I love Saunas. It’s my little indulgence to myself. Aside from all the scientific research to reinforce the positive impact of saunas and cold water plunging or baths, I always feel so good after I’ve been. I try to go at least once a week as my gift to my wellbeing, and this is usually at the gym where I swim. The cold part to my sauna session here is turning the shower as cold as it will go. However, recently we went to Northern Norway and I booked a session in the floating sauna in Tromso Harbour. The cold water part of this was literally in the harbour!
I have done cold swimming previously. During Covid, our local lido opened its doors for cold swimming from the end of March, but it was still slightly heated.
We were allowed to swim in wetsuits (and we all mithered about how cold our hands and feet were, even in gloves and neoprene shoes – lightweights!) and one morning I even swam whilst it snowed, but nothing had quite prepared me for swimming in the Arctic with temperatures of just 3 degrees c, kicking the snow off the steps to climb down and doing it all in my bathing suit and barefeet. Whilst I had to concentrate on my breathing, once I was back in the sauna I felt so unbelievably alive. I could feel my heart thudding in my chest, but not in any disconcerting way, more as if it was telling me ‘here you are! You’re alive! It’s all brilliant!’ The switch between hot and cold is supposed to encourage the body to go into fight or flight mode and therefore blood pumps faster and it is linked to helping with several long term conditions such as chronic pain or arthritis, not to mention all the endorphins and dopamine that starts racing around your system!
That’s not to say that saunas and cold water swimming are for everyone. I know lots of people who love to cold swim and wild swim. I would happily do that in the sea or a lake (neither of which are close to me) but have personal icks about swimming in a river where I live, but there are people that do. There are several contraindications for exposing your body to extremes of temperature, so do check things out thoroughly before you try it or check with your doctor if you’re not sure. Check out here and here, but there are benefits as well as risks.
If it is something that you want to try, there are lots popping up around the country, we’re attuning to our Scandinavian cousins perhaps with pop up varieties, city varieties, beach front versions and rooftop ones. There are electric ones and wood burning versions, some you can heat more by creating Löyly which is pouring water onto the coals to increase the heat, and others you can’t. I recently used one that was a ‘salt sauna’ with Himalayan salt on the walls and infra red seats to target specific areas.
Below I’ve listed a few I know about, but there are sites that have listings of them all over the country. However, unlike our Finnish friends, you are generally expected to wear a swimsuit, sit on a towel and not roll naked in the snow afterwards…more’s the shame!
One of my favourite saunas is the one at Whichford Mill, The Wild Sauna. This is a wood fired sauna that has been built in a horsebox. The whole place is designed to soothe your soul and wash away your worries. It’s a very rural setting but there’s place to park your car. There is a stream for dunking afterwards as well as a cold bath that is often filled with petals or herbs in the spring and summer. They offer communal sessions for up to six, private sessions as a couple or a whole group.
This weekend I went to Suku Saunas just near Towcester. Whilst we had an enjoyable time there and there’s a lovely view from the sauna over the Northamptonshire countryside, it lacked some of the charm of The Wild Sauna. It’s not managed all the time and is on a business park, so we had other people turning up early for their session and coming in to ours, which was a little annoying. It also lacks decent changing space, meaning that community mixed sessions are changing in the same space that current sauna users are accessing to go out to the plunges and cold bucket. Not ideal, but it was a good hot sauna and the buckets were great fun!
I’ve linked a few saunas below. If you know of any other great saunas, please let me know and I’ll add them to the list.
The Wild Sauna Cherrington, Oxfordshire
Suku Saunas Towcester, Northamptonshire
Pust Sauna: Tromso, Norway
Rooftop Saunas various London locations
Sauna in the Wild Rochester, Essex
Please ensure you check with your doctor if you have any concerns at all about using a sauna or cold swimming. DO NOT cold swim alone, always ensure you have someone with you and if you are swimming in lakes or rivers, ensure you wear a tow float and check the pollution levels and algae.
