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@elsahavas

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Sauna mama of kind people @warmheartssauna

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In October, when the building of Warm Hearts started, I was saying the final goodbyes to my grandmother in Finland 🕊️

In Amsterdam, our community honored my grandmother’s talent for weaving. Tens of people wove together a sauna bench linen for Warm Hearts, which you can sit on when you visit us.

Eight months after my grandma’s passing, my 87-year-old grandfather decided to make a big adventure from Finland to Amsterdam with my sister and cousin. Having built several saunas in his life, he wanted to experience the one his granddaughter had now founded in Amsterdam🥹

My ”Vaari” got to sit on the benches of Warm Hearts, on top of a linen made by our volunteers to honor my grandmother’s skills. He got to see the A-shape sauna. To hear how Warm Hearts has touched our volunteers’ lives—and of course, about the 200 good deeds our guests have done this spring alone! He got to throw “löyly” on the stove with the spoon he hand-carved for Warm Hearts, and be for the first time in his life in a sauna heated with pellets! Most importantly, grandpa approved the löyly (phew!) The steam was hot and humid! 😜

The three-year ride from a crazy idea of a sauna heated with kindness to a community of over 2,000 people and 150 volunteers from more than 40 nationalities has included all the shades of life.

In times of loss, my warm heart breaks.
But in the moments like this, it heals again.

Until next time, Vaari 😘 taken in Amsterdam, Netherlands by @elsahavas

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a year ago

You know what we need more nowadays? Love and kindness. Especially since all the evil people are going full force nowadays, we definitely need more kindness and we need to spread the love.

Have you met the floating sauna on Sloterplas?

This amazing sauna floats with your good deeds, yes! It floats with actions from the heart, and it is called WARM HEARTS! 🥺

When I met these amazing people, I was subletting an apartment luckily facing the Sloterplas, and one day I saw a cute floating house on the lake!

I immediately rushed to meet them, and I was amazed by the idea and the community. Although that was my first time in my life trying a sauna, I love it. Super calming, helps a lot especially if you are lil’ anxious and panicky person like me 🙋🏻‍♀️

Since then, I’ve been skippering there.

You can contribute to the earth with your good deeds. Or if you wanna book a private sauna session with your friends, you’re more than welcome ❤️

Grab a friend, force them to be a better person, and come try the sauna out! OR, if you love to be a skipper, come volunteer with us!

https://www.warmheartssauna.com/

And thanks to Liam for some of the footage.
#amsterdam taken in Amsterdam, Netherlands by @elsahavas

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5 months ago

Elsa Havas 🧖🏻‍♀️ 𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓶 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼

"An essential part of my practice is asking for help"

@warmheartssauna ⛵️

@jonnelucia 📸
@studio_buymytalent 💈
@danevonk 🗺️
@tobiaskrasenberg 🎬
@tthxmyy 🖍

#floating #sauna #Sloterplas taken in Amsterdam Nieuw-West by @elsahavas

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5 months ago

Last weekend a dream became reality. We hosted the OG’s of sauna universe - 60+ Finn’s & friends coming for a taste of our löyly.

4 hours were not enough so we steamed on for a bit longer. So so cool that we could offer you all a feeling of home.

Big hearts full of steam coming from the polder. We are stoked to make this a seasonal gathering.

Comment HOME if you’d like to join the next one. taken in De tuin van de smid by @elsahavas

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5 months ago

Warm Hearts Podcast episode 5 with Bader wraps up the season in style!! 🚀

🎧 Listen on Spotify (link in bio): Warm Hearts Podcast

Thank you, Bader, who not only opened his restaurant after recording this episode but also became a trusted board member of Warm Hearts ❤️‍🔥🥹

What stuck with you from this episode? And have you already eaten at @hummus.and.habibis at Spaarndammerstraat? 🤤❤️‍🔥 It is 5/5!

PS: How cool are these shots by @tosh_films ?! 🎥🔥

Thank you:
@afk020
@horizoncabins taken in Warm Hearts Sauna by @elsahavas

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8 months ago

Warm Hearts Podcast episode 4 is available to your curious ears right now!! 🤩

🎧 Listen on Spotify (link in bio): Warm Hearts Podcast

Thank you our lovely guest @jennavehvi for pulling back the curtain on what it’s like to be an impact-driven storyteller, journalist and a documentary-maker ❤️‍🔥

What was the most meaningful moment of this episode for you? 💭 Let us know in the comments!

PS: How cool are these shots by @tosh_films ?! 🎥🔥

Thank you:
@afk020
@horizoncabins taken in Warm Hearts Sauna by @elsahavas

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8 months ago

Sauna like a Finn, 6th edition is here!! 🇫🇮

Thursday, Jan 22nd | 18:00–22:00

Join us this time at the magical @badhus_ams, where we kicked off last year’s sauna events too!

This event is for Finns and friends of Finns — basically anyone who’s curious about true Finnish social sauna culture. Let’s let the photos tell the vibe you can expect 😉

Grab your tickets via the link in the bio, and see you in the sauna 👋

❤️‍🔥: Elsa & Badhus team taken in Badhus by @elsahavas

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10 months ago

Happy 1-year birthday, Warm Hearts ❤️‍🔥🥳

Funny enough, even though we built a sauna, it was never about the sauna. It’s always been about the people and the connection our sauna is able to facilitate.

With the efforts of 150 warm-hearted volunteers and 50 skippers, we’ve hosted 476 good doers in our sauna!! We get to hear what good deeds guests have done to make the world a better place, and how strangers have became friends in the sauna. How volunteers have built confidence after many years of loneliness. Community around Warm Hearts has become a home for many new and old Amsterdammers.

Hip Hip Hurraah Warm Hearts, and the impact we’ve made — just in a year ❤️ We’re so proud!

@horizoncabins taken in Buurtwerkplaats Noorderhof by @elsahavas

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10 months ago

Warm Hearts Podcast episode 3 is out!! ❤️‍🔥 What insights stayed with you? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments 💭

🎧 Listen on Spotify (link in bio): Warm Hearts Podcast

@horizoncabins taken in Buurtwerkplaats Noorderhof by @elsahavas

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10 months ago

Warm Hearts Podcast episode 2 is out!! ❤️‍🔥 What moments or insights stayed with you? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments ❤️

🎧 Listen on Spotify (link in bio): Warm Hearts Podcast

@horizoncabins taken in Buurtwerkplaats Noorderhof by @elsahavas

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a year ago

Episode 1: The wildest story of our lives is out now!!!!🥳

The story of Amsterdam’s first floating sauna isn’t polished or perfect 😂

Four strangers met during COVID, and decided to chase a dream bigger than any of them could have done alone.

Sanni @rising.sanni from our community, guides this conversation with so much heart — and of course, from inside the sauna 🔥

Join us to hear what happens when people choose to go after a wild idea together. In this episode, we’re taking you behind the scenes of how four strangers built Warm Hearts, the community sauna in Amsterdam, where you don’t pay with money but with kindness.

🎧 Listen on Spotify (link in bio): Warm Hearts Podcast

@horizoncabins taken in Buurtwerkplaats Noorderhof by @elsahavas

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a year ago

WARM HEARTS PODCAST 🎤

Together with Bobbie Fay Brandsen, Elsa Havas and entire Warm Hearts team, we’re so enthusiastic, nervous but ready to share that the podcast we’ve been working on for loooong time is now LIVE on Spotify! 🤩

Listen the 2-minute teaser from our bio!

The first episode, “The Wildest Story of Our Lives”—the behind the scenes story of how Warm Hearts began, told by our founders Frans, Jorine, Pascal, and Elsa—will be out this Friday!

Each episode has been recorded, where else, then in our sauna — join us in the hot seats to hear what it actually takes to make an impact.

Let the sauna confessions begin! 🤩

@afk020 thank you for support ❤️
@horizoncabins by @elsahavas

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a year ago