If anyone is starting to feel down because of the weather and up coming darkness this is for you

Hi everyone!
Summer is gone and so it's the beautiful weather and hyped environments. If you have lived in Finland for longer than a year you know how hard things can get after summer and the upcoming winter season.

It's not only depression but also isolation. If you are an immigrant you also know how rough it's to find friends, and have the energy to not procrastinate and keep yourself mentally healthy with good habits and so on.

I'm writing this message to help you prepare for the "rough" times and to offer you my friendship 🙂 but more on that soon. Let's start with the tips!

1. Get a sun bath lamp as soon as you can. Living in Finland for more than 5 years has taught me that when the gray days start to happen more regularly there is nothing like waking up and turning this lamp on. It seriously can help you feel better with 5 minutes or more Infront of it.

2. Join a club or a sports hobby.
   This is a basic but still very important. With the rising cold and upcoming winter, staying at home seems the logical place to be, the problem is that it's way to easy to stay at home all day and not touch grass and interact with others. If you have the possibility of joining a group for something you like I highly encourage you to do it.

3. Check out cheap courses in sites like ilmonet.
   Usually you can make friends and try different things for really cheap. This is a very nice way to explore yourself and keep you engaged during autumn and winter.

4. Go pickup mushrooms before they are gone!
   If you are new to Finland I encourage you to try out a Finnish mushroom picking group and explore all the possibilities. Seriously this is something you won't regret.

5. Try to do more cold water plunges.
   Combine this with the amazing sauna treatments and add as a "cherry on top of the cake" some Avanto or cold plunging.
   This is a fantastic way to feel alive and adapt your body to the cold. It can also help you out connecting with others since finns tend to speak more with rougher activities (much better than socializing with very drunk people)

6. Visit old forests and make sure to bring something to grill!

There are literally thousands of places you can visit and grill something up! Usually people will be silent there and just grill stuff but if you wanna socialize there is no problem at all. People here are very polite and respectful.
Finns, you are awesome! 🙂‍↕️😁

1. Make sure to start taking vitamin D, magnesium, zinc and vitamin C.

Specially vitamin D here is a must do!

1. Join a coffee group for chatting. This is a quick way to get to know people and maybe try your Finnish. Go for it!

Lastly I wanna wish you all a good autumn 🍁 and if you are coming to Helsinki for a visit or if you wanna get in touch with me I'm more than willing to have a chat and maybe take a sauna together!

If you have time this 28th of September I'm organizing a presentation about wellness and some other tips to have more ease with life. It will be in Oodi library. You are more than welcome to come! Here is the link to join if you are interested: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-story-is-yours-lets-begin-tickets-1647766336469?aff=oddtdtcreator

Thank you all for reading and I hope this information helps you prepare for the beautiful but hard winter to come!
Tsemppiä!
-Seb