'Outdoor saunas are a ritual, a way of life' Wild outdoor sauna experience launches in Lancashire

A new outdoor sauna bringing heat, cold, nature and community to Lancaster has officially opened today at Whinney Hill Farm, Halton.

Sauna Mökki - a wood-fired, off-grid outdoor sauna surrounded by countryside has opened its doors to people looking for a different way to switch off, reconnect with nature and spend time with friends.

Based at the beautiful Whinney Hill Farm in Halton, Sauna Mökki combines traditional sauna heat with a cold bath and cold shower, all set against open countryside and views across the surrounding landscape.

The founders believe that outdoor sauna is about much more than sitting in a hot room.

It is about slowing down, stepping away from screens and busy lives, spending time outdoors and sharing an experience with other people.

The idea for Sauna Mökki began with co-founder Katy Davies, who had become a regular visitor to outdoor saunas across Wales, the South West, the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.

“We’d been visiting wild saunas across Wales, the South West, the Lakes and Dales for a few years and become addicted to how great we felt after a few rounds in the sauna and cold water,” says Katy.

“We realised we were travelling over an hour to visit them and were keen to build a community of outdoor sauna lovers across the North West.”

The idea became a reality after a visit to an outdoor sauna in Anglesey.

“I was visiting a beautiful outdoor sauna in Anglesey last February and said to my partner Stuart Mayor, ‘We need to do this in Lancaster. That evening we started to dream and make the big plan!”

Samantha Smith and her daughter Hannah Ford had similar ideas, and had also been dreaming about opening a wild sauna in Lancaster.  They had developed a love of sauna culture through spending time in Wales and visiting urban saunas in London.

For Samantha, bringing that experience to Lancaster was an obvious fit.

“Katy and I have known each other for 30 years. We had all fallen in love with outdoor sauna-ering and wanted to bring the love of the heat and the cold to Lancaster,” says Samantha.

“It’s more than just a sauna in the corner of the gym. Outdoor saunas are a ritual, a way of life - a chance to completely disconnect from your busy day and unwind.”

Sauna culture is experiencing a significant boom in the UK. The British Sauna Society now lists hundreds of community and outdoor saunas across the country, while recent coverage by the BBC, The Guardian and New Scientist has explored both the growing popularity of sauna and the science behind it.

The health research is particularly interesting when it comes to regular sauna use.

Sauna heat places the body under controlled thermal stress. As body temperature rises, heart rate increases and blood vessels dilate, creating some physiological responses similar to those seen during gentle to moderate exercise. Research has associated regular sauna use with cardiovascular benefits, although researchers stress that much of the long-term evidence is observational rather than proof that sauna itself causes those outcomes.

New Scientist has also highlighted emerging research into the potential neurological effects of regular sauna use, including associations with better mental wellbeing, sleep and a lower risk of dementia. The publication stresses that this area of research is still developing.

Perhaps even more relevant to Sauna Mökki is emerging research into sauna as a social ritual. A 2026 study involving 1,907 UK sauna users found that wellbeing was associated not only with sauna use itself but with the sense of identity, belonging, ritual and emotional connection that developed around sauna communities. That idea is central to Sauna Mökki.

For many sauna users, the experience is not simply about heat. It is about moving between heat and cold, often known as contrast therapy.

In the sauna, heat causes blood vessels to widen and heart rate to rise as the body works to regulate its temperature. Moving into cold water produces the opposite response: blood vessels constrict, breathing and heart rate can rise sharply and the body activates its cold-shock response. Over time, repeated exposure can alter how strongly the body responds to the initial cold shock.

A new 2026 study from researchers at Bangor University has also examined what happens when cold-water immersion is used as a cooling break between sauna sessions. In a small controlled study, cold-water immersion reduced core temperature and heart rate more quickly than air cooling alone and made the second sauna session feel more tolerable.

However, the founders are keen to avoid exaggerated wellness claims.

“We’re not saying a sauna is a miracle cure,” says Katy. “For us, it’s about creating an experience that makes you feel good - physically, mentally and socially. You step away from your phone, spend time outside, challenge yourself a little and then sit down with friends. That feels pretty powerful.”

Sauna Mökki’s location at Whinney Hill Farm, Halton was an important part of the vision.

The sauna sits in an off-grid countryside setting, surrounded by open views and away from the noise and distractions of everyday life. Visitors can move between the wood-fired sauna, cold bath and cold shower before relaxing outdoors and taking in the landscape.

For the founders, that connection with nature is just as important as the sauna itself.

“It’s a real escape,” says Samantha. “You can leave your phone behind, breathe in the fresh air, get properly hot, plunge into the cold and then just sit and take in where you are.”

The founders hope that Sauna Mökki will become more than somewhere people book for an occasional sauna session. They want to create a community around outdoor sauna culture in Lancaster and the wider North West.

“As we grow, we plan to introduce memberships and collaborate with other local wellness businesses to build our community,” says Katy.

And they are already dreaming beyond the first sauna.

“We’d love to grow the love of wild saunas across the area and, one day, see more Sauna Mökki experiences popping up across the North West.”

Sauna Mökki is open Thursday to Sunday at Whinney Hill Farm, Halton, Lancaster.