Slowing Down Through the Senses: Reflections from the Sun & Light Retreat

There are many ways to travel.

We believe that one of the best ways is to get to know a place slowly.

Not by rushing from one landmark to the next, but by taking the time to experience its character, nature, culture, food, traditions, and the people who bring them to life.

That idea has been at the heart of Five Senses Retreats from the beginning, and it came together once again during our Sun & Light Retreat.

From 31 July to 2 August, we explored Finnish nature and culture through the five senses. The purpose was never to fill a weekend with busy activities. Each experience was an invitation to pay closer attention to our surroundings.

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Experiencing Finland, rather than simply seeing it

We began in the forest.

There was time to walk slowly, notice what was growing around us, listen to the changing sounds of the landscape, and become more aware of things that are easy to pass by when we are moving quickly.

Later, we encountered Finnish culture through music. Guests learned to play the kantele, not as spectators at a performance, but by holding the instrument themselves, listening closely, feeling the vibrations of the strings, and creating harmony together.

Arja Kastinen taught the retreat group how to play the kantele.

Light became another way of paying attention. Using plants and other natural forms, we created sun prints on paper and cotton tote bags that captured shapes, shadows, and small details that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.

We sun printed various colors and shapes on paper and cotton tote bags under the Finnish summer sun.

And then there was food.

We found lots of blueberries in the forest.

We spent time foraging for wild berries and mushrooms before tasting some of what we had gathered right there in the forest, with a little cooking over a camping stove. The experience connected the landscape to taste in a very immediate way.

After foraging mushrooms, we had a delightful meal in the forest with our harvest.

Finnish sauna traditions brought many of these elements together: heat, water, scent, touch, herbs, silence, conversation, and, for those willing, the shock of the cold lake.

We enjoyed a relaxing lakeside sauna with herbs and handmade vihta, a traditional Finnish sauna whish made of fresh birch twigs.

None of these activities was the goal in itself. They were different ways of experiencing a place more fully.

What happens when we slow down?

One of the ideas behind Five Senses Retreats is that our senses offer a simple way back into the present moment.

We notice the smell of the forest after rain. The texture of something made by hand. The sound of an unfamiliar instrument. The warmth of a sauna followed by cold water. The taste of something gathered only a few hours earlier.

These may seem like small things, but they change how we experience a place.

Instead of simply observing, we begin participating.

And when we slow down enough to notice what is around us, we often begin to notice something within ourselves too.

That space matters.

Where Five Senses Retreats is heading

The Sun & Light Retreat was also another step toward the kind of experiences we want Five Senses Retreats to create more broadly.

The original retreats remain an important part of the idea, but the concept is growing beyond a single retreat format.

At its core, Five Senses Retreats is about creating restorative experiences through nature, culture, and the senses. That can take many forms:

• A private group spending a day or weekend together in Finland.

• A company stepping outside its normal working rhythm for an offsite focused on wellbeing, connection, and shared experience.

• A short cultural workshop built around food, craft, music, or another local tradition.

And increasingly, it can also mean traveling somewhere new (e.g., Italy, Korea, Portugal, Estonia, etc.).

The same philosophy that shaped our retreats in Finland can guide the way we experience other places and cultures: time with local artisans, opportunities to actually learn with our hands and senses; and enough space to actually absorb where we are.

Rather than trying to see everything, the question becomes: How can we experience this place deeply?

That is the direction in which Five Senses Retreats is evolving.

Different ways to experience Five Senses Retreats

Future experiences will not all look like the Sun & Light Retreat.

Some may last a few hours. Others may unfold over several days. Some will stay close to Finnish nature, while others will take small groups farther afield.

What connects them is the approach.

Nature is not simply scenery.

Culture is not simply something to observe.

Food is not simply something to consume.

And travel does not have to be a race through a list of things we are supposed to see.

Each can become a way of connecting more deeply with a place, with other people, and sometimes with ourselves.

That is the kind of experience we want to keep creating, and we hope that you will join us soon.

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