My story and my values

Sauna healing practitioner, entrepeneur Alessandra Sarelin

Hello, my name is Alessandra. I'm a trained sauna healing practitioner, herbalist and forager who has a special interest in mythology. My background is in social sciences (PhD 2012) and doula work. I have more than eight years of experience of working with holistic well-being and have also offered retreats for several years. In addition to the national languages and English I speak some German.

I cooperate with several saunas

I can host small groups in traditional wood saunas in Parainen and in Kaarina. Larger groups are welcome to Kavalton tila smoke saunas in Piikkiö.

The sauna in Parainen is called Saarnila sauna after the huge ash tree that is growing outside of the sauna. Sitting on the bench of this sauna is an experience that you will not forget. Nobody knows the exact age of the sauna but it is from the time when children where born in the sauna. Here you can feel the stories of birth, healing, rituals and death stored in the logs. Heating the sauna takes 5-6 hours.

Saarnila sauna is about 6 km from Saaristotie in Parainen in the midst of a beautiful fields and meadows. I cooperate with two other saunas in Kaarina outside of Turku.

I also have a small sauna tent and I can come to the sauna of your choice in Turku, Parainen, Kaarina and Nauvo.

Life Story

I grew up in a Swedish-speaking, bohemian family as the oldest of four children. Herbalism and foraging were woven into my upbringing from the start. My father and my grandmother, who was born in Karelia, introduced me to plant allies, and I learned to make herbal infusions at an early age.

As a child, I felt a deep connection to nature and animals, especially horses. I remember seeing a newspaper photograph of a man with a small bird resting on his palm, captioned "I protect you from anything." Something shifted in me when I saw it. A longing to give something back to the natural world took root.

After high school, I moved to Turku to study international law and human rights. My master's thesis focused on indigenous peoples' rights, drawn by a way of life that honours the gifts of Mother Earth and a belief that legislation could be a tool of protection. I was searching for a way to bridge ancient wisdom with modern knowledge. I stayed on at the university to complete a PhD, and later went on to study herbalism and frequency therapy, and to train as a hormone coach.

For the past fifteen years, mythology and wisdom traditions have also been central to my path. Sauna has always been part of my life, but I decided to pursue formal training as a sauna guide once I came to understand its depth as a ritualistic space and discovered the richness of sauna mythology. A ritual doesn't have to be mystical. It can be as simple as pouring water over hot stones. That is what I love about sauna: it is concrete, grounded, meaningful — and it makes perfect sense.

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My values

Love for the forest

Sauna starts in the forest and without the forest there is no sauna.

Diversity - not monoculture

Diversity equals life in nature and in culture.

Cyclical awareness

Respect for the rhythms of nature and the cycles in the body.

Reciprocity

It's time we give something back to nature and find our way of being in relationship with the elements.

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