Peace and Tranquility at Osmosis Day Spa

I have heard a lot about Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary but I’m a workaholic and I’d never made the time to go. It’s located in Freestone, CA which is just 20 minutes from where I live. The marketing manager, Melena Moore, and I have been running into each other at a variety of events for years but it wasn’t until a few months ago when she invited my friend and I to come out and have a cedar enzyme bath that I actually made it there. I can’t believe it took me this long. [See my Flickr photoset of the day.]

There was no cell reception! Score one for relaxation. Once you walk in, you see the resemblance to a Japanese tea garden, quiet and peaceful, with wood lined walls. We checked in for our enzyme baths and were brought into a ladies locker room. Clothes off, robes on, we had our own private tea garden to enjoy. We were served tea that helped digestion while we marveled at the beauty of the outdoor surroundings. I wandered out to enjoy myself and look around while we waited for our bath to be prepared.

The bath chamber was a rectangular box filled with wet cedar chips. There were two places scooped out for my friend and I to lay back in. The two of us were in the same box, which aren’t the easiest to get into, with a view out a big window. The room was steamy and humid. The enzyme chips felt and looked like soggy raisin bran. Imagine being folded into it like a bowl of ingredients, tucked in as if with a warm blanket. There is a moment of claustophobia but when you realize you can pull your arms and legs in and out as you see fit, it passes quickly. We giggled at the odd sensation but ultimately truly enjoyed the 20 minutes of humid warmth. The bath attendant regularly returns to wipe your face with cool cloths and hold a cup and straw up to your lips for drinking. When they help you out of the box, you brush your body free of wood chips with a large brush. The chips get everywhere. This visit I wore a bathing suit, next time I’ll go without. Outside there is a shower to rinse away the wood. I did a pretty thorough job, my friend struggled to get clean.

Next we were brought up to a relaxation room. Laying on pads, we put on headphones to listen to Metamusic® which helped us to further relax and balanced brain wave activity. I wanted to stay in that room all day. The word “peaceful” simply doesn’t do it justice.

We only had the one service so we donned our clothes and headed out onto the grounds to visit the Japanese mediation garden. If you’ve seen Osmosis, you really need to go all the way in because the front doesn’t tell the whole story. From hanging hammocks to the garden itself, the farther you walk, the more removed you become from your stressful life. I found out they have Dharma Morning Meditation where you bring your own cushion and join others in meditation (free of charge).

This peaceful location and the quiet that permeates the grounds was exactly the antidote to the stressful and fast paced life that I live. I want to thank Melena and owner Michael Stusser for hosting me and a friend to come enjoy this experience. In order for me to stay whole and healthy, I do believe that Osmosis may play a large part in it. [See another experience I had at Osmosis just a couple weeks later here.]