Sauna: what’s love got to do with it?

Dr Emilia Vuorisalmi                                                                   Photo: Olga Poppius

The Wildhut Team had a fascinating time at the Sauna Society Summit 2025, hosted in London in June. One of the speakers who stood out for us was medical doctor Emilia Vuorisalmi, also known in Finland as the ‘Love Doctor’.

Dr. Vuorisalmi’s latest book, The Healing Power of Hormones, explores the three ‘love hormones’, dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin, and how they can super-charge your wellbeing and help you achieve lasting health and emotional balance.

We were delighted to discover that sauna bathing is a powerful way to help trigger the release of all three love hormones, so we thought we’d share a little of what we learned with you here.

What are love hormones and how do they work?

As you’d expect, our love hormones play a starring role in romantic love. But they are also neuromodulators that help to manage other hormones too, regulating things in our bodies such as mood and responses to stress. In this way they are a pivotal part of our entire hormonal system, affecting energy flow and our overall sense of balance in life.

Here’s a topline summary of the effects of each of these power-packed hormones:

Dopamine gives us energy and helps with motivation, reward and having a sense of direction in life. (The gas pedal.)

Serotonin is the hormone that gives us a sense of safety and stability and helps protect our energy. (The brakes.)

Oxytocin helps us connect with ourselves, other people and the world around us, helping us feel calm and at peace. (The cuddle hormone.)

Maintaining a healthy balance of the love hormones in our bodies helps bring a greater sense of ease, joy and freedom into our lives. But this can be hard to achieve in our evermore hectic world where there are so many stressors to contend with. And did you know that stress hormones and love hormones are built from the same building blocks? That’s why too much stress can knock us off balance hormonally, leading to loss of a sense of direction, depression, anxiety, sleep and digestive problems, loneliness and isolation.

It's easy to see why we need to do all we can to keep our love hormones happy and abundant – and regular sauna use can play a role in that.

Fun fact: according to Finnish tradition, before Finns had access to doctors, the sauna was described as ‘the poor man’s pharmacy’.

How sauna bathing gives our love hormones a boost

The good news is that having a sauna not only feels fantastic, it’s a wonderful way to influence the release and regulation of dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin to help with mood, motivation, stress release and social bonding. The heat also causes your blood vessels to dilate which improves the delivery of oxygen and nutrients that help with hormone production.

Studies have shown that dopamine levels can double or even triple after a sauna session which helps to explain why many people report improved mental clarity, energy and mood. Meanwhile, regular sauna use supports healthy serotonin levels, helping to reduce anxiety and improve mood and sleep quality. In Finland, the sauna has always been a place where people feel safe and relaxed, which may help to support serotonin levels too.

When we share our sauna experience with others, the warmth, relaxation and close communal experience encourages the release of oxytocin, which reduces stress and anxiety and promotes feelings of connection and trust.

At the same time as we’re benefiting from the release of all these positive love hormones, our cortisol (stress hormone) levels are also reduced.

What’s more, if you introduce contrast therapy into your sauna session (alternating time spent in the sauna with immersion in cold water, such as an ice bath, plunge pool or cold shower) you can boost your love hormone production even further.

And sauna isn’t just good for our bodies and minds. It allows us to connect to ourselves and, in the stillness, hear what’s behind our own thoughts. In her Sauna Society talk, Dr. Vuorisalmi shared that sauna played a part in helping her to fix a broken heart and to reconnect and fall in love with herself again.

Given all these fantastic benefits, it’s no wonder that in a nation of 5.5 million people, Finland has over 3 million saunas. Perhaps the time has come for the UK to fall in love with sauna bathing too – and at Wildhut we’re very excited to be a part of the story.

If learning about the powerful benefits of sauna bathing has inspired you to bring more balance, joy and wellbeing into your everyday life, why not explore the idea of owning your own Wildhut sauna? Whether you're dreaming of a peaceful solo retreat or a space to connect with others, our beautifully crafted saunas are designed to nurture body, mind and soul. Discover the full Wildhut range and take the first step towards creating your very own sanctuary of heat, healing and hormonal harmony.

Top tip: If you’ve enjoyed this article, you might also like to take a look at our Unlock the Secrets to a Healthier Life with Sauna Bathing article too.

You can find Dr Emilia Vuorisalmi on Instagram: @docemilia