A sauna on the beach may, at first glance, not seem like a natural setting but the pairing works as a perfect pick-me-up with a side of vitamin sea.
Pop-up Finnish wood fired saunas are literally popping up along the North East coast offering the chance to steam your worries away as the waves lap all around you. It really does make you just breathe in deeply and exhale the stresses of the day.
Whitby Well Being is behind these portable relaxation tents bringing a wave of rejuvenation and rest to both seasoned sauna lovers and steam newbies.
The idea is simple - experience the intense heat of the sauna before cooling off in the sea. Repeat this three or four times in an hour and leave the beach feeling completely zen.
Sam Harper, a ‘sauna guru’ from Whitby Well Being is on hand for the pop-up saunas. With wood aplenty, a stove and stones, he creates a sauna by the sea. The tent-like structure has inside two wooden benches with up to six people participating in each session.
Stepping into the sauna the heat hits you immediately but take a seat, breathe in deeply and you acclimatise quickly, the heat enveloping you as you close your eyes with the sound of the waves outside. Sam says: 'There are real health benefits to having a sauna - it is passive exercise for the heart and is good for cardiovascular health. Couple that with a plunge in the sea water and the benefits are amplified.'
Serious heat lovers can take a seat right next to the stove and keep those stones sizzling by adding ladles of water. The rush of heat when the water is splashed on the stones creates a wet steam increasing the moisture within the tent.
In Saltburn, Whitby, Hornsea, Scarborough and Bridlington you can enjoy the benefits of the steam and sea partnership. The sauna tent has a window offering a view out to sea - pick an early or evening slot and be treated to a stunning sunrise or sunset as you unwind.
After ten minutes in the sauna it feels right to take time out and hit the water. Here’s where it’s up to you what you do. Walk out onto the beach and feel the sand between your toes. Head towards the sea (times for the sauna sessions are chosen carefully so the walk to the water is not too far) and immerse yourself in the cold water of the North Sea. Whether you just dip your toes in gently, walk out to your knees or have a full-on swim and dunk under the waves is your choice. There is no pressure to wild swim so if an ankle dip is what you prefer that is fine.
With water lapping around my knees, I welcomed the cool air after the heat and enjoyed the views across Saltburn to the pier and cliffs beyond. No better way to spend a Friday teatime with the promise of chips on the pier later.
Refreshed by the waves, water and sea breeze, it is time to get back in the sauna. The heat feels welcoming as you return to the wooden bench. Your breathing becomes deeper and the sound of Sam playing the handpan outside the sauna just adds to the atmosphere. The rhythmic, melodic sound of the steel drum floats through the air as the heat works its magic. You can feel the sauna easing your mind and muscles..
It is undeniable that saunas are a way of life in Finland with the word ‘sauna’ of Finnish origin. Finnish tourist board, Visit Finland, boasts the strapline ‘Happiness - it’s in our nature’ and indeed the country has been rated as having the happiest nation in the world for six years in a row.
Danny O'Connor from Whitby Well Being wants to bring some of that Finnish happiness and proximity to nature to our North East shores. He says: 'Relaxing in the heat of the sauna before feeling the thrill of plunging into the cool waves and feeling the ocean embrace you is an experience not to be missed. It is the perfect opportunity to find inner peace and rejuvenate your mind, body and soul.'
One of my fellow Saltburn sauna buddies was a regular visitor to the Whitby Well Being beach sessions. She said she had found nothing else that made her feel so completely alive and energised but relaxed at the same time.
It seems that the people of Finland know a thing or two about happiness and saunas play a large part in that. Steam away the negative and breathe in the positive as the force of nature that is the sea energises your very being.
Sessions are from £12.50 and take place at: Cayton Bay, Bridlington, Hornsea, Robin Hood's Bay, Saltburn, Scarborough, South Gare, Whitby.
For venues, dates and times across the Yorkshire coast go to whitbywellbeing.com
