New research has been published that finds that shared sauna rituals significantly boost wellbeing by enhancing social connectedness, belonging, and emotional synchrony.
Building on the social cure model, which identifies how membership to social groups fosters mental and physical wellbeing, the study suggests sauna is not just an individual wellness practice, but offers a social hub that fosters communal belonging and inclusion. 

There is a moment that often arrives unbidden in the sauna. It might be during the third round, once the body has softened, when conversation has quietened and the visceral stimulation of bathing is gently working within. Something shifts. Defences drop. Consciousness widens. We become aware of how good it feels to sit together, relaxed, open, human. And then the thought arises: we’ve always done this.

One Thursday morning, after dropping my daughter at nursery, I realised how depleted I already felt. The day had barely begun, yet my shoulders were tight and my mind crowded. Maybe it was the 3am toilet-training wake-up. Maybe it was the quiet marathon of getting a toddler out of the house before 9am, with all the tiny negotiations that requires.

Whatever the cause, I felt a deep sense of relief knowing that in a few hours I would be at Mothers Recharge, a weekly, women-only (should we say mums-only to avoid problems?) community sauna session I founded in 2025 with London’s Community Sauna Baths, offering uninterrupted time to recover.

Sauna and menopause have become independent hot topics in the UK public sphere recently, helped along by media coverage, books by experts and high-profile personalities talking candidly about the two separate, whole-body experiences. But no one has been discussing how sauna and menopause might work together.

The British Sauna Society is delighted to announce that booking is now open for the 2026 UK Aufguss Championships, taking place at the award-winning Galgorm Resort in Northern Ireland from 20–22 April 2026.

This flagship event celebrates Aufguss, a dynamic sauna ritual that blends heat, scent, and performance. It is competitive, with a jury deciding which of the UK’s leading Sauna Masters to crown British champion and who will go on to represent Britain on the world stage.

The British Sauna Society is delighted to announce the return of the UK Aufguss Championships to the award-winning Galgorm Resort from 20th–22nd April 2026. This marks the second time the prestigious event will be hosted at Galgorm, following the success of its debut there in 2024.

For 2026, the championship format expands in an exciting new direction. The event will feature two distinct categories: Performance Aufguss, and Modern Classic Aufguss.

“What’s the right price for a communal sauna?”

A few weeks ago, I asked this question on Instagram. I didn’t anticipate the flood of thoughtful, passionate responses, from sauna owners, practitioners and bathers all over the country. It quickly became clear that this question touches something deeper than money.

The steam was dense - thick as low-lying fog - and I couldn’t see the floor or the ceiling, only the occasional sweep of someone’s arm through the haze. With our vision blurred to silhouettes, our other senses took over: the press of heat and humidity on the skin, the scent of foamy lather, the sound of easy, curious chatter among 20 women who had somehow found themselves in a very hot bathing room, in a corner of East London, on a Sunday night. When our guide raised the long raffia brush, coated in a glossy meringue of soap, the noise softened and we squinted through the mist. 

As saunas step out of quiet corners, becoming vibrant spaces of ritual and connection, the   role of the ‘sauna master’ is rapidly evolving.  This sauna ‘guide’, or ‘host’ or ‘practitioner’    shapes the heat, creates the rhythm, blends the scent, and guides the story, taking bathers on a shared, sensory-led journey.  

At the end of November, the British Sauna Society travelled abroad to spectate at the Herbal Cup in Prague, Czech Republic. This competition has been running for 10 years and is dedicated to the art, skill and cultural heritage of herbal sauna rituals. We went to experience the event first‑hand, observe how the competition is conducted, and understand what would be required to host a UK edition next autumn.

As a Brit, I feel I have much in common with my Scandinavian cousins: an endurance of long, cold, grey winters; a love of thrillers; a passion for wild swimming and saunas.  In the course of researching two books on sauna culture, I’ve spent years sweating it out around Estonian lakes, and in hotboxes on windswept Norwegian archipelagos. Generally, when enjoying these activities, I’ve been wearing a swimsuit - and this is where any similarities to our Nordic neighbours end. 

This September, Dr Kath Jones (Founder, Wild-Ness Health & NHS GP) and Polly Wilson (Social Prescribing and Outreach Manager, Community Sauna Baths) represented the UK sauna-for-health movement at the 2025 Annual Medical Conference of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine (BSLM) in Brighton. They presented From Clinic to Sauna: Fostering Synergy for Whole Person Care, introducing GPs, health professionals, and conference delegates to the idea that sauna use can play a meaningful role in integrative, whole-person care.

The British Sauna Society is delighted to announce that the UK will be joining the Sauna Herbal Cup for the very first time in 2026, sending a national team to compete on the world stage. This unique international competition celebrates the art of herbal sauna rituals and peeling procedures, showcasing creativity, tradition, and innovation from sauna masters across Europe and beyond.

Emma O’Kelly talks to Katja Pantzar, author of Helskini by Sauna, about her favourite places to soak up the sauna scene in Finland’s capital.

The British Sauna Society is officially launching the search for a host venue for the UK Show Aufguss Championships 2026.

Is it a miracle machine? A weight-loss trick? A cardiovascular threat? The internet has opinions. But behind the vapour is something simpler and deeper: a space for warmth, rest, and ritual. A space where myth often overshadows truth.

Sweat bathing is an ancient practice with deep roots. There are many living traditions, some of which are recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. Britain, too, has its own bathing past: quiet, fragmented, often forgotten. But today, a vibrant new culture is emerging. And as with all cultural movements, to understand where we’re going, we first look to where we’ve been.

Now in its 3rd year, the 2025 UK Aufguss Championships saw the spectacle of sauna theatre performed against a backdrop of skyscrapers in Canary Wharf, London.

Our second Sauna Summit brought together 350 attendees from across the British Isles and Ireland, and even a fair few from Belgium, Denmark, Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, Romania, Norway, Netherlands, Japan and the USA.