle your nervous system when it is relaxed.In tough times, your parasympathetic nervous system is an ally you want to turn to. Meditatio...

Sisu is an interconnected matter. Rarely is your sisu only your sisu or my sisu solely my sisu. One of the main findings of the ultra run field work portion of my PhD on sisu is the idea of sisu that exists, and is born from, the space in-between you and I. This episode is about how we inspire strength and fortitude in each other. Furthermore, our own sisu can be inspired by the strength we see and witness in others and their actions, and this impact can extend to drawing strength from ...

The sphere of life force is what I call the space within which we operate before hitting the sisu threshold; our outer boundary of inner strength. Ideally, you want this area to be as wide as possible. This episode describes how to expand it through everyday life and how I use it in daily life and to prepare for challenges during extra long ultra runs.Show notes:"if you know the way broadly you will see it in all things" - Miyamoto Musashi (Japanese samurai, 1584-1645). Book recommendat...

"The important thing is not your process. The important thing is your process for improving your process." (Ryan Todd). In this episode we start to dig into our stories of sisu (a practice introduced in the previous episode) to build our personal manual for navigating tough times. The key is to not continue to rely on sisu to appear randomly (which happens too because it is life force whose job is to keep you alive) or in ways that leave unnecessary damage its wake due to unwise over-extensio...

In this episode I share some of the background to the very early days of researching sisu, what the word means, and I present the idea of using the upcoming podcast series as a journey into your own sisu.If you wish, prepare by getting a special notebook (for ease of access and retrieval of the tools) dedicated to collecting material, stories, best practices and other notes relevant to you to get intimate with your own sisu: what it means, where have you displayed it, what stands in its way, ...

In this introductory episode of Sisu Lab, I briefly describe the Finnish construct sisu and invite you to take a walk with me to its higher expression as graceful strength that allows you to endure, excel, and even elevate through tough times. At the end I read a short excerpt from my upcoming book.Thanks for listening and stay tuned for a ride into the formidable fibres of human fortitude!Sisu is a reserve of inner strength but it's also a way for us to know ourselves and impact the world in...