The Fire that Found Me

Where fire meets water — and a long-held dream finally takes form.

I still remember the first sauna that truly touched me.
It wasn’t the kind at the local pool — it was a small, shepherd’s-hut sauna tucked away on a farm near York, where my husband, my sister-in-law and I went to celebrate her birthday. We were all wild swimmers at heart, craving that feeling of cold water and clean air even while living far from the Highlands.

The place was extraordinary — simple, rustic, and utterly alive. A wood-fired hut beside the water, a still lake for plunging afterwards, and a tiny café serving homemade food and laughter. But what struck me most was the community — the warmth of the people there, strangers chatting easily between rounds of heat and cold, the shared smiles and stories drifting through the steam. It was a way of socialising I hadn’t experienced before: open, grounding, deeply human.

That day, with my husband beside me, something clicked.
The combination of fire, water, friendship, and stillness felt like home.

When I returned to the North and walked around the bay, a quiet knowing rose within me — that we could have something like this here. A space to gather in warmth and connection, rooted in the rhythm of the land and sea. That small thought became a spark I could never quite put down.

The Call of the North

Over the next few years, I found myself seeking out saunas wherever I went — from the Black Isle to Loch Insh — learning, observing, feeling. I spoke with others who shared this passion for traditional, heart-led sauna culture: one that honours wellbeing over business, community over competition.

And to my joy, I was welcomed — so warmly — into that community.
Everywhere I turned there was encouragement, advice, and genuine excitement for what might one day be built here in the far North. My little spark was fanned by their faith; they reminded me that even the smallest ember can ignite a lasting fire.

But the path wasn’t simple. Funding fell through when I left a charity I’d co-founded, and finding support as a sole trader proved difficult. Still, I held the vision close. I trusted the timing, kept researching trailers, sketching designs, whispering affirmations that one day, this will exist.

A Meeting by the Water

Then, by pure chance — or perhaps perfect alignment — I went to visit a friend and met AJ and Jake from Seaview Sauna.
Where we stood looked straight across the water to Talmine Bay — and when I said, “One day my sauna will be there,” they smiled and replied, “Look at what we’re building right now.”

Together with them — and hopefully with other sauna owners in the future — we are helping to establish a generous, grounded community here on the North Coast: a culture of authenticity, mutual support, and reverence for the heat, the ritual, and the people who gather within it.

Since then, I’ve had the honour, alongside AJ, of training at Scotland’s first Sauna Master Training, facilitated by Anada and hosted at St Andrews Sauna. That experience deepened everything I thought I knew about sauna — not just the technique, but the surrender. It became a physical, emotional, and spiritual detox; the first time in months that my body softened and my spirit truly lifted.

That training also strengthened the bonds of friendship and shared purpose that had already begun to form. Together, we’ve become part of a growing network of sauna stewards — keepers of fire and water — helping to anchor this movement here in the Highlands.

Dream into Form

So here I am, four or five years since that first spark, standing on the edge of something real.
Soul Solstice Sauna is no longer just an idea. It’s a vessel for healing, connection, and belonging — a mobile sanctuary where people can come to rest, release, and remember their wholeness.

Soon, you’ll find it by the sea — the sound of waves mingling with the hiss of steam, the smell of pine and salt, the quiet joy of gathering in warmth.

This is only the beginning — the first ember of a much bigger dream — but already it feels like home.
This is how the fire found me — and how I will now tend it for others.

With warmth,
Brogan
Founder of Soul Solstice Sauna
Where fire meets water, and the body remembers how to rest.