Forest Bathing Spa Meditation Retreat

Shinrin-yoku is a term that means “taking in the forest atmosphere” or “forest bathing.” It was developed in Japan during the 1980’s and has become a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine. A robust body of scientific literature now exists on the health benefits of spending time under the canopy of a living forest. Inspired by the Japanese practice and the emerging worldwide trend toward nature-based wellness practices, Osmosis is offering a one-day spa meditation retreat.

Expect a very leisurely walk with a series of guided invitations, ending with “shinrin-yoku tea,” a simple ceremony of drinking tea made of plants foraged along the trail.

The program includes a mindful Forest Bathing walk, a cedar enzyme foot-bath, a revitalizing 75-minute massage or facial, organic lunch, shinrin-yoku tea and time for quiet reflection in the gardens.

Michael Stusser is the founder of Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary. He brings 40 years of meditation practice and a lifetime of wilderness experience to his forest bathing guiding. The very first time he walked on the 6-acre Osmosis property in 1989 he felt a calling from the trees to steward this place. He detected an unmistakable sense that the magic here needed to be shared with others. Michael is becoming a certified forest-bathing guide with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs (ANFT). He is leading a delegation to connect with the origins of the movement in Japan this fall with the organization’s founder Amos Clifford.