Altær’s Mission

Altaer was born from a moment of guilt, alchemized into a passion for stewardship and reciprocity. Founder, Kayla Sibilia, was taking a cold plunge in Rhode Island’s ocean while her car idled on the shore. The water was a living entity freely relieving her pain, and she felt she was putting pain right back into its ecosystem, without nurturing what healed her.

In that moment she felt both deep loneliness and a real kinship with another force. She believes the Ocean reminded her, in that moment, of her family’s sauna in Vermont, where she tended the fire and earned the name “Fire Starter.” Tending to the elements of sauna- the water, steam, flames, is stewardship to nature which heals.

Altær Sauna in Rhode Island and Massachusetts grew from that moment: a wood-fired beach sauna built to consciously work with elements, not against them.

It Begins with Sauna

Ash, Altær’s first mobile sauna, now retired, was created to foster trust in the unfoldment of the human experience.

The second, Silky Sifaka, honors the “Angels of the Forest,” the critically endangered lemurs of Madagascar. Silky’s intention is to invite each guest to call upon their intrinsic gifts.

The third, Ginkgo, draws inspiration from the 200-million-year-old tree. Ginkgo's intention is to build social resiliency within each guest.

For Altær, sauna is a practice of human connection and cultural tradition. A profound reverence for life emerges when people share space in nature’s contrasts: sauna and open water, heat and cold, solitude and community. In these moments, vulnerability feels less isolating and resilience becomes easy to hold onto.

Altær has been featured in VOGUE, Women’s Health, Providence Journal, Best of Rhode Island, RI Monthly, ABC, NBC, Newport Life, Discover Newport, Shou Sugi Ban House, and other publications.