Finnish nature offers activities year-round. In winter, we enjoy ice walks and river singing, in the spring we solo along with the streams, and when summer comes, we push the boats into the water and head to the lake to sing. In nature, one can sing in any season, the forest sings year-round.

Ice Song

Winter brings snow and soft silence. The snow absorbs sounds, and the landscape quiets into a white stillness. Life continues inside the trees, but outwardly the smells and sounds fade. It’s the perfect time to step out onto the ice to experiment with echo. If there’s a so-called gorge lake nearby, a lake with steep, rocky shores, you can hear your echo even in winter. The winter, undulating forest floor also responds to the wanderer’s calls and allows for testing calls.

Pause for a moment and listen by a winter stream. Breathe together with the rapids, let the roaring of the stream fill your body with its sound. After a moment of breathing, let your voice hum over the current. Let the water carry your melody, whether it’s an old familiar one or a new one. The song of the water with the crackle of the frost.

“One powerful experience was singing under the northern lights when they were truly bright on a cold winter night. From this experience, many songs and pieces were born.”

The Roar of Spring

When spring arrives, the melting waters start moving, and the forests fill with birdsong and the gurgling of streams, the warmth of the sun on tree trunks. The murmur of water is one of the most relaxing sounds in nature. On a sunny spring day, find a sturdy tree by the stream and lean back for a moment. Let your hand rest on your chest and feel your breath beneath it. Let the tree bear the weight of your back, the joys, and sorrows of the day. Let the gurgling of the stream soothe your mind and body. With each exhale, you can let your hum vibrate in your chest, the tree supporting your body. The sun warms your face. Welcome, spring!

Sit in your place in the boat. Feel your body balance as you rock gently, get comfortable with your pelvis relaxed, the sensation beneath your bottom. Then breathe slowly and place your hand on your chest. Try humming and feel the resonance of your body and nature, mmm… Then try long sounds, iiiii-uuu… aaa-oooo-aaa… lee-ooo… lee-aaa… let the water carry your voice, the boat supporting your body.

Singing Canoe

Singing on the water has a long tradition in our country. People have sung in boats on long trips to church, gathered around midsummer bonfires to sing folk songs, and often sung just for fun while rowing. Researchers of ancient artifacts have also noticed that in particularly echoing places, marks or paintings were made on the rocks thousands of years ago.

On the water, the voice travels on a calm evening across the surface of the water and echoes back from the shores’ forests and rocks. Nature singers get to adapt to a new element—water—instead of standing or sitting on land, so the first few moments are spent simply getting used to the element, the boat, canoe, kayak, or even a packraft or raft.

Singing on the water invites experimentation with the voice and its projection. A moment on the water provides a wonderful opportunity to relax alone or with friends. If each member of the group has their own canoe or boat, it allows for singing at one’s own pace, from one’s own spot, using one’s own voice, but still together with the group.

Call Song

Once everyone feels comfortable with humming in the boat, you can try a call song. One person from the group starts by calling without words: oo-aaaa-a-aaa… and the group responds, each from their own boat: oo-aaaa-a-aaa… You can take turns and come up with words for the calls. Each person calls the group from their spot, first closer together and gradually moving farther apart. Soon, the whole lake will resound as the singers call and respond across the shores.

“In the forest, while rowing, singing feels good.”

Lantern Sound Walk

Dusk falls over the forest. The night sky and its endless stories open up… On dark, winter nights, lanterns are lit, and we head out into nature. Walking in the darkening forest is a true experience, the lantern’s light brings the walkers closer to each other, and at the same time, the dusk opens the senses to hear the forest sounds in a way different from daylight.

The route for a lantern sound walk is shorter than the routes for daylight walks. Along the way, you stop to listen, breathe, and lean against trees. You hum alone and together. The lantern sound walk is truly an experience. Together.

For a lantern sound walk, you can go to a park or a forest. The main thing is that the location is far enough from the main roads so that the noise of traffic doesn’t cover the natural sounds.

Celebration Time

Christmas is the time for shared songs and familiar melodies. The year comes to an end, and the moments experienced throughout the year are woven together. We recall familiar songs, enjoy moments by candlelight, and bring the scents of the forest into the home. We open our senses to the scent of spruce, cinnamon, ginger, straw, and the memories they bring with them.

Breathe in. Feel the scent of the needles, the trees, and the fruits. Let the scents lead you into the forests and the past world. No other sense is as direct as smell. No other sense is as ancient. Smell bypasses the brain’s processing centers that handle other sensory experiences. The Christmas scents guide us to wordless memories: childhood celebrations, gingerbread baking, the glow of candles on snowy evenings. The scent of spruce also reminds us of the richness of the forests. Human life would be impossible without forests. They give us life and send pure water into rivers and fields. Forests have, from the very beginning, provided us with food, warmth, and shelter. Everything we need. Christmas celebration is also a celebration of the forest.