I dreamt up the idea of a sauna by the sea back in Nov 2019. A few friends suggested I crowdfunded, to gauge interest in the idea.
It seemed like a great idea, if I raised enough money for the sauna, I could run the business, and if the idea flopped I wouldn't have lost anything!
I raised the full amount for the build in a month and that was it - All the money was in my account by mid March 2020, and then the pandemic hit.
Well, we patiently waited in the wings, and I tried and tested the sauna with my family on the drive during lockdown. We all became sauna enthusiasts in this time - my husband and two boys (4 & 8 at the time).
Sauna is such a ritual.
We'd light up every Friday, and it became the pivotal anchoring of our week in a period of life that had little structure and stability the sauna became our sanctuary.
For me, sauna is about committing time to yourself, with others or alone. It offers me space to connect with something larger than the mundane day to day existence.
A place to truly be mindful, and check in with my own responses. With family and children it is a place to chit chat, play word games and enjoy time away from screens & other distractions.
As a couple it is a wonderful space to check in with eachother, through quiet conversation or comfortable silence.
I love the feeling after a few rounds where the body relaxes, and the mind opens. Conversation if there is any at this point is often deep and connected. There is something magical and vulnerable that occurs, the guards go down.
Stepping out at the end of a sauna session I feel all my senses heightened, my busy mind stilled. I become the observer rather than the busy "do-er".
Working on the beach now, hosting the sauna I get continuous reward of positive feedback as others are introduced or return time and time again to the sauna.
I pinch myself every time, that something which started as a pipedream, became my obsession and led to this reality.
Love, Sarah x