Soul Water Sauna, Portobello Promenade, Edinburgh (2025)

10/12/2025

🎄 Christmas Gifts 🎄

Gift joy, relaxation, wellness and permission to self-care to those around you, find the hygge moment and true contentment.

We’ve put together a small collection of gifts that we hope will bring comfort and joy this Christmas. There are sauna vouchers for shared moments, sauna hats to top the moment or hoodies to cosy into afterwards as well as beautiful lino-printed cards created by our very own Katharine, you can find her artistry here .

Soul Water Sauna Gift Certificates come with a full year from the date of purchase. Let your recipients savour the anticipation and use them whenever they’re ready to unwrap their wellbeing adventure. You can purchase from the website and you’ll receive a code to send to the recipient.

Everything is available online, and you’re welcome to collect from our Granton or Dalkeith bases anytime between now and Christmas. Collect from Portobello by arrangement.

If you’d like something posted, our friendly *saunatonttu will be doing one special mailing, choose first class postage at checkout before midnight on December 17th, we’ll be in touch.

*saunatonttu is a protective spirit, some say similar to a gnome. They are said to watch over the sauna, keeping the space safe for everyone who steps inside, although only for those who treat the sauna respectfully - go gently.

🔗link in bio

03/11/2025

We’re so honoured to be invited by the Scottish Documentary Institute to open a special screening of Smoke Sauna Sisterhood on November 5th at the Edinburgh Filmhouse.

The champions the power of documentary films; sparking empathy, critical thinking, and inspiring positive social change.
This film is especially close to our hearts at Soul Water Sauna.

From its Scottish premiere in Glasgow (October 13th, 2023), when I, Kirsty met for the first time (fan girl moment!), to sharing the experience with Pippa (soon opening ) and Karel, our beloved Estonian host, the film has woven itself into our sauna story.
Just two days later, 15 of us, hosts and guests alike gathered at the Edinburgh Picturehouse to watch it again and hear Anna’s stories, introduced by Amy Hardy, filmmaker and lecturer at Edinburgh University, where Mai (one of our wonderful hosts) studies Documentary Film. Mai even joined Anna and Amy for dinner afterward, a dream conversation about film, connection, and community.

This Wednesday, Mai will introduce the film, share how it connects with us, and how you can discover your own Saunahood.

🔥 On a night when the air fills with smoke and sparks, we invite you to step into another kind of heat. Smoke Sauna Sisterhood draws us into shared warmth and emotional release, the perfect counterpoint to Bonfire Night’s fiery celebrations.

🎬 Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
📍 The FilmHouse Edinburgh
⏰ 5pm
📆 November 5th

Aitüma! x

https://www.filmhouse.org.uk/checkout/showing/352723

01/10/2025

Self Care Saturdays are back 🌿🌊

An opportunity to pause and stop time.

To reflect on life, relax, and take care of YOU for 2 blissful hours.

To switch on all the senses and be nurtured in the company of like-hearted mamas.

These postpartum sessions are all about taking some precious time out, connecting with yourself and nature, laughing and chatting in the warmth ~ and maybe even an invigorating dip in the sea.🌊

You’ll leave feeling refreshed, inspired, and reconnected with yourself and others.

A beautiful collaboration between Kin Collective and WanderWomen.

📅 Saturday 11 October
🕙 10:00

26/09/2025

🚨🔥 New Training Alert! 🔥🚨

We’re SO excited to be hosting Rimas Kavaliauskas from the International Bath Academy for two additional days of sauna seminars and workshops at Soul Water Sauna.
Rimas will first appear at Soul Gathering (.gathering) Festival on 18 Oct, then return to guide us through Wild Bathing: The Soul of Water & Fire on the Scottish shoreline.

🌿 20–21 October | Soul Water Sauna

Day 1: The Craft of Wild Sauna (20 Oct)
A practical, hands-on day for new sauna owners and survivalists. Learn how to build, heat and operate your own sauna in the wild.

Highlights:
Origins and history of heat
The ancient stone pile at the heart of sauna
Survival ways of heating
Art of Heat: elements of Wild SPA

Day 2: The Soul of Wild Bathing (21 Oct)
A transformational celebration of bathing culture, open to both Day 1 participants and newcomers. Less technical and more immersive, this day blends ritual, ecology and sensory experience.

Highlights:
Building of ancient sauna
The Great Wild Bathing Ritual
A curated journey of the senses
Sauna Peace with Nature Declaration

🎟️ Pricing
Day 1 £220
Day 2 £170
Both days £350 (save £50)

💌 Newsletter subscribers can access a special discount.

📧 For more information, email bookings@soulwatersauna.com

👉 Spaces are very limited. Secure your place now!

26/09/2025

🚨🔥 New Training Alert! 🔥🚨

We’re SO excited to be hosting Rimas Kavaliauskas from the International Bath Academy for two additional days of sauna seminars and workshops at Soul Water Sauna.

Rimas will first appear at Soul Gathering (.gathering) Festival on 18 Oct, then return to guide us through

Wild Bathing: The Soul of Water & Fire on the Scottish shoreline. 🌿 20–21 October | Soul Water Sauna

Day 1: The Craft of Wild Sauna (20 Oct)
A practical, hands-on day for new sauna owners and survivalists. Learn how to build, heat and operate your own sauna in the wild.

Highlights:
Origins and history of heat
The ancient stone pile at the heart of sauna
Survival ways of heating
Art of Heat: elements of Wild SPA

Day 2: The Soul of Wild Bathing (21 Oct)
A transformational celebration of bathing culture, open to both Day 1 participants and newcomers. Less technical and more immersive, this day blends ritual, ecology and sensory experience.

Highlights:
Building of ancient sauna
The Great Wild Bathing Ritual
A curated journey of the senses
Sauna Peace with Nature Declaration

🎟️ Pricing
Day 1 £220
Day 2 £170
Both days £350 (save £50)

💌 Newsletter subscribers can access a special discount.

📧 For more information, email bookings@soulwatersauna.com
👉 Spaces are very limited. Secure your place now!

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)

Soul Water Sauna

10/12/2025

03/11/2025

01/10/2025

26/09/2025

26/09/2025

10/09/2025

28/08/2025

31/07/2025

03/07/2025

05/06/2025

27/05/2025

22/05/2025

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