meet the Beach Box Sauna masters
Liz watson
luisa villar
steph Gibb
Liz is the co-founder and CEO of Beach Box and a dedicated Sauna Master with over eight years of experience in sauna practice. For the past four years, she has hosted a weekly Wednesday community session, creating a consistent and welcoming space for people to experience the benefits of regular sauna, connection, and rest.
With a background as a complementary health practitioner, Liz’s approach is rooted in holistic wellbeing, community care, and traditional sauna culture.
When you sit with Luisa you feel held. She holds a grounding, relaxing and nurturing space, for you to be yourself, a space to connect to your inner self, your home, your inner light, in whatever shade it may be in that moment.
She shares her training, experience, and wisdom with you. With a background of 20 years in NHS mental health nursing, Luisa’s journey into sauna and holistic practice grew from her own need for balance, self-care, and resilience while supporting others.
Steph specialises in creating immersive, creative Aufguss experiences and is known for her monthly themed rituals at Beach Box, taking guests on a multi-sensory journey through heat, scent, sound, and movement.
She competed in the UK Aufguss Championships last year alongside Dan from Nomadic Sauna with their comedy performance Brits Abroad, which had the entire sauna in hysterics and earned them second place, taking them through to the play-offs in Germany.
Jill farrell
Steve Bowers
Mika Valentini
Jill is known for her calm, grounding presence and her nurturing approach to creating welcoming spaces for rest, relaxation, and connection. Naturally humble, she creates deeply nourishing sauna experiences where people feel safe to slow down, soften and simply be themselves.
With a deeply empathetic nature, Jill’s sessions encourage guests to reconnect with their emotions, feel good in themselves and leave feeling lighter, calmer and cared for.
Steve leads the popular Men’s Recharge sessions in collaboration with Joel from Brighton Icebreakers Community. He also created the weekly Sunday Silent Reflection sessions, offering calmer, more meditative sauna experiences centred around stillness and wellbeing.
Passionate about the benefits of sauna, cold water and meaningful connection, Steve creates welcoming spaces where people can slow down, reset and recharge away from the pressures of everyday life.
Mika grew up in Munich, Germany, where sauna culture and Aufguss are part of everyday life so you could say sauna is in his blood! He has been part of the Beach Box Sauna team since the very start, growing alongside the space and developing a deep, almost symbiotic relationship with the saunas he works in.
As Beach Box’s resident German Aufguss Master, Mika brings authentic sauna traditions to his popular fortnightly clothing-optional events, first launched during Brighton Fringe two years ago.
Kat Cosgrove
Sally Holme
Grace Church
Kat’s sauna mastery style is grounding, explorative, soothing, sensory and engages the magic of nature. Kat’s popular Herbal Wisdom rituals at Beach Box offer a gathering of kindred spirits, weaving steam, scent, and spellbinding intention into a practice of empowerment and self-care.
Blending Lithuanian Pirtis rituals with the herbal folklore of the British isles and beyond, Kat will take you on a journey integrating seasonal foraged flora from our beautiful Sussex downs.
Sally’s sauna style is grounded, intuitive and deeply sensory. Drawing on traditional practices using leaf whisks and carefully layered heat, she creates sessions that feel calming, immersive and restorative rather than performative.
As someone in recovery herself, Sally is especially passionate about creating spaces that support nervous system regulation, connection and healing for people navigating addiction, recovery and emotional overwhelm.
Born and bred in Brighton, Grace has been telling stories and creating theatre since the age of five. Formerly the Events Manager at Community Sauna Baths, Grace co-led Myth Mondays – immersive sessions blending storytelling, sauna, and ritual.
Alongside her creative practice, Grace is currently training in Humanistic Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University of Brighton, with a deep interest in the intersection of wellbeing, ritual, and the arts.
Ellen Miller
Ellen has trained in Aufguss, having completed sauna master training with Anada’s Deborah Carr this year in March. She loves classic Aufguss – in a silent sauna, allowing the essential oils, the steam and the heat to get the most out of the sauna.