If you’d told me back in 2016 that a little community café by a freezing outdoor pool would eventually lead to me buying a wood-fired sauna by the sea in Wales, I’d have laughed.

But that is exactly what happened.

It started at Parliament Hill Fields Lido
In 2016, I helped set up the Parliament Hill Fields Lido Community Café on Hampstead Heath. It was a simple idea: create a welcoming, good-quality café for the loyal cold-water swimming community who turned up in all seasons, in all weathers.

Day after day I watched people of all ages climb out of 5°C water with pink faces, huge smiles and a kind of grounded, sparkling energy that’s hard to describe. They weren’t just “being healthy” – they were forming a ritual, a community, a way of coping with busy, stressful lives.

That was my first glimpse of what heat and cold can do for a person. Some swimmers would head straight to a hot shower or a nearby steam room after their dip, talking about how they “felt human again” or how it was “better than therapy.” I didn’t have the science language then, but I could see the transformation.

That’s where the seed was planted: this combination of cold water and heat does something powerful – especially for those of us navigating midlife, stress, and hormones.

Discovering the science behind sauna and women’s hormones
Fast forward a few years and I was introduced to work from creators like Sweaty AF (Sweaty AF Podcast), who talk specifically about sauna, midlife women and hormones. It was like someone finally handed me the missing manual.

Here’s the short version of what I learned, in plain English.

When you sit in a sauna and your core body temperature gently rises:

Your cortisol (the stress hormone) rises briefly, then drops more deeply afterwards. That “after sauna” calm, grounded feeling is not in your head – your nervous system is genuinely shifting gear.
Blood flow increases to your major organs, including the thyroid, adrenals and ovaries. Over time, this supports energy, metabolism and recovery from stress.
Feel-good brain chemicals like dopamine and norepinephrine get a boost, which can help with focus, motivation and mood.
Heat triggers so-called “heat shock proteins” – little cellular helpers that make your cells more responsive to things like estrogen and insulin. That means better blood-sugar control, steadier energy and more stable hormonal signalling as estrogen naturally declines in peri- and post-menopause.
Used regularly, sauna has been associated with:

Improved insulin sensitivity and metabolic support
A more regulated stress response (fewer “wired but tired” evenings)
Easing of hot flushes and night sweats for some women
Deeper sleep and more stable mood
Long-term cardiovascular and longevity benefits
In other words, it is not “just sweating.” It is a whole-body, nervous-system and hormonal tune-up – particularly powerful for women in peri-menopause and menopause.

Of course, it’s still important to be sensible: stay hydrated, listen to your body, and speak to a healthcare professional if you have any medical conditions or are unsure what’s safe for you. If you use hormone patches (HRT), check medical guidance before using the sauna, as heat can increase absorption from the skin.

From Hampstead Heath to Freshwater East
Somewhere between watching hardy swimmers at the Lido and reading about the science of heat and hormones, a thought started to form:

What if I could bring this feeling – this combination of nature, community, nervous-system calm and deep reset – into my own life and into the way we host guests in Wales?

Greenshutters, our Pembrokeshire beach house, was designed as a contemporary, low-impact beach house created for clean air, comfort and calm. Think mechanical fresh-air ventilation, wood fired warmth, generous glazing and a layout that’s all about light, views and ease. It sits in the kind of landscape that does half the wellbeing work for you already: huge skies, clean sea air, the sound of waves, and the coastal path on the doorstep. Guests arrive stressed and leave softened around the edges.

Adding a sauna by the sea started to feel less like a “nice extra” and more like a natural next step.

Why I chose to invest in a sauna
On a personal level, I’m in that midlife window where hormones, energy and stress resilience really start to matter. I want tools that support me – and the women I care about – to move through this stage feeling strong, grounded and well.

Sauna ticked every box:

It supports midlife bodies, rather than fights them. Instead of “fixing” symptoms, it helps the whole system become more resilient.
It pairs beautifully with cold water. A gentle sea dip or even just a cold shower after the heat is incredibly regulating for the nervous system.
It fits how the house was conceived. A contemporary, low-impact beach house designed for clean air, comfort and calm naturally lends itself to slow rituals, deep rest and restorative heat.
So I made the decision: I would bring a beautiful, wood-fired sauna to Greenshutters and build an experience that honours everything I first saw at Parliament Hill Lido – but this time with the Atlantic as the backdrop.

Supporting athletes and Ironman Wales guests
Each September, we welcome guests who come to the area to take part in Ironman Wales and other endurance events along the Pembrokeshire coast. They arrive with bikes, wetsuits, nutrition plans and an extraordinary level of determination – and they leave with tired legs and full hearts.

For these guests, the sauna offers something slightly different, but equally powerful:

A gentle, heat-supported way to wind down after long training sessions or race day
Increased circulation that can support recovery alongside good nutrition, sleep and stretching
A quiet space to process the emotional “come down” after a big event, when the adrenaline fades and the body finally asks to rest
Paired with the sea on the doorstep, the hot–cold contrast can become part of a simple post-race ritual: warm up, breathe, reflect, step outside into the salt air, and feel your system slowly reset.

Earth, Sea & Heat: a new chapter
Our sauna offering at PembrokeshireBeachHouse is designed as more than a “spa extra.” It’s an invitation:

to press pause on the constant notifications and to-do lists
to feel your body warming, breathing slowing, mind unclenching
to step outside between rounds and really see the sea, feel the wind, watch the changing sky
to optionally add a cold plunge or sea dip and notice the tingling aliveness afterwards
For midlife women, for endurance athletes, and for anyone simply craving space to exhale, this can be a powerful way to reconnect with your body – not as a problem to fix, but as something wise, adaptive and capable of carrying you into the next chapter of life.

An open invitation
My journey with sauna began with a community of cold-water swimmers at Hampstead Heath and has evolved into Earth, Sea & Heat here on the Pembrokeshire coast.

If you’re curious about sauna – whether you’re in peri- or post-menopause, training for Ironman Wales, or just looking for ways to feel more rested and alive – you’re not alone. I’m right there with you, learning, experimenting and building spaces where rest, resilience and joy are allowed to coexist.

When you come to stay at PembrokeshireBeachHouse, I hope the sauna becomes part of your own story too – a place where something softens, something resets, and you leave feeling just a little more yourself.