About

Alessandra Sarelin

Hello, my name is Alessandra. I'm a trained sauna healing practitioner, i.e., a traditional sauna guide, herbalist and forager. My background is in social sciences (PhD 2012) and doula work.

I have worked for 10 years in wellness, women's health and life transitions, offering retreats, courses and consultations.

Special interests include nature tourism, sauna as a place for culture, ritual and connection, and how ancient traditions can offer meaning and stress relief to people today.

I offer sauna rituals based on the Finnish tradition. I have been trained as a "saunottaja" at Sipoonjoen perinnesauna by Laura Foon and other teachers.

In addition to the national languages and English I speak some German.

Saunas in use

I can host groups in traditional wood saunas in Parainen, Kaarina and Turku.

Traditional sauna rituals are available in:

The river side sauna in Turku, Koroinen
The ash tree sauna in Parainen
The sea side sauna Holken with a private beach in Parainen
The grandmother sauna in Kaarina (winter time)
The Kuuva sauna in Ruissalo, Turku (available in 2027)

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.