{"id":4784,"date":"2026-07-28T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=4784"},"modified":"2026-07-28T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T05:00:00","slug":"wild-swimming-and-sauna-culture-is-finally-catching-on-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=4784","title":{"rendered":"Wild Swimming and Sauna Culture Is Finally Catching on in America"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to reports, the US sauna market is projected to grow to $311M by 2033.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"wild<\/div>\n

On a recent trip to Scotland\u2019s The Fife Arms<\/a> hotel, I embarked on my very first (and possibly last) wild swimming excursion. The routine was simple but brutal: dunk into a freezing river in Braemar and hop straight into an outdoor sauna for 15 minutes of intense heat. Then do it all over again. And again, until I could no longer feel my legs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mind you, this was in April \u2013 in the middle of British spring, which can feel indistinguishable from winter \u2013 so it was a challenging, painful, but incredibly revitalizing experience. I left feeling more alive than ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both practices \u2013 sauna-ing and wild swimming \u2013 have long histories. Saunas originated in northern Europe \u2013 specifically Finland, where using them is still woven into everyday life. The country boasts around 3.3 million saunas for a population of just 5.5 million people<\/a>, making them almost as commonplace as homes themselves. It\u2019s a practice that is clearly taken very seriously, partly due to its suggested health benefits, which are said to include improved circulation and muscle recovery.<\/p>\n

See also: Why Home Spas Are Booming \u2013 and How to Design One That Works<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"The
The Fife Arms offers a wild swimming experience with a local expert \u00a9The Fife Arms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wild or open water swimming has been used for decades for various health \u2013 as well as social \u2013 benefits. Susie Parr, author The Story of Swimming<\/em>, told The Outdoor Swimming Society<\/a> that \u201cSir John Floyer\u2019s History of Cold Water Bathing<\/em> [dating back to 1715] provided plentiful evidence of people using immersion in cold water to treat various ailments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The combination of the two, however, is a more modern phenomenon that has grown alongside the wellness boom. It pairs the electrifying shock of cold open-water swimming with the restorative nature of heat from a sauna. It\u2019s big in Scandinavia as well as the UK, with many coastal destinations \u2013 including luxury hotels like Gleneagles \u2013 now offering the experience. I’d heard plenty about the hot-and-cold circuit before trying it myself, but many of my fellow participants \u2013 all Americans \u2013 were experiencing the concept for the first time. It \u201cisn\u2019t very popular in the States,\u201d they told me. But that might soon be changing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

See also: Scenic Saunas Around the World With A View<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"gleneagles
The Gleneagles Hotel launched Frandy Water \u2013 a wood-fired sauna and freshwater immersion experience \u2013 back in May \u00a9Gleanegles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to statistics<\/a>, the US sauna market is projected to grow to $311m by 2033, and last year the country accounted for 21.6 percent of the global sauna market. This is down to the demand of outdoor saunas, as well as infrared and electric ones.<\/p>\n

Still, with a projection so high, only a few luxury US companies currently offer the swimming-sauna circuit. Among them are Fjord<\/a>, Ebb & Ember<\/a>, and Wild Haus<\/a>, all of which offer floating saunas. Wild Haus\u2019s wood-fired sauna voyages take place in Seattle on Lake Union, with guests encouraged to move between the cold open water and the heated sauna for \u2018benefits like detoxification and pain relief.\u2019 A private sauna cruise starts from $975 and lasts 2.5 hours.<\/p>\n

Ebb & Ember, meanwhile, offers the experience in Portland, and are so in demand that membership options exist for those wishing to dip and sweat every day. And Fjord, which is based in San Francisco Bay, has two traditional Finnish-style saunas that can accommodate up to six guests each. You can plunge into the bay (at your own risk), so long as you remain within the demarcated plunge zone. Events and parties can even be accommodated \u2013 at a cost of $5,000 — $7,000.<\/p>\n

Americans have happily embraced pickleball and padel, Nordic walking, and even Scandinavian interiors. This bathing culture could very well be next.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to reports, the US sauna market is projected to grow to $311M by 2033.\u00a0 On a recent trip to Scotland\u2019s The Fife Arms hotel, I embarked on my very first (and possibly last) wild swimming excursion. The routine was simple but brutal: dunk into a freezing river in Braemar and hop straight into an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_preview_token":"","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}