Soul Water Sauna

10/09/2025

SALT & STEAM 🎬❤️‍🔥

A poetic dive into the UK’s sweating & bathing culture and its history.

From Bronze Age remains of possible ancient sweat houses, to the luxurious Roman Baths, to the ingenuity of Victorian vapour machines, we peer into the past and find a forgotten relationship with heat and sweat.

The exciting new wave of UK sauna culture is not just an appreciation of sauna practices from overseas - it is a movement rooted in our own deep historical relationship and very much has a home on our wild, wintery Island.

Our film will be screened 13th & 14th September in for

The last clip is from me (Kirsty) watching the very first public viewing. I was sat in our original sauna in Portobello with members of our Friday Sauna Club with the flickering glow of the stove being the only light, what a wonderful memory to hold. ❤️‍🔥🌿💫

Special thanks to the sauna goers and hosts who gave us their time and voices to show just how rich modern sauna culture on this island really is. We wish we could have shown more of the UK’s amazing saunas, there is always next time…

Director & Writer .odonnelly
Producer
Editor - Annabel Moodie
Cinematographer
Composer

.sauna

28/08/2025

🎬Sauna on the Big Screen🎬

This weekend, sauna culture steps into the spotlight 🔥

On Saturday at 10pm, .alba launches Sona, new series that journeys across Scotland’s west coast, exploring the rituals, friendships, and landscapes of sauna and cold-water culture, all in search of inner peace.

We love seeing sauna celebrated in this way. For us, it’s not a “trend” but a resurgence—a timeless practice of fire, water, and community connection.

📺 Watch from Sat 30 Aug, 10pm on BBC iPlayer
📡 Broadcast Thursdays on BBC ALBA at 10pm

This series seems to beautifully echo what we’ve always believed: sauna is as much about people and place as it is about heat and steam 🌊❤️🔥🌿

And in just a few short weeks, you’ll be able to see our own art documentary “Salt & Steam” at . Keep your eyes peeled here for details.

Vicky Kilgour & Duncan MacDonald—you’re welcome to visit us anytime 🫶🏼


📍 & no doubt many more

31/07/2025

SAUNA FOR GAZA ❤️‍🔥 Sunday 3 August

This Sunday, we’re joining sauna spaces across the UK in a collective act of solidarity and care. Together, we’re creating space to support urgent medical aid efforts in Gaza.

All proceeds from our session at the FRINGE @ Underbelly’s Circus Hub will go to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), who are delivering emergency healthcare where it’s desperately needed.

We believe sauna can be more than a space to unwind — it can be a place of connection, resistance, and compassion.

Come sit with us in the heat. Stand with us in solidarity.

Proud to be standing alongside our sauna community - yo.yo.yard .sauna .sauna

03/07/2025

🍊 Oranges of Joy 🍊

Towards the end of a warming sauna session, there’s a moment of gentle awakening, a little ritual we’ve come to love.

Out come the oranges, sliced and shared. A burst of sweetness. A zing of citrus that cuts through the heat and revives the senses. It’s a simple offering - juicy, bright, and refreshing - but in that steamy, grounded space, it becomes something more.

These aren’t just oranges. They’re an invitation back into the body. A shared delight. A signal that while the sauna may be coming to a close, the joy is still very much alive.

As Sasha from — the lovely Portobello business that supplies these fruits — shared:

“When I was in the sauna last night they were first described as the oranges of sadness as they signify that the sauna is nearly over. They were then described as oranges of joy and happiness, as they taste so good in the sauna environment and one participant even described them as orange smiles, which I loved 🥰”

We’re with that last sentiment.

Thank you to Root Down for this small but radiant gift — a final note of sweetness to close our sauna sessions with a smile. 🍊💛

05/06/2025

We’re heading to the Fringe! 🔥🌀✨

This August, Soul Water Sauna will be popping up at Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows — nestled between the beautiful Big Top and the iconic Spiegeltent — for a whole month of heat, ritual, and festival magic.

We’ll be running sauna sessions all day, every day from 2–23 August, with daily guided rituals to help you pause, reset, and reconnect amidst the madness of the Fringe.

Whether you’re a performer, a punter, or just passing through the Meadows, come and soak up some steam, plunge into cold water, and breathe deep.

Because even in the busiest month of the year, you deserve a moment of stillness.

See you on the bench?

📍 Underbelly’s Circus Hub 🎪 The Meadows

📅 2 - 23 August

🔗 Booking through underbellyedinburgh.co.uk - links in bio!



27/05/2025

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️✨Porty Pride x Soul Water Sauna | 7 & 8 June

We’re proud to be part of this June, hosting two days of sauna sessions in celebration of LGBTQIA+ joy, care, and community.

LGBTQIA+ Sauna Sessions

🗓️ Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 June
A warm, inclusive space for q***r folks in and around Portobello. Come as you are — all bodies, identities, and expressions are welcome. A chance to gather, rest, and connect in the healing heat.

Trans & Non-Binary Sauna

🗓️ Sunday 8 June (afternoon)
This quieter, more intimate session is designed especially for Trans and Non-Binary guests, centring comfort, privacy, and affirmation. Our changing area will be adapted to ensure complete privacy, and the space held with deep respect and care.

💌 Pay It Forward spaces are available — email hello@soulwatersauna.com to request

A portion of each ticket will be donated to

Let’s gather in the steam, celebrate community, and honour the power of q***r connection.

22/05/2025

Wandering Bear is hitting the road — first stop: Solas Festival!

📍20–22 June · Errol Park, Perthshire

We’re so excited to be bringing Wandering Bear to .festival , Scotland’s midsummer celebration of music, art, and ideas - all set in the beautiful surroundings of Errol Park.

We’ll be there all weekend with daily sauna sessions, cold plunges, and a chance to slow down, breathe, and reconnect.

🔥 We can’t wait to warm up with you at Solas!

Festival tickets still available ~ www.solasfestival.co.uk

Wandering Bear is hitting the road — first stop: Solas Festival!
📍20–22 June · Errol Park, Perthshire
We’re so excited to be bringing Wandering Bear to Solas Festival, Scotland’s midsummer celebration of music, art, and ideas - all set in the beautiful surroundings of Errol Park.

We’ll be there all weekend with daily sauna sessions, cold plunges, and a chance to slow down, breathe, and reconnect.

🔥 We can’t wait to warm up with you at Solas!

🎟️ Festival tickets still available ~ www.solasfestival.co.uk

🎟️ Sauna session booking 🔗 in bio (only available for Solas Festival ticket holders)

19/05/2025

16/05/2025

We’ve been quietly soaking up WILD SAUNA by this week — a beautiful and thoughtful journey through sauna culture across the UK.
From remote wild sauna spots to shoreline sanctuaries (including us! We’re at number 159 🧡), Emma’s book captures the spirit, history and community behind the heat — from rituals and health benefits to etiquette and shared silence.
We picked up our copy from the lovely and have already started bookmarking a few new places to visit.

If sauna has ever been part of your rhythm — or you’re just beginning to explore the warmth — this book is full of stories to carry with you.
(Emma also wrote Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat if you’re looking for more ways to go deeper into the practice.)

With gratitude for this love letter to the culture we care so much about. 🔥🫶

08/05/2025

Last spaces remaining 🔔 Sunday Sauna Club

We are a huge fan community sauna, a social hub for people to come together and make new connections.

We’ve put together regular sessions in a six week block. Offering the opportunity to bathe with the same people at the same time each week, enabling you to be more consistent within your sauna practice, and reap the mental and physical benefits we all love.

📅 18 May - 29 June

📍 SWS Portobello

🕰️ 9:15am - 10:15am

28/04/2025

Posted • Big thank you to Soul Water Sauna for investing in Community Shares. Even just thinking about your special little place, the smell of wood, the heat and the happy times we’ve spent in there is helping us relax after a frantic campaign month! We’ve also just spotted that you’ll be bringing a mobile sauna alongside your regular sauna as part of on the 10th &11th May and that there are a few spaces left.

If you’d like to book a sauna, we highly recommend it! Here’s the website. www.soulwatersauna.com

If you’d like to be shareholders and support Bellfield’s Big Build Campaign to upgrade the community centre, you only have until Wednesday 30th April: share shop link in bio.



A note from Kirsty
12 years ago, I helped set up because community has always been important to me. That same spirit drives Soul Water Sauna as a local business today - which is why I’m proud to support the Bellfield Big Build.

This project is about creating more space for people to connect, share, and grow together. It’s about investing in something that strengthens the fabric of our community - just like the Timebank did (and still does!).

I believe in the power of people coming together, and am excited to be part of something that reflects that.

People make places. Stronger together. Get involved.

28/04/2025

This sauna master guided introduction to Pirtis includes traditional leaf whisking, lovingly prepared salt scrub and a delicious birch sap sensory experience (for up to 5 guests) preparing you for the summer months ahead.

Come welcome something new, release the old, or simply soak in the season, this is your invitation to pause, breathe, and fully connect.

📅 Thursday 1 May

📍 Portobello

🦶🏻7 pm – Arrival & fire side tea

🌿7:15 pm – Enter the Sauna Portal

❤️‍🔥 8:50 pm – Tea & Chariots