Sauna Culture Heats Up NH

If you’ve heard of a run club, you’re familiar with social wellness. Getting together with a group of friends or strangers to participate in a wellness-based activity may sound trendy but is nothing new. 

In the United States, you’ll see social wellness in practice with local run clubs, bowling leagues or neighborhood book clubs — people gathering to exercise or relax with friends or those who share a common interest. 

In other parts of the world, including throughout Europe and Asia, social wellness is practiced in the bathhouse. After work, you meet up with your buddies to sauna or de-stress after a long day. There’s no awkwardness about being around strangers. You’re all there for the same reason — to sauna. 

Over the past year, sauna culture has arrived in New Hampshire, with a few Americanized adjustments (swimsuits required). Inspired by Nordic and Slavic traditions, grab your towel and alternate between hot saunas and cold plunges at these three New Hampshire sauna spots. Just don’t forget your swimsuit.

White Mountain Sauna Håus & Nordic Café
3358 White Mountain Highway, North Conway

Sauna-goers connect without phones while enjoying the heat. Courtesy Photo

After a career in nursing left Levi Lucy feeling frustrated and burnt out, he needed to recharge. The burnout, combined with having a second child, led Lucy to leave the healthcare world and focus on something that he was passionate about.

“That happened to be sauna,” Lucy says.

Born and raised in North Conway, surrounded by Nordic influences and ski culture, Lucy didn’t sauna until college. As members of the University of Maine’s Outing Club, he and his friends would stay at the club’s ski shack after days up at Sugarloaf. It was there that he was first introduced to the sauna.

“We’d ski hard all day and then fire up the sauna at night and jump in the fresh snow,” Lucy says. “It was idyllic, and it was relatively evident to me that it allowed me to get up and ski hard again the next day.”

A decade passed, and Lucy didn’t think about the sauna outside of fond memories from his college days. That is, until he and his wife bought a house in the Conway area, and she asked for a sauna.

With a background in carpentry, Lucy went to work and built his first sauna at their home, and it quickly became something Lucy didn’t want to live without.

“Having people over and firing up the sauna became one of the pillars of our social life,” Lucy says. “We have a little brook behind our house, so we would sauna and jump in the cold brook and have a potluck meal. It became one of the things that I most looked forward to as a means of sharing time with our friends.”

Lucy started building saunas in his backyard and opened Elemental Saunas, a mobile sauna company where he would bring his saunas to different scenic spots in the area. His ultimate dream was to open a public sauna håus in North Conway where people could sauna and spend time together.

Ample deck spaces and fires provide a natural place to reset. Courtesy Photo

“It happened a lot quicker than I thought,” Lucy says. “I met my business partner, Bryce, through the mobile sauna. He actually saw it and flagged me down and asked me about it. We started figuring out how we could make this happen. It kind of fell into our laps, and we were able to open far quicker than I could have ever dreamed.”

White Mountain Sauna Håus sits just outside downtown North Conway with sweeping mountain views, offering sauna and cold plunge experiences inspired by Finnish sauna culture.

“Their sauna culture is a social activity,” Lucy says. “It’s a shared experience — you go, you talk, you sauna. We’re trying to foster more of an open, conversational-style sauna, where you likely sauna with people that you’ve never met. We’re hoping that you strike up a conversation in the sauna, or at least, get to share a space with people that you don’t already know.”

Plus, from a healthcare perspective, Lucy is excited by Scandinavian studies that show that frequent sauna usage can reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.

“The big health benefits by far are the reduction in cardiovascular disease,” Lucy says. “When you go in a sauna, your body tries to cool itself down by expanding its blood vessels and sweating. To do this effectively, your heart has to work harder. When you have a sauna session, your heart rate is elevated, your blood vessels dilate. It is essentially a workout for your cardiovascular system, similar to the effect from a brisk walk, while you’re sitting.”

Being a community gathering place is the Sauna Håus’ bread and butter, but as a year-round business, they host a number of events throughout the year, like their monthly men’s and women’s nights, single’s nights, sound baths, couple’s date packages and more.

“The bar scene as a social place to go and meet people has decreased,” Lucy says. “There still needs to be local places where people can go meet, whether you’re looking for friendship or trying to date, so we try and have community events for people in the area.”

For more information, visit whitemountainsaunahaus.com and find them on Instagram @whitemountainsaunahaus. Check in mid-week for information on upcoming events.

Morning Dew Sauna Co.
1025 S. Road, Hopkinton

With encouragement from others, Pam tries out the filtered cold plunge at Morning Dew. Courtesy Photo

Paul Barnwell and his wife, Rebecca, had been thinking about opening a business at their home in Hopkinton for a few years. They weren’t sure if they wanted to host a glamping experience or an Airbnb, but after being introduced to the sauna, they knew that’s what they wanted
to do.

“I am a former high school and middle school teacher of 17 years,” Barnwell says. “I transitioned away from that in 2022 and became a handyman and transitioned to property management. I’ve been shifting towards more active work that involves being outside often.”

Before opening Morning Dew Sauna Co., the Barnwells had a few sauna experiences. One was at a friend’s house in Maine after he purchased a portable sauna tent.

“He encouraged me to try it with a few friends,” Barnwell says. “My wife and I had a few experiences at saunas — one was Cedar Grove up in Maine, which is a woman-owned business that’s kind of pioneering New England sauna culture. We also were up in Montreal at Bota Bota, which is a water spa on a barge.”

Barnwell realized that there really weren’t many opportunities to sauna in New Hampshire, and felt like opening one would be a great addition to the Merrimack Valley, especially to embrace the seasons.

“If you embrace sauna, it’s something that is great to do in all types of weather. It can get you outside in a natural environment,” Barnwell says.

Morning Dew Sauna Co. is rustic and operates by appointment only with private and community sessions. Off the grid, low-impact and made from recycled materials, the sauna sits privately outside a barn that’s been remodeled to serve as a guest experience area, with a place to sit by a warm fire and a cold bath.

“I think sauna is best enjoyed in a more rustic outdoor environment,” Barnwell says. “There’s a place for everything, but customers so far seem to really appreciate the rustic and natural feel. It is a beautiful rural spot that’s peaceful and quiet and a good place to relax.”

While offering a more intimate sauna experience for one to six people at a time, Barnwell has seen a community start to grow.

“If you show up to a home business and get in a small room that’s 180 degrees, you’re probably pretty open to meeting people with a little bit of discomfort,” Barnwell says. “It’s been neat to watch people show up and make at least social acquaintances. I know some people have become friends in the short time that we’ve been operating.”

Morning Dew’s customer infrastructure is set up in a peaceful location behind the barn. Courtesy Photo

Barnwell hopes his business offers a reprieve for people from the digital world, where they’re pulled in so many directions.

“To me, social wellness is finding a community where you can be present with one another in a physical space — feeling a sense of belonging and meeting new people. I think it gives people a boost. Also, with sauna, there’s a shared experience that pushes you out of your comfort zone.”

Looking ahead, Barnwell is hoping to start hosting events, and seeing what people might be interested in attending. He’s also working on converting a barn stall into a warming station for winter guests.

“I’m just generally trying to observe how things go, and make slow and steady improvements based on what I see customers need and enjoy,” Barnwell says.

Barnwell loves the sauna for the simplicity — it’s relaxing and social, and while building the space, he felt like people would appreciate it.

“It’s a joy to offer this service,” he says. “As a former teacher, you don’t always feel that reciprocity, but almost 100 percent of people leave feeling good, smiling and happy. I didn’t know that would be satisfying, but
it is.”    

For more information, or to book a time, visit morningdewsauna.com and find them on Instagram @morningdewsauna

Banya
350 Route 1 Bypass South, Portsmouth

Banya’s monthly Women’s Night brings women together for an evening of sauna, cold plunge and community. Banya hosts other monthly events, like breathwork, after-hours DJ nights and pop-up programming. Courtesy Photo

Banya is a humble nod to bathing culture,” co-founder Taylor O’Connor says jokingly. While “Banya” is a Russian word for sauna, the West End Portsmouth business doesn’t follow any specific cultural traditions — rather, they’re inspired by all of it.

“Social wellness is the idea that human connection is part of being well,” O’Connor says. “The Romans were gathering in
bathhouses — so were the Japanese and Mongolians and cultures across India and Africa. It’s a human thing to gather in a communal sauna. We aren’t designed to be lonely.”

O’Connor and owner Catherine Markovsky first met at Flōte, Markovsky’s wellness center known for sensory deprivation floatation therapy, after O’Connor had finished rehab for alcohol. O’Connor worked as a civil environmental engineer, but decided to leave the engineering world behind for a path in wellness. After a decade of owning the wellness center, Markovsky noticed that after clients had their treatments, whether it be massage, acupuncture or float therapy, they would sit and chat together in the lounge area. That’s when the idea to build Banya was born. 

The two connected, and between O’Connor’s experience with technical operations, and Markovsky’s vision and experience as a business owner, the duo got to work. 

With two saunas, a cedar-barrel hot tub, two cold plunges, cold water buckets, a “chill” lounge room (with a record player, infrared light and beanbag chairs), showers, a mocktail bar, casual games and complimentary snow cones, Banya is a place for all.

“We wanted to make something fun — when was the last time you had a snow cone?” O’Connor says. “We designed a place for the community to build itself. We wanted it to be all ages and all genders and all walks and all levels of physical activity.”

Banya’s popular monthly Men’s Night, is led by Dr. BeeWell, Steve Ivanoski, who helps create a space for men to connect, unplug and take care of themselves. Courtesy Photo

In the year since opening, Banya has become just that. 

With a strict “no phones” policy (they go in your locker after you check in), the experience naturally encourages conversation between people. Whether you’re going with a friend, as a group, or solo, you can chat as much, or as little, as you’d like.

“Social wellness is an invitation to gather and engage in healthy modalities while connecting with others … like a run club,” O’Connor says. “People open up and it surprises them … sauna and cold plunging does that.”

O’Connor says frequent visitors at Banya have said they feel more chill in their day to day life.

“So many people who walk in the door are constantly in this fight, flight or freeze state,” O’Connor says. “Moving from the heat and into the cold is like learning notes on a piano. You’re repeatedly moving your nervous system through activation and recovery, and over time, you become more familiar with what it feels like to settle back down. You take the sauna and the cold plunge with you.”

For more information, visit letsbanya.com or find them on Instagram @letsbanya