Ollaberry sauna to offer folk chance to feel the heat
NORTHMAVINE is set to enjoy a slice of Shetland’s sauna action as a new “hot hoose” gets set to open in Ollaberry.
The sauna, located next to the Lubba beach, is run by Marc Williamson – who grew up just a stone’s throw away.
It marks something of an expansion of the 37-year-old’s existing massage business, which has been rebranded as Nordic Glow – Wellness in the Wild.
People in Shetland – and visitors too – have already been enjoying the heat in Haar’s saunas, with the company having a base at St Ninian’s in the South Mainland.
But Nordic Glow will be bringing high temperatures to Northmavine in the coming weeks in a move that Williamson hopes will benefit the parish as a whole.
The sauna will be able to host eight people in private sessions or six in a shared one, and perhaps unsurprisingly given Williamson’s day job is in architecture, design was of high importance.
People will be able to pick which “cold exposure” to go for after being in the 80 degrees Celsius sauna, either in the form of a dip in the sea or under a cold shower.
“I kind of designed it with things that I would like personally too,” he says.
“I dunna like to bide in the water for just too long, so if I had the option for a shower I’d pick that over the sea.”
Williamson explained that the idea came around a year and a half ago, as he sought to explore ways to expand his massage work.
“It’s kind of connected to the massage stuff, in that you’re working with people’s bodies, and I was looking at another service that could facilitate that healing,” he said.
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The benefits are both physical and mental, with Williamson adding that people’s wellness “can take a lot of different forms”.
The hope too is that the sauna brings folk to Ollaberry, and Northmavine, as Williamson looks to give something back to the area he grew up in.
“I’m very lucky that I can do that I suppose,” he says.
“It feels quite good to be able to give back and hopefully people will come and use the beach as well and use the sauna, and experience what Northmavine has to offer.”
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