Traditional rituals and healing therapies of the Wild Sauna

In today’s fast-paced world, the sauna is evolving into much more than just a hot box; it’s becoming a place for self-care, connection and physical and emotional renewal. Moving beyond the simple cycle of “hot, cold, rest, repeat,” modern wild saunas offer guided rituals and deep therapies designed to help us unplug from the digital world and connect with ourselves and others.

Here is a look inside the rich tapestry of sauna rituals and therapies sweeping across the UK’s wild wellness scene.

Sauna rituals and therapies

Sauna songs, stories and myths

In Nordic cultures, traditional sauna practices combined healing with folklore. Songs, poems, chants and lullabies were often used to summon spirits who, it was hoped, could help to ease pain and change fortunes. Today, these historic practices are being reinvented into multi-sensory sauna experiences.

At the Community Sauna Baths in Hackney, ‘Myth Mondays’ puts a new spin on these tales of old, and bathers are asked to visualise stone giants from Chile, Norwegian trolls, Scottish fairies, and the goblins, sprites and elves of Celtic folklore. In the sauna, all our senses come alive, and even cross over, to the point where we can ‘taste’ colours, ‘feel’ sounds. Multi-sensory sessions which synchronise temperature, sound, scent and even storytelling can create a very powerful experience.

Deep healing sauna: From grief to trauma release

The sweat lodge of history was often a therapy focused on spiritual and emotional release. In Nordic cultures, the sauna was historically central to community, used to honour the dead and prepare them for burial. Mourners would gather in the steam to cry, sing and sweat out frustration, anger and pain, seeking comfort from their ancestors.

Today, the sauna serves as a safe space where emotions and experiences can be shared without judgment, helping to heal. The extreme heat often forces thoughts and feelings to the surface. Practices like the “grief sauna” can offer an alternative, less intense space for processing loss, allowing people to let out emotions (like crying, clapping or shaking). As one practitioner notes, the emotional and physical heat can warm up the “frozen waters” of trauma held within the body.

Therapeutic bodywork: Whisks, scrubs, and seaweed in the sauna

Many rituals focus on the body’s largest organ: the skin.

1. Leaf Whisking: Inspired by Lithuanian and Latvian traditions, leaf whisking involves a bath master using whisks made from birch, oak or juniper to create heat peaks and gently “slap” the bathers. This is far from painful; it feels like a gentle massage and whips the senses into life. Birch is a popular choice because it contains saponin, a soap-like liquid that exfoliates and cleanses the skin.
2. Seaweed Bathing: Seaweed is recognised as a “superfood for the skin,” packed with vitamins, antioxidants and lipids that improve texture and elasticity. In the heat, open pores sweat out toxins and metals (like mercury and lead) while absorbing nutrients such as collagen-boosting Vitamin C and sleep-enhancing magnesium. Seaweed, often sourced from rugged coastlines, can also be used in gloopy, clear body wraps (resembling aloe vera) or in traditional baths to relieve conditions like rheumatism and arthritis.

Aufguss – sauna infusion therapy

If you visit a larger European-style spa, you might encounter Aufguss, a German word meaning ‘infusion’. This ritual is performed by an Aufguss master who pours water or essential-oil infused ice balls onto the hot rocks and then uses a towel in a rhythmic dance to distribute the aromatic steam, or löyly, over the bathers.

A good Aufguss ritual is often choreographed, sometimes set to music and is entertaining and cleansing. It can provide such deep sweating that bathers may forget they are in a sauna! Some locations host “Show Aufguss,” described as the “Eurovision of sauna” with costumes, humour and theatrical plots. This performance art has made its way to the UK, incorporating elements like “Celtic witchcraft” or humorous takes on British figures.

The Sauna Master: Guiding the transformation

With the potential for emotions to run high in the intense heat, the Sauna Master plays a crucial, delicate role, needing to be emotionally tuned in to keep the space safe. In the Baltics and Russia, this is a respected profession, often requiring years of practical and spiritual training.

In the UK, training courses teach practical skills like leaf whisking and Aufguss, alongside the psychological and physiological effects of thermotherapy. Sauna masters frequently employ body-based, somatic work, which brings psychological releases to the surface in passive ways. This healing process helps to surface what psychoanalyst Carl Jung called “unforgotten wisdoms” that digital modern life often leaves no space to process.

Wild Sauna in the UK

The current wild sauna movement across the UK is a flourishing modern continuation of ancient heat and cold therapy. It draws cues from ancient bathing cultures and combes them with the dramatic, healing landscapes of Britain’s wild edges. These spaces, often converted horseboxes or bespoke cabins situated near the sea, lakes or rivers, offer a powerful trinity of wellbeing: hot, cold and nature, providing physical benefits like improved circulation and immunity, alongside deep spiritual and emotional release.

Beyond the solo experience, wild saunas intentionally foster community buzz, serving as welcoming, accessible sanctuaries where individuals can detox from modern life, engage in guided rituals like Aufguss and leaf whisking and find connection and healing through shared vulnerability and the elemental power of heat and cold.