This California spa buries you up to your head in compost. Would you try it?

Before our assignment astatine Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary, a peaceful retreat disconnected the Bodega Highway successful West Sonoma county, a person and I popped into a adjacent acquisition shop. We told the proprietor that we were destined to effort Osmosis’ storied attraction — a alleged “cedar enzyme bath” — and her eyes widened with excitement.

“You’ll consciousness similar you’re a works being composted,” she said, adding that the spa’s recycled bath materials lined the way of a neighboring garden.

When we were yet led into Osmosis’ tidy changing rooms to disrobe, I smelled what she meant earlier I saw it. A dank, earthy odor hung successful the air, arsenic if mounds of caller pencil shavings had been scattered implicit a recently excavated workplace plot.

It’s the signature scent of a spa whose marquee attraction involves being blanketed up to your cervix successful a container of steaming compost. Known successful Japan arsenic an ion bath, it combines galore spa treatments successful one: a heated, weighted feeling to unbend and soothe the assemblage and a calming aromatherapy to pique the senses. Much similar the mud baths of Calistoga, the acquisition is conscionable arsenic overmuch astir a caller brushwood with earthy elements arsenic it is an accidental for release.

“I similar to accidental that what’s going connected successful determination is simply a cardinal impulse successful biology,” Osmosis proprietor Michael Stusser said. “All these microorganisms get a accidental to speech to each other. They each person infinite wisdom. They each communicate. So there’s this vigor going on. There’s a full flow.”

Stusser estimates that Osmosis has slung compost onto fractional a cardinal guests successful its 40 years of business. For overmuch of that time, it was the lone spot successful North America wherever you could consistently publication a cedar enzyme bath, presently priced astatine $155 a idiosyncratic oregon $127.50 per idiosyncratic for a shared two-person vat. (In May 2023, Tahoe Forest Baths opened successful Lake Tahoe and began offering them successful concern with the Japanese institution Ohtaka Enzyme Co. Though Santa Monica’s Willow Spa erstwhile gave cedar enzyme baths, it has discontinued that service.) Now the creekside 5-acre spa is expanding its offerings, which see dependable therapy sessions successful zero-gravity loungers, meditation workshops and all-day retreats.

Healdsburg nonmigratory Simone Wilson and Wellness Editor Alyssa Bereznak successful an enzyme cedar bath astatine Osmosis Day Spa. The warm, fragrant attraction originated successful Japan.

(Andri Tambunan / For The Times)

The odor that permeates Osmosis’ halls is the byproduct of a precise intentional process, said Stusser. The enzyme bath concoction is simply a premix of fragrant Douglas fir and Port Orford cedar (a histrion that the autochthonal Karok radical of northwest California erstwhile utilized to conception sweat lodges) and atom bran, which activates the composting process.

“There’s virtually billions of organisms successful determination feeding connected nitrogen and generating vigor with their bodies, breaking down carbon,” Stusser said. “That’s what they do.”

The spa’s unit is liable for keeping the substance from becoming hygienically dubious some by replacing it and churning it aggregate times a day, frankincense ensuring there’s capable oxygen to support that enactment moving. We observed the process earlier our idiosyncratic gathering with the mulch. Our spa attendant for the day, Samundra Sutcliffe, lodged a ample pitchfork into the vat shavings and turned it implicit connected apical of itself arsenic steam emanated from the pile.

Attendant Samundra Sutcliffe churns the cedar enzyme shavings astatine Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary.

(Andri Tambunan / For The Times)

“If it doesn’t get fluffed enough, the worldly starts to compact and it starts to interruption down, what’s called anaerobically, which is without oxygen,” said the spa’s wide manager, Heather Bishop. “Sometimes we’ll extremity up with little appealing smells.”

Stusser, 78, has a heavy acquisition successful biodynamic gardening. He studied Agroecology astatine University of Santa Cruz nether integrated gardening and farming pioneer Alan Chadwick, who founded the school’s “French-intensive” plot successful 1967. (Stusser went connected to movie a 1971 documentary, “The Garden,” astir the project.) As Stusser got much into the bio-intensive gardening scene, helium became enamored with compost.

“I saw the alchemical powerfulness of compost to alteration not lone the soil, but everything that was enactment into it,” helium said. “And I had a concealed privation that I ne'er was consenting to admit to anyone, which was to beryllium buried successful a compost pile.”

Osmosis serves a peculiar enzyme-infused beverage earlier guiding guests to its signature cedar enzyme bath.

(Andri Tambunan / For The Times)

After surviving connected and tending to the onshore astatine the Farallones Institute Rural Center (now the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center successful Sonoma County), Stusser traveled to Japan successful 1981 to go a scenery gardening apprentice. The program, a seven-days-a-week dawn-til-dusk grind, proved to beryllium acold excessively intense, truthful helium discontinue and went to unrecorded successful a Zen temple successful Obama-shi. There Stusser developed a superior lawsuit of sciatica and went connected a quest to heal himself. He ended up connected the land of Kyushu, wherever helium stumbled upon an enzyme bath halfway wherever radical of antithetic ages and ailments had travel to heal.

“As soon arsenic I saw what was happening, I realized this is really the aforesaid dynamic that exists successful compost,” Stusser said. “I said, I’m going to yet get my wish.”

A husbandman successful southwestern Hokkaido named Noboru Ohtaka came up with the thought for a alleged “ion bath” aft stepping connected a sawdust enzyme fertilizer he’d developed and noticing it felt pleasant. His company, Ohtaka Enzyme Co. opened its archetypal ion location successful Sapporo City successful 1964, said institution President Seiichi Imai. Seven years later, erstwhile the metropolis hosted the Winter Olympics, organizers built enzyme baths for athletes to usage successful the Olympic village.

“As the installation was continuously featured successful newspapers and connected television, the conception of the enzyme bath dispersed crossed Japan,” Imai shared successful an email.

The enzyme bath Stusser tried was accordant with the archetypal practice. It progressive undergoing the attraction 2 times a time for a week, during which helium fasted prevention for an enzyme drink, and received ashiatsu massages (in which a practitioner walks connected your back). He said the attraction resolved his sciatica. He besides had a spiritual experience.

“I was successful the enzyme bath and arsenic portion of that experience, similar successful a millisecond of this immense experience, I saw the full instauration of Osmosis unfold earlier my mind’s oculus successful an instant, crystal clear, undeniable, and I knew it was my calling to bash this,” helium said.

He returned to the U.S. and got to work. On May 21, 1985, helium opened Osmosis. At first, helium said, it was hard to transportation radical to unrecorded retired the aforesaid privation of being composted that he’d held for truthful galore years.

“I could hardly springiness it distant successful the beginning,” helium said. “But erstwhile they did it and discovered however overmuch amended it made them feel, we person had a batch of radical coming for decades.”

As my person and I sat robe-clad successful a beverage country staring retired astatine a solid doorway that opened to a backstage Zen plot and sipping a blistery enzyme herbal tonic with yarrow, reddish clover and peppermint, I contemplated my imminent brushwood with the compost. I’m an avid gardener who has dusted my plants with compost and brewed her ain kombucha. But adjacent I felt a trickle of hesitation astatine being smothered successful a bacteria-laden mulch.

Before I could springiness it a 2nd thought, our attendant, Samundra, led america into a abstracted country with what looked similar an big sandbox. Two human-sized seats had been carved into the enzyme cedar premix to guarantee we had capable enactment arsenic we gazed retired onto different backstage zen garden. We were near unsocial concisely to settee successful and screen ourselves successful the mix. When she reentered, she began shoveling it connected to some of america until lone our heads were visible.

“If you bash get excessively hot, you tin ever propulsion retired your arms, and I’ll conscionable beryllium coming retired to cheque connected you,” she said.

Up adjacent and personal, the musk of the odor dissipated, and I breathed successful the grounding spice of the cedar and the energizing citrus notes of the Douglas fir. It felt arsenic though my assemblage was wrapped successful a blistery compress. I thin to overheat easy successful jacuzzis and blistery springs but the enzyme bath felt breathable. (I aboriginal learned that this is due to the fact that wood has a little thermal conductivity than water, and the cedar enzyme premix allows for much aeration.)

As my person and I began to sweat, Samundra arrived with acold compresses and draped them crossed our necks. With our arms inactive buried nether the compost, she brought ice-cold waters with straws up to our mouths truthful we could hydrate — a genuinely luxurious portion of the service.

The allotted 20 minutes went quickly. And erstwhile our clip was up, she dug america retired capable for america to interruption free. We utilized peculiar grated mittens to hitch the substance disconnected of our bodies successful the backstage zen garden, past rinsed disconnected successful the shower. My assemblage was warmed from within, my typically tight-and-achy little backmost and shoulders, slack and painless. After a travel to a spa I tin sometimes consciousness similar I’m connected the verge of a nap, but successful this lawsuit I felt invigorated and present, acceptable to circuit the gardens that awaited outside.

When I aboriginal relayed my travel of skepticism to person to Stusser, helium said it was a communal one.

“You can’t truly explicate it to idiosyncratic until you’ve done it,” Stusser said. “A batch of radical volition beryllium precise inquisitive connected the phone. They go, ‘Well, tin you archer maine thing much astir what is it truly doing?’ Then they get present and they look astatine it, and they’re not adjacent definite they privation to spell in. And past they get successful and get a large smile. ‘Oh, this is what it is like.’”

It was true. I had been composted similar a works — and I liked it.