Exploring our relationship to rest & relaxing.

We were tired but wired, exhausted yet scrolling, desperate to rest but distracted by the noise and clutter of busy-ness and algorithm-fueled hustle.

We wanted to experience rest, not just have it be another thing we should be able to do.

Now, with Jeffrey’s hand-built, traditional, wood-fired sauna, combined with Heidi’s decades of body-work and nervous system coaching, we’re here to help YOU find your way back to rest, too.

Hi! We’re Heidi and Jeffrey, owners of Finger Lakes Sauna

A person in a blue sweater and cap stands in a grassy backyard, facing away from the camera, with trees, bushes, and a wooden fence in the background.
A woman with glasses and a multicolored hat taking a selfie outdoors, with greenery, plants, and gardening tools visible in the background.

Meet Jeffrey, the dreamer, designer, and builder of Finger Lakes Sauna

Jeffrey is a lifelong seeker who describes his early life as feeling like he was on a hot griddle where the only way to survive was to keep moving, hopping from foot to foot, keeping busy doing thing after thing.

Sauna is, for Jeffrey, about recognizing and befriending the rhythm of his own body. Moving from the heat of the fire and the steam of the löyly into the cold plunge or the freezing winter air mellows him out like nothing else. And the effects carry over into his sleep — which is deeper — and his day-to-day work life as well.

Jeffrey built this sauna by hand. The wood cladding you see on the outside? Salvaged from pallets discarded at a nearby factory. He saw possibility in what was being thrown away, and made something lasting from it. That’s Jeffrey.

This sauna was his dream first. Then it became ours.

Meet Heidi, the nervous system coach, body whisperer and content creator of Finger Lakes Sauna

I grew up the daughter of missionaries, which sounds exotic until you understand what it did to my nervous system. As a kid I was terrified of going to hell and became super alert and careful to make sure I hadn’t inadvertently undone my salvation with a bad thought or a sin I wasn’t even aware of.

Long after no longer believing in hell, my nervous system continued to be primed for hypervigilance. A career in massage therapy and then nervous system coaching has helped me understand and begin to unravel the anxious wiring my body had stored.

Sauna has a way of melting what is stuck and hard: cycling between the heat of the sauna, the soft steam of the loyly, the exhilarating cold plunge… What sauna does is hard to put into words, but “calm, alive and okay” come close.

I’m so glad you’re here!

A smiling man and woman sitting on a wooden bench outdoors, with a wooden deck, a wooden fence, and two metal water tanks in the background.
A smiling man and woman sitting on a wooden bench outdoors, with a wooden deck, a wooden fence, and two metal water tanks in the background.

Hey! We can’t wait to meet you and take care of you at Finger Lakes Sauna!

Book YOUR sauna
A wooden object with a curved handle resting on a round wooden surface, seen through a foggy or blurry glass surface.

Book your sauna session