Sound walks have gradually emerged through collaboration with clients. My inspiration came from the Japanese practice of forest bathing, shinrin-yoku, which I initially practiced on my own. Shinrin-yoku refers to walking in the forest for well-being, where one can intuitively use all their senses. Over time, I noticed that I would hum while walking, and certain places seemed to invite me to try using my voice. Anyone who has heard Ronja Ryövärintytär’s spring shout echo through the valleys will surely understand why my own spring repertoire has always included calls and calls to others.

The walks have become enriching experiences for both the guide, individual clients, and groups. Along the way, the quiet of the earth has found beauty in its echo, a voice once tightened by performance has opened up in resonance, and the anxious have found their inner courage. By lantern light, neighbors have met each other, the solitary have found sparks of companionship, and even a familiar forest has opened up new paths for its wanderers.

During workplace wellness days, I initially often led the sound walk separately from coaching. After lecture and workshop sessions, we would head into the forest to relax. However, these walks more and more often turned into discussions and sharing of experiences, and today, we often combine workshops and walks into one complete experience. During this time, team members can test their own boundaries, bring up things that arise in their minds, engage in conversation, and at the same time refresh and relax. All in the peace of nature.

Finding the Right Terrain

Last spring, I led a sound walk in the beautiful surroundings of Villa Elfvik by the shores of Laajalahti in Helsinki. The evening was perfect, and there were about ten cautiously excited participants. As is often the case on these walks, we first discussed the sound environment and its effect on our being. A participant from the city environment might be so used to the background noise of traffic that they don’t even notice its impact on themselves until the walk begins. A client who lived near the busy Länsiväylä highway remarked that the cars didn’t bother them, except perhaps after spending a weekend in the countryside, when their ears had grown accustomed to the silence.

We started the walk by opening up our senses and gradually focused on listening. The participants were almost frustrated when, at first, the seemingly quiet forest only revealed the noise of the motorway and the sounds of planes flying overhead. Fortunately, with careful listening, the rustle of leaves and the song of a small bird could also be distinguished. The Laajalahti route is situated between two busy roads, the Turku motorway and Kehä I. The steady, strong hum of these roads covers only the natural sounds. The same challenge exists at the Vanhankaupunginlahti in Helsinki and the Lapinlahti green areas. Fortunately, even in urban environments, one can still find suitable spots for sound walks, as long as you move away from the main roads.

The ideal terrain for a sound walk is a wide, undulating green area, where both forest and water elements are present. A clear, babbling stream or a quiet lake or sea bay offers the walker an opportunity to experiment with their voice in a changing environment. Our country is full of such oases, from park areas to wilderness and nature reserves.

“In the cattle call, there was a unique song, all the callers sang the same song, and the cattle came.”

Of course, you can breathe and hum in your own garden or under your favorite tree in an apartment building yard. If you want to try calls and live in a flat area where the terrain doesn’t provide echoing places, you can look for a route by calm waters and test the carrying power of your voice there. The most important thing is to find a place where you feel safe and where you sense nature is present with you.

On a Forest Sound Walk

A good forest sound walk route is always tailored to the participant’s abilities and skills. Someone in need of more intense exercise can plan a longer route with occasional stops to quiet down, while a more relaxed walker might choose a shorter section and slow the pace from the very start. Those with wheelchairs or strollers will need a wider path than other walkers. The common thread in all these walks—and this is where sound walks differ from most hiking trips—is that the goal is not to reach a destination or a stage but to be on the journey and enjoy the process of walking.

On a sound walk, listening to oneself and to nature is even more emphasized. Unlike many mindfulness practices, we gradually learn to identify environments that suit us and feel comfortable. We walk towards our own well-being.

The route can be planned in advance with possible stopping points, but when moving in nature, the main focus is on living in the moment, grasping the present. Nature calls us to improvise.

I enjoy walking in the nearby mountains of Munich during my teaching periods in Germany, and I am always amazed every time I find a bench by even the smallest path, in a spot where I feel like stopping for a moment to reflect. It’s almost as if it’s “by request.” These little breathing spots are much more common than actual constructed rest areas.

When a pleasant-feeling stone, tree trunk, or bench appears on your route, sit down. Sit quietly and let the landscape affect you. Nature often begins to open up only after a few minutes of staying in one place. Gradually, you may notice a waterfowl on the opposite shore of the bay or a squirrel on the edge of a branch. What is that beetle that is traveling along the blade of grass? Let your thoughts and observations come and go, and let nature and yourself just be as you are.

Slowly, you can begin to follow the flow of your breath in and out: breathe in, breathe out. After a few minutes, let the humming come, first as a quiet hum with each exhalation, small fragments with lips closed… mmmmm…. Feel how the sound vibrates in your body, how the vibrations move both your body and nature… Gradually, you can open your lips, let the song move through your body, use vowels… Let nature respond and support you. Continue the journey when it feels right.

What to Bring?

For a sound walk, you only need sturdy shoes and outdoor clothing suitable for the weather. Since the pace of the sound walks is relaxed, it’s a good idea to bring slightly warmer clothing than you would for a typical outdoor walk. In spring and autumn, rubber boots are excellent footwear for the forest.

At least one person in the group should have a first aid kit and a fully charged phone before the walk. Bring snacks and drinking water, as well as a compass and a reliable, sufficiently detailed map, such as an outdoor map. If you walk alone in nature, always tell a friend your route in advance.

In areas where ticks are common, it’s a good idea to prevent ticks from getting on your skin by wearing long pants with the cuffs inside your socks.

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Beginner’s Mind

It’s easy to fall into the trap of wanting to relive a pleasant moment we’ve experienced, thinking, “That was so wonderful, let’s go back to the same place and do the same thing again!” But in nature, as in life, everything is in constant movement, a continuous flow of change. What once was, is new the next time. We never return to a situation exactly as we were before. The people we meet and the things we encounter change us, just as nature changes from moment to moment. If we try to recreate what we previously experienced, we lose the opportunity to seize the present moment and its inherent possibilities. We miss out on the chance to play, to get lost in dreaming. So let us approach nature with fresh eyes, from a clean slate, without expectations.

You can try this by stopping for a moment in a place that feels nice. Close your eyes and breathe, let nature be and affect you around you. Stay like this for a while, and when it feels right to continue, take a few deep breaths with your eyes still closed. With your final exhalation, release the air from your lungs, and with the next inhalation, open your eyes and look around as if you were seeing everything for the first time in your life. Breathe in the scenery you see, every new tree, the sparrow, the rustling of leaves, and the breeze. The wonder of life here and now.

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Sound Walks as a Support for Workplace Well-being

Sound walks are an excellent way to support a work community and address the challenges within the group. While walking in the forest, each participant has the opportunity to reconnect with themselves and their own feelings, to find and strengthen their voice. In nature, there is space to discuss and address the thoughts that arise from experiences in group conversations.

When we learn to identify environments that suit us and dare to listen to our own needs, we also learn to respect the ways of working that suit others. Listening to our own needs and accommodating them within a work community is not always simple, especially in educational and caregiving professions. When attention is directed to children, students, or clients, it’s easy to forget to support the well-being of the staff. On a sound walk, the staff has the opportunity to gain support, strength, and inspiration for their own work, and if they wish, even develop their own versions of humming and calling to use in their work.

When singing in the forest with daycare staff, a discussion arose about the experience of personal feelings within the group and the need to claim personal space during the workday. It turned out that the only place for relaxation was the daycare bathroom. It hadn’t occurred to them that children, too, could benefit from having personal space when the instructors are feeling better. In the following weeks, after the sound walk, the staff held a workday and organized their own break room.