Findhorn & Kinloss Residents Winter Wellbeing Community Sauna programme

Winter 2022-23

Delivered in partnership with:

Funded by:

Throughout January to March 2023 the Watershed Sauna partnered with The Findhorn Village Conservation Company to offer low-cost communal winter wellbeing sauna sessions for local residents. These sessions were made available specifically for residents from the Findhorn & Kinloss Community Council area, the idea being to make the sauna as accessible and beneficial as possible to the people who live here all year round.

The programme has now come to an end, but we hope to find further funding to be able to continue to offer affordable access to the sauna for local residents in future.

Programme Impact

Total # of sauna slots provided:

222

Number of repeat visitors:

87

Age range of participants:

8–80 years old

Where did folks come from?

For what reason did people book?

What type of sessions did we offer?

Percentage of participants reporting experiencing the following benefits:

Physical wellbeing 71%
Mental wellbeing 72%
Social connection 71%
Nature connection 62%

Average increase in benefit experienced after sauna use:

Physical wellbeing 23%
Mental wellbeing 23%
Social connection 23%
Nature connection 19%

Testimonials

"I feel like the Sauna sessions have come to me at a point in my life when I really needed it. Last year my mental health was not in a good place after having my first baby and being able to attend the sauna has allowed me to reconnect with other people but also myself... I've noticed that I’m more grounded and resilient in every day moments but also when more stressful situations arise."

– Kinloss resident
"I met lovely people in the village I had never spoken before, lovely to cross paths fully clothed in the shop the next day exchanging a huge smile. I felt more belonging in my village and community. I absolutely felt increased sense of beauty and gratitude for the place I live."

– Findhorn village resident
"The weather, especially in the cold months, and with expensive heating bills, can feel very cold like I am braced against the elements. And yet this offers the opportunity to get hot all the way through. So hot that it is possible to swim in the sea. To feel connected to the incredible local place in which I live, to others in the sauna but most importantly it helps me connect to my body, to myself."

– Park Ecovillage Findhorn resident
“The value added to our locality by watershed sauna is inestimable. I have lived in the area 17 years yet the sauna introduced me to new folk a new way to appreciate this beautiful place and a deeply relaxed nervous system to boot ! Not only the health social and nature connected aspects but its also a small local business expressing vitality and innovation in a rural setting. We need more of this…”

– Findhorn village resident
“What an excellent way to end a stressful working week during the cold and often bleak winter months. Opening the door to enter the sauna is like opening the door to a sanctuary where the cares of the world are left at the door for the world to worry about while I can simply be: be warm, be safe, be me. Putting names to familiar faces has made it easier to say hello in passing and new connections are building towards exciting future opportunities. It’s amazing the conversations that can happen in this sauna!”

– Findhorn village resident
It was always a treat having a Watershed Sauna date to look forward to in my diary and busy working week. When I attended the community saunas it was always with a feeling of gratitude to be cared for and connected in such a deeply nourishing way through the hard months of the Scottish winter. This was often a shared acknowlegement within the people present.

– Findhorn village resident