Seven ways to embrace the darkness in Helsinki

Early autumn in Helsinki can be blissful. Orange, red and yellow foliage cover Helsinki’s beautiful parks and forests, painting the seaside and its little islands in bright colors. But, as weeks pass, the leaves fall, the days get shorter – and it starts to get dark. Truly, utterly dark. 

By the beginning of November the sun gets up around 7.40 in the morning, and sets around 4.30pm. By the end of the month we will have lost two more hours of daylight.  

The Helsinki weather in November is usually grey and misty. And if there’s no snowfall you’re in for more darkness. (A snowless) December is the darkest month of the year. 

But what is there to be found in the darkness? Is it possible that certain things shine even brighter in the dark? 

Icebreakers in the dark in Helsinki
Ari-Pekka Darth
Ice-swimming in Helsinki
Mika Ruusunen

Created

| 7 min read

Perhaps, instead of coping with darkness, we can embrace it. Considering darkness philosophically can help you discover its beauty. So, before you want to go and hibernate like the Moomins (until April, with stomachs full of pine needles), we recommend you think again. Invite darkness to be your friend and a whole new world can open for you.

1. Darkness allows imperfection, like a good friend

Surprisingly many Finns claim that they actually “get power” from the darkest winter months. And those include the ones who live in cities – like Helsinki – where snow is not as guaranteed as it is further North. Without snow and artificial light things can get pitch black. The darkness-lovers say that this is the key to their winter-time happiness: human faults seem less obvious in the darkness. There’s softness in darkness, and grace. 

“For me, the end of the year is the safest season. The dark time of the year also offers an opportunity to be more permissive. A good mindset for the end of the year is not to try to be perfectionists but rather imperfectionists!” 

One should not run from the darkness but instead accept it

– Author and translator Katriina Huttunen

2. Darkness protects the environment – and you

Darkness is easily misunderstood. It is often considered something scary and bad, but actually darkness is vital. Not just to animals, but to you. It maintains the natural circadian rhythm, so you know when it is night and when it is day. 

We need darkness! You need darkness. Indeed, according to Jari Lyytimäki, Senior Researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute, a more fundamental problem than darkness is the grey space between light and darkness. “There is quite a lot of bad lighting that is neither properly light nor properly dark. And in cities darkness is a dwindling resource. As the amount of artificial light increases, total darkness threatens to disappear from the world.”

So protect the darkness, and let it protect you. Find the darkest spots away from the lights (in Helsinki you can still do this!) and let the darkness embrace you without fear, as if you were back in the safety and softness of a womb – and breath. 

One of the best places near the city centre to find darkness is Helsinki’s oldest Cemetery in Hietaniemi. The peaceful surroundings are at their best during the long winter months. 

3. Darkness helps you attune with Earth’s cycles – and yourself 

You have probably noticed how in the darkness your sense of hearing sharpens. In the stillness of winter darkness it’s also easier to hear yourself. 

Listen to the subtle messages of your body – do you need rest? A hug? Something invigorating? Listen. Attune to yourself, the Earth and the natural cycles of rest and recharge. 

People need on average 6 to 9 hours of sleep a night, and if you want to sleep as well as possible, you need darkness. And sleep – oh yes sleep! – has many direct health benefits, for your blood pressure, your memory, your moods. 

So, embrace this perfect time to rest. Picture the bulbs of tulips in the darkness, under the ground, still and silent, preparing for spring, gathering the strength necessary to pierce through the ground again. Hibernate a little. Perhaps not all the way to April, like the Moomins, but enough. 

To really attune with the Earth and its natural cycles, celebrate the days that mark the going and coming of light: the Autumn Equinox, the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox! Embrace the darkness, salute the sun!

”In the dark, one must also think about coping with everyday life. Winter is a time when we work actively, although we should rather slow down when the darkness arrives. We should slacken the pace and think about whether we could do less.” 

– Sociologist Salla Tuomivaara

4. Darkness comes with gifts!

Really? Yes, really. 

Sauna! Sauna is always great. But never ever does it feel as GREAT, as in the darkness, with the fire burning, the quiet hissing sounds of löyly, and the warmth that caresses and surrounds you reminding that such a thing exists: warmth.

Avanto! It is precisely during the dark season that waters finally get cold enough for starting ice-swimming. Combine it with sauna, or not, avanto (as we call the hole in the ice made for swimming), is perhaps the most invigorating, most refreshing, and healthiest gift the darkness can give you, and you to yourself. 

Avanto’s health benefits include (for example!) releasing stress, boosting your immune system and relieving joint pains. So, hop in. After the first winter of ice swimming you will find yourself impatiently waiting for the next dark season. Really? Yes, really. 

Daylight! There is daylight in Helsinki as well, even in December. And yes, as we know, to almost lose something, will really make you appreciate it like never before. So make the best of every hour of light! Escape outside in the middle of the day. Go for a walk. Or a swim. For a coffee on the rocks by the sea after lunch. Turn your face towards the sun and say “Hello, I remember you”. 

Snow! The best gift of the dark months is snow. Some winters it comes to stay, some winters it pops in and pops out. Either way, when it’s here, enjoy! Find a sledge and your  nearest park with a hill, and what you realise, that in fact – even at night – it’s not dark anymore. It’s bright, it’s light. It’s magical!

“I no longer complain about the darkness, I embrace it”

– American artist Linda Toye

5. Darkness can make you see yourself – and Helsinki – in a new light (pardon the pun!)

When nature is resting – with a colour palette of shifting grays, blues, blacks, browns, whites and pale pinks – at some point, you may find yourself restless, hungry for life and colours and sounds, or perhaps an urge to create something new yourself. 

So, listen to yourself – it’s easy in the dark, remember! – what do you crave for? Surprisingly, darkness may encourage you to try something utterly new, and explore places in Helsinki you’ve never been to before.

A visit under the green leaves and scents of summer? The Botanical Gardens of Kaisaniemi and multiple swimming halls are waiting for you! Hungry for colours, inspiration and art – there are dozens of museums and exhibitions open every day. Or start a new hobby, create, dance, paint, build.

I always come up with an autumn project for myself. It could be anything: a language course, a tango course, a small renovation – something measurable and concrete. In this way, I can learn something new every winter.”

– Italian-American catering entrepreneur Lorenzo Dotson-Smith

“Each year I buy a museum card, which provides affordable access to museums. It feels good to visit a big, beautiful space, like at the Ateneum, and admire the art. I also love stand-up gigs. They do good, especially in winter.” – Canadian stand-up comedian Jamie MacDonald

6. Darkness invites warmth, love and light

In the dark it’s easier to see the impact of light, even from the smallest of flames. This becomes evident when admiring the beauty of thousands of candles and lanterns in the cemeteries around All Saints Day and Christmas. 

Yes, to see the beauty of them, you need darkness. 

And wherever there is light and warmth in the darkness, you will find people gathering around it. 

So, light a candle and get cosy, invite your friends over for dinner. Knit woolly socks together, ask them to share their stories about comfort in the midst of darkness, read your favourite poems about summer, have a laugh (the dark months in Helsinki are an endless source of some very dark Helsinkian humour, you’ll see!)

If you ever feel like you’ve already had your fair share of candle light for one winter, head out and enjoy LUX. The festival of light spreads around the city center every winter just after New Year’s.

7. And the best bit: Only in true darkness you can see the stars

Hop on a ferry, travel to Suomenlinna, choose a route along the shore, and look up: It’s the Cassiopeia. It’s the Big Dipper. It’s Venus. It’s the North Star. It’s the cosmos. If lucky, even Aurora Borealis!

Nothing soothes like the starry sky, the light that was and will be after us. In Helsinki you can still find many places within the city that are dark enough to really see the stars.

Try the suburbs, for example Käpylä and Taivaskallio (“Skyhill”), the highest spot in Helsinki, or the shores of Lauttasaari, or even Kaivopuisto park by the sea.

Breathe in – and breathe out. Embrace the stars in the darkness, while you can. Remember: within just a couple of months, there will be no stars. It’ll be sunny, even at midnight.

“Darkness is a gentle reminder of the end of a period in time”

– Cosmologist Syksy Räsänen