{"id":29194,"date":"2026-10-24T11:14:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T11:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/?p=29194"},"modified":"2026-10-24T11:24:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T11:24:37","slug":"ive-spent-years-tracking-nordic-wellness-trends-and-this-low-impact-finnish-ritual-is-about-to-take-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/?p=29194","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve Spent Years Tracking Nordic Wellness Trends, and This Low-Impact Finnish Ritual Is About to Take Over"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>From sustainability-focused mindsets and a return to simplicity to curb undue stress, to government-sanctioned free access to nature (think Allemansr\u00e4tten in Sweden), which fosters symbiotic relationships with the outdoors, and overall accessibility for everyone because they are egalitarian countries. The Nordic communal goal is a focus on holistic well-being that can be sustained over the long term by every individual, from professional athletes in their prime to elders.<\/p>\n<p>The latest Nordic wellness trend, however, has rather practical origins. Ever wonder how cross-country skiers train when there\u2019s no snow? Introducing Nordic walking; not to be confused with hiking with trekking poles.<\/p>\n<p>According to its governing body, the\u00a0International Nordic Walking Federation (INWA), which was founded in 2000, Nordic walking is now practised in over 40 countries for health, fitness, recreation, social connection, and competitive sport. As early as the 1930s, competitive cross-country skiers used poles with running shoes for summer training. But it was physical education (PE) teacher Leena J\u00e4\u00e4skel\u00e4inen who brought the concept to the general public in 1966, making it the first documented use of ski poles outside competitive training.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started Nordic walking in 1998 because it is a fun, social and efficient form of physical activity,\u201d shares Aki Karihtala, president of INWA. \u201cIt takes people back to nature.\u201d At the time, he headed the Sports division at Finnish Sporting goods company Exel, the world&#8217;s largest cross-country ski pole manufacturer.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"BlockquoteEmbedWrapper-sc-eRToSp btsdDf composition body blockquote blockquote-embed with-border\" data-testid=\"blockquote-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"BlockquoteEmbedContent-hsbhfe dVhlvw content content blockquote-embed__content\">\n<aside aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"PullQuoteEmbedWrapper-sc-efqGLV dYCNhz composition body pullquote bordered\" data-testid=\"pullquote-embed\">\n<p><span>It&#8217;s about making everyday life a wellness regimen and creating your own 365-day retreat<\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It was Karihtala himself, alongside his team at Exel, who coined the term Nordic walking, which has been widely adopted \u201cregardless of age, religion and culture, because there are no boundaries,\u201d notes Karihtala, highlighting its accessibility. In 1997, Exel designed the first Nordic Walker\u00ae poles specifically for the activity. A year later, over 500,000 Finns, in a population of roughly five million at the time, had tried Nordic walking. It&#8217;s said to be especially effective because it engages the whole body while reducing pressure on your knees with ergonomically designed poles. The federation developed its progressive INWA 10 Step Method\u2122 to teach people the simple technique safely and effectively.<\/p>\n<p>Finnish trend and branding expert Katja Presnal is a newer convert to Nordic walking. \u201cI\u2019ve studied trends for over 20 years,\u201d shares Presnal. Her personal lifestyle digital platform was read by over 100,000 monthly readers and millions annually. The irony of Nordic wellness being the hottest lifestyle trend at the moment isn\u2019t lost on Presnal, who grew up in the Turku archipelago surrounded by bays and lush forests. According to Presnal, after two decades of travelling, she stopped \u201cpreaching trends\u201d and started \u201cwalking the walk\u201d by purchasing a 100-year-old former dairy tucked away in the Finnish countryside for a slower, more intentional way of life surrounded by nature, lakes, and walking trails.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From sustainability-focused mindsets and a return to simplicity to curb undue stress, to government-sanctioned free access to nature (think Allemansr\u00e4tten<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.cntraveler.com\/photos\/6ada7c3189f44509ea5a64f0\/16:9\/w_1280,c_limit\/nordic%20walking-GettyImages-1185623201.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[138,131,137,135,139,132,134,50,136,133],"class_list":["post-29194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destination-guides","tag-finnish","tag-ive","tag-lowimpact","tag-nordic","tag-ritual","tag-spent","tag-tracking","tag-trends","tag-wellness","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29194"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29196,"href":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29194\/revisions\/29196"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wayfarewise.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}