One thing leads to another.

A couple of years ago, we teamed up with our good friends Matt and Nila from Kiss The Earth to host an event called ‘Reconnect.’ The intention was to create an experience for our community in Mount Maunganui where people could come together for a morning of health and well-being. We offered various activities, including yoga, group-facilitated meditation, conscious breathing, and saunas. Most people felt rejuvenated and connected. Seeing that so many enjoyed their experience, we thought, why not do another one?

This time around, we did things a little differently by adding an authentic connection workshop guided by our friend Rutherford Maule. This part of the event was a highlight for many, leaving them feeling understood, seen, and connected—a feeling that doesn’t come round so often.

A vision for our future community events

Hosting these types of events allowed us to create something that helps people and at the same time, it gives us the chance to fulfil our vision and mission and to express our company values.

The Sauna Projects vision and mission statement

Vision: To have a sauna in every town of New Zealand

Mission: To help people live a healthier and more connected life.

When we first set out to create a mobile sauna, it was impossible for us to see what the future of the business would look like. All we could do was set an aim and establish some values to base our decisions around. It didn’t take us long to agree on some values that we already shared, we just had to put them down into writing. To this day, all our decisions we make go back to these original values.

Accessibility - Consistent, available, affordable

Quality - Exceptional building quality and sauna service

Community - Connection to self and others

Sauna Fest can be seen as the biggest expression of these values, last year we had over 300 people join together to celebrate saunas and everything related to saunas. It was truly a special event. Next year we will be hosting Sauna Fest on the same date, 16 March, at the Blue Lake. Keep an eye out on our website as we will be releasing tickets at the end of October.

A workshop given at Sauna Fest 24.