In this episode, I’m joined by Cara Redpath, nutritional therapist, women’s health specialist and self-confessed sauna enthusiast.

Today we’re stepping into the heat with Cara Redpath, a nutritional therapist whose love of sauna has become both a personal practice and a professional calling. Cara shares the evidence behind sauna’s powerful effects on our nervous system and cardiovascular health, and the quiet revolution of wild, wood-fired saunas popping up across Scotland.

What began as curiosity has become essential, a grounding practice that restored her nervous system, reshaped her work and connects her with community and the elements.

Together we explore:

• The difference between gym saunas and wild, wood-fired saunas and why it matters.

• The science of heat shock proteins and how sauna supports cardiovascular, mental and cellular health.

• The interplay of heat and cold, and why women’s bodies respond differently.

• The power of community and conversation inside the sauna — a rare space without phones or roles, where everyone is simply human.

• How sauna culture across Scotland is offering warmth, rest and connection in the darker months.

• Cara also shares why she sees sauna as part of a preventative wellbeing toolkit — not a luxury, but a non-negotiable for living well.

If you’re curious to explore this growing culture yourself, I’ve linked a few of the Scottish saunas Cara mentions from Wild Bathing in Oban to West Coast Wellness and Wild Ember Bothy at Loch Tay, each a small pocket of warmth in the dark months.