elsewhere sauna a quiet place for wild minds

we make
with our heart in our hands

We pay respect to sweat bathing traditions around the world. Sauna has migrated from the Finnish culture, stretching this practice globally. The liminal space of sauna is a portal between expansion and contraction, a sanctuary where you may wash off the old, release previous experiences and turn yourself over completely to the cleansing process of the elements to support and permeate your body.

Elsewhere Sauna is 100% female owned and operated by

artist, designer, maker, risk taker

Selena de Carvalho

We never do anything alone.

Crafting Elsewhere Sauna was a considered approach with care for materials, their origin and learning new skills. Beginning this journey with the purchase of a dilapidated retro-box trailer Selena found on gumtree. The original trailer was stripped to a shell, rebuilding the floor, painting the exterior, originally crafted in collaboration with Nanna Bayer, for the most part Nanna’s foundational contribution has been replaced and remade as time wears it’s mark and the roads are windy. The sauna is lined with radiata pine, a low impact plantation timber, the furniture is crafted from recycled western red cedar and the door combines celery top and radiata. Handmade tiles feature around the hearth. Blacksmith Pete Mattila made the metal door hinges and Ben Beams crafted hooks other detailings. The canvas awning was end of the roll Australian made cotton canvas fabric. Fully devoted to the process of breathing life back into this 1950’s council mess room on wheels. Elsewhere Sauna is an artwork and a sanctuary.

Sauna is a place where we go to sweat, cleanse the body and mind, to cure from illness, socialise and relax… a spirit house that acts as a container for returning to self, and connecting with others. Sauna assists us in recognising our ecological interdependence through enlivening the sensory experience. In sauna we all are equal and vulnerable, the journey is a transformational ritual that opens the heart and calms the nervous system.

reset // rewire // release // re-member

What is the fuel we feed the fire of our lives…

Elsewhere Sauna understands that the secret to sauna is the combustion of stored sunlight, wood ignites to release the carbon energy of heat. The fire wood we choose to heat Elsewhere Sauna is plantation sourced from an accredited member of the Firewood Association of Australia.

Humans have always gathered around fire, it is a deep time companion in our evolution story.

Core Values

Ritual over routine
We believe in slow, meaningful experiences that restore balance and deepen awareness—guided by ancient wisdom and natural rhythms.

Small is powerful
As a female-founded, independent business, we embrace scale with intention—choosing integrity, creativity, and purpose over growth for growth’s sake.

Sustainability as sacred
From the materials we build with to the landscapes we inhabit, we honour the earth with every decision—crafting a regenerative business that gives more than it takes.

Connection is medicine
Our saunas are places of shared humanity—where all are welcome, vulnerability is held with care, and belonging is cultivated.

Wellness is collective
We aim to support not just personal well-being, but the health of communities and the ecosystems we’re part of.