Recently opened, Skana, the Spa at Turning Stone, is nestled in the 1,200-acre Turning Stone resort, owned by the Oneida Indian Nation, an ideal respite for those seeking serenity. Skana is an Oneida Indian word meaning inner peace and harmony,  and the resort is inspired by ancient Native American healing traditions. Skana’s innovative treatments are infused with such herbs and flowers as sweetgrass and sage. Skana is one of the only spas in North America with an authentic American Indian sweat lodge where guests can spiritually cleanse their bodies and souls in a 3-hour experience in the middle of the woods. After being escorted from the spa by golf cart, you’ll enter one of two soaring 15-foot teepees (the male and female changing rooms) and don a special garment to wear inside the sweat lodge, which is heated by a traditional fire pit and hot stones. Your guide, Kakwira,‚  directs you to sit on a wooden plank floor and then leads you through the sacred ceremony that includes drumming, chanting, and prayers.

Outside of the sweat lodge ceremony, the 33,000-square-foot spa offers such signature treatments as the Sage and White Pine Hot Towel massage, a deep vigorous massage with steaming hot towels infused with Sage and White Pine oil; and A Walk in the Deep Forest, a two-hour couples treatment which includes a soak in a bath of steaming hot milk, oats, and vanilla, followed by a reflexology treatment, and a warm river stone massage. Many of the ninety-five suites have hot tubs on the wrap-around terraces, which overlook rolling farmland and Turning Stone’s five golf courses. Dine at the Skana Spa Cafƒ© or at the award-winning Wildflowers Restaurant, where Chef Daniel Graban creates creative continental cuisine. And when you return to your suite, a Native American Dream Catcher will be waiting on your pillow to catch your bad dreams and banish them with the first light of the new day. For more information call (800) 771-7711 or visit www.turningstone.com

Margie Goldsmith

September/October 2007

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