We were visited recently by a gifted writer, Boris Fishman, who was writing a story for Travel + Leisure about our region. Needless to say, we felt deeply grateful and excited!
The article was published in the February 2022 print edition on page 100 and is now available online. It is a wonderful story about the special nature of our Russian River neighborhood with profiles on some of the most interesting people and places to visit.
Boris found our one-of-a-kind heat treatment, the Cedar Enzyme Bath, much to his liking. Our Cedar Enzyme Bath is a unique therapeutic body treatment from Japan, found nowhere else on this continent. It is a bathing ritual that involves immersing your entire body in a mixture of soft and fragrant ground cedar and rice bran with living enzymes.
If you have not experienced the Cedar Enzyme Bath for yourself, it is time to book a visit now! You can improve your health, exfoliate your skin, and reduce overall stress all in one treatment. This unique experience is also a great way to prepare your body for a relaxing massage.
Osmosis Day Spa offers numerous packages allowing you to create the right combination of services to maximize your visit! Convenient online booking can be found at the following link osmosis.com/online-reservations. Plus, learn more of the lasting benefits here.
And, finally, we invite you to check out our feature and a lovely roundup of West County in Travel + Leisure!
We have arrived into a new month and season, and the rejuvenating alchemy of the Cedar Enzyme Bath is the most unique therapeutic body treatment you didn’t know you needed – until now. Recommit yourself to continued wellness through the agency of holistic care. Found nowhere else on this continent, our Cedar Enzyme Bath is a Japanese bathing ritual where the body is immersed in a mixture of soft, fragrant ground cedar and rice bran, complete with living enzymes.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
Beginning with a hot enzyme tonic beverage designed to work synergistically with the Enzyme Bath, enjoy an invigorating boost to your metabolism and a dynamic body therapy experience. This full-body cedar compress stimulates the brain’s limbic system, cleanses and tones muscular tissues, and improves the central nervous system. Bathers conclude this treatment feeling significantly rejuvenated and deeply relaxed. Soothe your body, detoxify, and relieve body pain and fatigue. The Cedar Enzyme Bath is recommended for people seeking a powerful energetic shift; release from anxiety and stress; physical comfort from soreness and tension; and overall revitalization in mind, body, and spirit.
WHEN CAN I RESERVE MY ENZYME BATH?
Cool, wet weather make this an especially good time of year to cozy up in the Cedar Enzyme Bath. Currently reservations during the week are possible on shorter notice. Consider a mid-week refresh by jumping into a warm and wonderful enzyme tub at Osmosis. Weekend appointments are more limited.
GIFT A TREATMENT FOR YOURSELF OR OTHERS
Experience the ultimate benefits of this treatment by gifting yourself a future visit or sending a digital gift card to a special someone. Deepen and intensify your wellness for the newly-arrived season and beyond.
As we prepare to reopen indoors, Osmosis would like to ensure our community of guests and staff understand the extensive measures we have taken to treat the inside air at Osmosis.
Breathe Easy
We installed a state-of-the-art air cleaning system in July, called Atmosair, at Osmosis. We feel it is imperative to do everything in our power to protect you and our guests. This system in combination with the 4-stage HEPA filters in every room provides a high level of hygienic indoor air quality.
The system we have installed in our HVAC equipment is called bipolar ionization. It energizes the air to form bipolar — positive and negative — air ions that flows into all of the spaces in our building.
AtmosAir’s technology proactively emits bi-polar ions that attack and neutralize bacteria, mold and virus in a continuous way. Unlike many unverified products, AtmosAir Solutions is backed by science. Bi-Polar Ions emitted to ambient air by the AtmosAir System continuously disinfect both the breathing space and surfaces. It is the most effective system for continuously cleaning and decontaminating indoor air. AtmosAir has shown significant reduction of bacteria and viruses in both laboratory and in situ testing. AtmosAir is over 99.9 percent effective in reducing the coronavirus on surfaces.
This excerpt from a paper written by Dr. Philip M. Tierno Jr., Professor of Microbiology and Pathology, New York University School of Medicine in April 2017 provides details on the air purification system that has been installed in the Osmosis HVAC system.
Cleaning Indoor Air using Bi-Polar Ionization Technology
Bipolar ionization is created when an alternating voltage source (AC) is applied to a special tube with two electrodes. When voltage is applied to the tubes electrodes (like electricity is applied to a light bulb’s filament) an ionization field is produced around the tube (just as light is produced from the light bulb). However, the ionization cannot be seen but its presence will result in “mountain air” freshness. Such ions occur naturally especially on mountain tops and waterfalls, where the production of both positive and negative ions purify the air.
The airflow distributes the energized ions into all spaces served by the duct system in an in-duct installation.
Unlike most air purification systems AtmosAir seeks out particulates and contaminants, including germs and does not wait for pollutants to find their way into the filter within the air handler. Instead charged ions go to the contaminants in the space where you breathe, just as in nature, and do so in a continuous fashion and with continuous disinfection.
These positively and negatively charged ions have an effect on dust particles, allergen VOC’s, odors, and bacteria, viruses, molds and mold spores. For example, regarding particles—oppositely charged ions cause particles to attract to other particles and become bigger and heavier, by a process called “agglomeration”. These bigger heavier particles can now be better trapped by HVAC system filters so the filters operate more efficiently. Also the many small particles that are generated within a space by people and their activities may never get to system filters and ordinarily stay suspended in air for long periods and can be breathed in, increasing the chance of illness and respiratory distress. The bi-polar ion process will drop these to the floor quickly taking them away from where we breathe. VOC’s or gaseous chemical off gasses typically cause odors and irritations. These are also a major source of “Sick Building Syndrome” complaints, where people feel ill at work but feel better when they leave the building. Bi-Polar ions break down hydrocarbon chains that make up these complex compounds into immeasurable levels of carbon dioxide and water vapor.
On micro-organisms like bacteria, virus and molds, bi-polar ions will interrupt the reproductive ability of these organisms so rather than colony forming units (cfu) increasing and spreading and expanding, they shrink away and lessen the chance of infection. The Effect of Bipolar Ionization generators on microorganisms: The negative and positive ions that are generated by BPI are designed to treat and allow energy imparted by the ions to transform ordinary oxygen into Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), Superoxides, Peroxides, and Hydroxyls. These ions have the property of clustering around micro-particles, and thus, they surround harmful substances such as airborne mold, viruses, bacteria and allergens. At that point, a chemical reaction occurs on the cell membrane surface, and they are transformed into OH radicals, which are powerfully active (Standard Oxidation Potential [V] = 2.81 for OH vs H2O2 = 1.78 and OO2 = 1.23) and because they are unstable, they rob the harmful substance of a hydrogen atom (H). The result is that they are inactivated by severing the protein on cell membrane, which causes the opening of holes, thusly destroying the entity. The OH radicals instantly bond with the removed hydrogen(H), forming water vapor (H2O) which returns to the air. It is most important to note that bipolar ionization kills microbes without damaging DNA (therefore it does not cause cancer) in the interior of cells and unlike other physical and chemical agents, such as UV light, radioactivity and use of caustic chemicals, BPI is totally GREEN and it does NOT adversely affect the environment in any way. —
Enjoy riding and training on the infamous roads of Sonoma County? Are you a resident or a visitor hoping to get more out of your training and riding on our beautiful roads? Wishing you could recover quicker, more completely and get more from each workout? Try a visit to Osmosis, conveniently located in Freestone. With a bike-friendly environment and its unique offering of Cedar Enzyme Baths, Osmosis is an ideal training tool for any cyclist.
An Enzyme bath is an ideal means to totally relax and revive after a vigorous workout. This Japanese heat treatment is a biologically induced process that removes lactic acid from your muscles, reduces inflammation, and increases mobility. Former National and World Champion and Sonoma County resident Giana Roberge, AKA the Speed Queen, became a true believer following a grueling 30 European tour when she was totally resurrected after one Cedar Enzyme Bath treatment.
The Cedar Enzyme Bath was an amazing experience. It made me feel clean, energized, revitalized, more flexible and the muscle soreness that had plagued me for weeks was gone after one treatment. It became part of my training regime for my most stressful training blocks.
Choose one of our packages combining a Cedar Bath with a 75-minute massage from one of our gifted body workers and you have a post cycling experience designed to maximize your hard work by giving your body a complete and cleansing recovery. Fully restored, detoxed, and flexible means better blood flow in your muscles which will not only allow them to work harder but they will be less likely to incur injury. With flexible and clean muscles, fatigue will be less, power output will increase, and you will, literally, be able to pedal faster.
Our exceptional spa services and serene meditation garden add up to a fantastic enhancement to your Sonoma cycling experience. Osmosis is extending a special welcome mat to all cyclists. Ride in during the month of August 2018 and get a FREE Pagoda Upgrade!
The heat in the Enzyme Bath is produced biologically by the activity of microorganisms, which also produce their own electrochemical environment. When the largest organ of the body, the skin, comes in direct contact with this intense metabolic activity, the heat and energy benefit your body in many ways.
The benefits of the Cedar Enzyme Bath not only support but deepen the benefits of massage.
Heat treatment, such as the Cedar Enzyme Bath, is well known to benefit muscle soreness and pain in a variety of ways:
The blood vessels of the muscular system are dilated with heat therapy, which in turn, increases the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles, helping to heal damaged tissue, such as muscle strains.
Heat stimulates the sensory receptors in the skin, which means the Cedar Enzyme Bath may aid in decreasing the transmissions of pain signals to the brain, thus relieving discomfort associated with muscle pain.
If you are sore after an increased workout, the heat combined with the metabolic activity of the enzymes will help to move lactic acid build up, which creates that sensation of muscle soreness, out of the tissues.
Heat will help soften the muscular tissue for your massage. This enables your massage therapist, working on stiff, tight or “knotted” areas to reach deeper layers of tissue enabling a deeper release of muscle tension.
Finally, because heat will decrease the transmission of pain signals to the brain, the Cedar Enzyme Bath can address the “hurt all over” pain or discomfort associated with fibromyalgia, the rheumatic diseases, drug side effects, vitamin D deficiency and sleep deprivation.
It is important to note that while heat therapy, such as the Cedar Enzyme Bath, can aid in the relief of many types of muscular soreness, pain or discomfort, there are certain types of pain for which heat is not suggested. Never apply heat to an infected area. Never apply heat to a fresh injury characterized by inflammation. Ice is soothing to inflamed tissue. Lastly, heat is contraindicated for the flare-up certain arthritic conditions.
Heat is primarily for relaxation, comfort, and reassurance, taking the edge of several kinds of body pain, mostly duller persistent pains associated with muscle stiffness, soreness due to lactic acid, or muscular cramping or spasm. Heat is reassuring and this reassurance, through applied neurology, is analgesic.
The next time you book a Cedar Enzyme Bath at Osmosis, try one of our packages that couples the bath with a massage, and find out for yourself how much the bath deepens and enhances the benefits of your massage. The combination of services in our package offerings is no accident. Osmosis offers the Cedar Enzyme Bath in a variety of spa packages combining the bath with a massage. These include the Rejuvenation Package, the Transformation package, the Specialty Package, Bath as Medicine, the Ultimate Experience and our couple’s package called the Warmth of Love.
Raizelah Bayen is the Spa Services Manager at Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary. She has 25 years in the field of massage, 15 years as a massage and yoga instructor, and is additionally certified in acupressure, herbology and aromatherapy. Her teaching specialties include Eastern Massage Modalities and Acupressure, Body Mechanics for Bodyworkers, and Integrative Wellness workshops, weaving herbs, aromatherapy, self-massage and yoga into a cohesive themed workshop, such as the one above. If you are interested in hosting a workshop, please contact Raizelah at raizelah@osmosis.com. For more information, connect with Raizelah Bayen on LinkedIn.
Please contact raizelah@osmosis.com for information on upcoming trainings in T’ui Na, Shiatsu, Thai Massage, Foot Reflexology, and Body Mechanics for Bodyworkers scheduled in Sebastopol, California. Or book Raizelah for an on-site training in your massage school or spa in T’ui Na, Shiatsu, Thai Massage, Foot Reflexology or Body Mechanics for Bodyworkers.
Raizelah Bayen is the Spa Services Manager at Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary. She has 25 years in the field of massage, 15 years as a massage and yoga instructor, and is additionally certified in acupressure, herbology and aromatherapy. Her teaching specialties include Eastern Massage Modalities and Acupressure, Body Mechanics for Bodyworkers, and Integrative Wellness workshops, weaving herbs, aromatherapy, self-massage and yoga into a cohesive themed workshop, such as the one above. If you are interested in hosting a workshop, please contact Raizelah at