Why sauna in nature is more than just heat
More than just heat, outdoor saunas offer a chance to reconnect with nature, embrace hot and cold therapy, and slow down. Discover why sauna in nature can be a more restorative experience than a ‘traditional’ indoor sauna.
Here in the UK, it’s only been in recent years that sauna has shifted from the corner of a gym or spa, to the outdoors. According to The British Sauna Society the number of public saunas doubled between 2023-2024 (from just 45 to over 100 - our Luna Hut Sea Lanes sauna being one of them!), and now just a few years later, there’s a thriving community of 600 saunas, many across beaches, next to lakes and in other nature-immersed spaces.
When we opened Luna Wilds, our off-grid wild spa with sauna in the South Downs back in 2021, we saw how people gravitated towards the sauna and it became a focal point of the experience. People wanted to slow down, reconnect with themselves and the natural world around them and embrace contrast therapy.
Now 5 years on, and with 4 Sussex beach saunas, and a garden retreat sauna in Brighton (and hundreds of members enjoying the sites each month), we see and hear first-hand how important experiencing a sauna in nature is, for many reasons.
Outdoor sauna benefits
Connection to nature
There are so many reasons that sauna is good for our mental and physical health, but one of the biggest wild sauna benefits is reduced stress and improved mood.
Sauna has long been known for easing relaxation (one study found that sauna use can reduce cortisol by up to 40%), and spending time in nature is also associated with good health and wellbeing, so teaming these can be a powerful partnership.
Our Sussex saunas are all located within nature - our Brighton Sea Lanes, Eastbourne, Worthing and Bognor Regis saunas all have sea views, while our Brighton Café sauna is located within a green garden retreat. The location of each of our saunas has been a conscious decision to bring together sauna and the great outdoors.
From visiting our first wild sauna back on a windy Irish beach in 2020, and being blown away (quite literally!) by how it made us feel - calm, energised and grounded - we know all too well how hot and cold therapy within natural environments can help calm the nervous system.
We love how when using a sauna in a natural setting, how connected we feel to the outside world - and how nature feels bigger than all of us (especially those annoying niggling thoughts, which seem to quieten down when sat in the sauna and plunging!).
After all, the sight and sound of birds chirping, waves crashing and trees swaying in the breeze as you’re sitting in the sauna, or taking a cold dip feel far more exciting than staring out onto a gym wall, doesn’t it?
Increased hot & cold therapy benefits
One of the most popular reasons people enjoy sauna is the exposure to hot and cold therapy and the varied range of benefits this brings (from boosting circulation to easing pain).
Sauna in natural environments, where you’re exposed to the elements really helps to up the ante.
Whether you’re experiencing the sauna heat and stepping outside into rain or an alfresco shower, taking an outdoor icy plunge, or dipping into the sea (which ranges from a cool 5°C to a balmier 19°C), it can feel especially invigorating, and an exciting, more natural way to get that sauna and cold water immersion fix. This not only helps with the above benefits, but is also an additional mood booster too!
Connection to traditional sauna culture
Of course, we can’t discuss advantages for using outdoor saunas (and the rise in their popularity) without looking at the tradition of sauna - and nature being at the heart of it.
Traditional sauna culture is rooted in nature and not in indoor settings. In Finland alone, for a population of 5.5 million, there’s over 3.3 million saunas, meaning that most rural cabins, lakeside homes and forest retreats have a sauna. Saunas near water are central to Finnish sauna culture - for the traditional sauna experience of heat followed by bathing in icy waters, or even rolling in the snow, during the cold winters.
The aspen wood used to build traditional Finnish saunas (considered the ‘gold standard’ in sauna building due to its simplicity and low thermal conductivity, meaning that the wood remains comfortable on skin) also builds connection to nature, with aspen growing across Finland’s clean northern forest.
When building our Finnish-inspired saunas, choosing aspen was a must to really enhance the traditional experience (and give that authentic scent), as well as giving a nod to the Finnish forests that it comes from.
Experience sauna in nature at Luna Hut
For us, a sauna in nature is a powerful, restorative, energising ritual and has so many more benefits than being simply a ‘hot box’, tucked away in the corner of a gym or spa.
Whether you visit our beach saunas in Brighton, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis and Worthing, or our ‘hidden’ garden retreat sauna café each offers a space to reconnect with nature, the location and world around you (as well with yourself and others!).