The Sonoma area is best known for its wine country, but nearby in the small town of Freestone is a must see zen meditation center called Osmosis Day Spa and Sanctuary.
The spot was founded back in 1985 by Michael Stusser, designed by the British horticulturist Robert Ketchell, and built by the late Steve Stucky. The location was originally the Abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center.
The zen garden is setup to allow guests full freedom to roam in a meditative state, and the employees will come find you when it’s time to head inside for tea, a picnic lunch by the creek, an enzyme bath, or a massage.
Their cedar enzyme bath is unique to North America, and based off a technique that is used frequently in Japan. The process does not actually include any water at all, but steam that rises from the fermentation of enzyme filled cedar and rice bran. Guests essentially sit in the mixture partially covered by it, and then are brushed off at the end before taken into a shower to complete the treatment.
