A Page to Turn, A Place to Breathe: A Glimpse Into Five Senses Retreat

Are you curious what Five Senses Retreats is actually like? When you arrive at one of our retreats, the first thing we hand you isn't a Wi-Fi password—it’s a weight. Specifically, the weight of a printed retreat guide. In a world of infinite screens, we want you to feel the texture of real paper and the grain of a pencil. It’s an invitation to "un-record" your life for a few days.

Below, we’ve pulled a reflection from our upcoming Spring Renewal (April 24–27) guide. We invite you to treat the next five minutes as your own mini-retreat in the Finnish woods. If you can print this rather than read from your screen, even better.

If you'd like to get the full experience, read more about our The Sun & Light, which takes place from July 31st to August 2 again at Haltia Lake Lodge.

Now, take a deep breath. Loosen your body. Shall we dive in together?

Self-Guided Forest Bathing: “Metsäkylpy”

Primary Senses: Sound (silence) and Touch (ground contact/textures).

Preparing the Space

To prepare for this session, please consider leaving your phone in your room or, at the very least, turning it off and placing it where it is not immediately accessible. You may feel the urge to document or share the experience on social media, but allow it to remain unrecorded for now.

Start by picking one exercise from below. There is no pressure to perform. It’s not a competition to see who can do the most, and there’s no right way to do any of them. You can even skip this entirely if you wish and take a nap instead if that’s what you need.

This time and space is for you.

Preface

In the Kalevala, Finland’s national epic drawn from oral folk poetry, nature is not a backdrop but a foundation. Through the voice of an ancient singer, the world and its forests are brought into being, and human presence is shown as something that moves within them instead of above them.

If you wish, spend a moment reading the following excerpts from the Kalevala as a way of arriving into this time of reflection. There is no need to analyze or interpret the text. Let the images, rhythm, and language wash over you and gently prepare you for the forest bathing exercise that follows.

Remember, this time and space is for you. You are free to read slowly, simply sit with what resonates, or skip ahead. Do what serves you.

The Kalevala, Runes I–II (excerpts)

There was neither moon nor sunlight,

There was neither sky nor firmament;

Only waters dark and boundless,

Only winds and rolling billows,

Driven onward without ceasing,

In the gloomy realms of Northland.

Lonely drifted there the daughter

Of the Ether, virgin maiden;

Long she floated on the waters,

Restless, weary of her roaming,

Waiting for the coming daylight,

Waiting for the dawn of heaven.

At the time a teal-duck, flying,

Lighted on her knee for resting,

Laid her eggs upon the knee-cap,

Six the golden eggs she laid there,

Then a seventh, egg of iron.

From the broken egg’s lower fragment

Rose the earth beneath her feet,

From the broken egg’s upper fragment

Rose the heavens high above her;

From the yolk the sun was fashioned,

From the white the moon was fashioned,

From the motley shell the starlights,

From the darker bits the cloudlets.

Then the aged Väinämöinen,

The eternal wisdom-singer,

Went upon his journey singing,

Through the dreary waste and desert,

Till he reached the fertile lowlands,

Till he reached the verdant valleys.

There he sowed the fields with barley,

Sowed the earth with seed and acorn,

Planted forests on the plains,

On the hills he sowed the pine-tree,

On the knolls he planted fir-trees,

In the dales he planted birches,

Filled the land with all vegetation.

Thus the plains were clothed in beauty,

Thus the barren lands grew fertile,

Thus the wilderness was ended,

Thus the earth was clothed in verdure.

But the oak-tree was not planted,

Nor the acorn sown in earth yet;

Still the oak awaited planting,

Still the acorn was not sprouted.

Slowly walked the aged singer,

Carefully upon the lowlands,

Oft he paused to gaze around him,

Oft he lingered on the hill-tops,

Looking o’er the new-made forests,

Listening to winds and waters.

— The Kalevala, Runes I–II (excerpts)

translated by John Martin Crawford (1888)

Exercise 1:

Sitting in Silence

Aikeneminen on kultaa, puhuminen hopeaa.

Silence is gold, speech silver.

Finnish Proverb

Begin by sitting in silence.

In Finland, time spent in the forest is not treated as an activity to complete, but as a return to a natural rhythm. There is nothing to accomplish here. Allow this time to unfold slowly.

Notice how it feels to have no music playing flowing out of your earbuds and nothing to click, scroll, or respond to. You may feel calm, restless, or distracted and all of these responses are normal. Simply observe without trying to change

anything.

Sit for as long as you like. Breathe deeply and calmly.

Come back here for more reflections that you can do on your own. We will be sharing more excerpts from the guide from the upcoming spring retreat.