Hot topic: Why ‘slow motion’ saunas are becoming the new cold swimming

From converted beachside horse boxes to forest retreats, saunas are the country’s hottest new health craze. Wild swimmer Laurel Ives, who knows the exhilarating benefits of what a cool plunge can bring, sees if she can stand the heat…

Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths have taken east London by storm (Andrew Dickson)

It’s Sunday morning, and as the fashionable folk of Kings Cross go about their business, I’m watching them from a pop-up sauna, sweating in my swimsuit and gnome-like sauna hat. 

Moments later my friends and I plunge into an ice bath, rush back into the sauna, and repeat. The outdoor urban setting is comical, but the combination of heat, cold, and friendly chats is exhilarating. 

The “slow motion sauna” is the brainchild of DJ and Bestival founder-turned sauna-evangelist, Rob da Bank, and his wife Josie. He first opened the mobile Lithuanian wood-fired sauna last summer on Freshwater Beach near his home on the Isle of Wight.