What happens when you combine sandy yoga, sea dips, a wood-fired sauna, and a bunch of brilliant humans on a Scottish beach? Just the best kind of morning. One we’re already planning to repeat.

Last Saturday morning, we set our alarms early, packed up yoga mats, mugs, and goody bags, and made our way to Portobello, Edinburgh, for our Mini Day Retreat. A collaboration we’ve been looking forward to for a long time.

We’ve wanted to do something with Zara Estelle for years. We first met her when she came on one of our retreats, and like so many retreat connections, we stayed in touch. Ever since, we’d been bouncing around the idea of bringing our communities together. And last weekend, we finally went and did it!

We kicked off the morning with a grounding vinyasa flow led by Laura and Zara. Practising yoga on the beach is always fun, especially with that Scottish sea breeze (IYKYK). I was still finding sand in my hair days later 😂. Saturday morning face exfoliation: complete.

There were plenty of wobbles, laughing, dogs charging past mid-warrier three... What’s not to love? And then... THE SUN CAME OUT. Joyous. For those of you living in Scotland, you’ll understand the need for full caps. Movement, breath, sea, sky, attempting to stand on one leg, pure joy.

Then it was time for the sauna and sea dips. And the thing we really noticed is, it doesn’t matter if you swim in the sea every day or if it’s your very first time, it never stops being magic. That full-body reset, the blast of cold followed by the slow thaw of sauna heat. Some of us tiptoed in, some ran and dived (!), some swam, some bobbed.

The rest of the morning passed in a rhythm of hot > cold > hot > cold, with chats along the beach in between. Afterwards, the wonderful team at Soul Water Sauna poured us a cuppa, and we chatted and people-watched in the sun. Also, wondering: are we still in Scotland?

We so loved spending the morning with regulars from the Blue Spaces family, and meeting some of Zara’s brilliant crew from Tribe Yoga.

There’s nothing quite like that feeling of spending the whole morning outdoors. A reminder of how it really is about the simple things: people, community, sea air, the beach, hot/cold, movement, breath, and lots and lots of fresh air.

It also confirmed something we already knew: we want to do more of this.

So yes, we’re already planning the next one.

This event sold out in under two days (!). So if you’d like to be the first to hear when the next one’s happening (or just want more movement, nature and a little adventuring in your life), come and join us. We’d love to see you on the sand next time.

Join the waitlist!

Blue Spaces Wellbeing x Zara Estelle
Portobello, 28 June 2025
Yoga | Sauna | Sea Dips

P.S. If you missed it, you can read an article from Zara on Reclaim Your Energy: A Nutritionist’s Tips to Combat Burnout here.

With love,

Laura & Nikita x