A Shaman Experience and Other Wellness Traditions

A Zapotec healer dressed in colorful embroidered clothing, holding a bundle of herbs for a traditional spiritual cleansing ritual in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Ancient Rituals, Modern Renewal: Wellness Traditions Around the World

New Year’s resolutions often conjure images of gym memberships and green smoothies, but true wellness—the kind that endures beyond January—has always been rooted in something deeper. Across the world, cultures have long practiced rituals of renewal, each one shaped by its landscape, history, and belief systems.

Imagine a Zapotec Shaman ceremony in Oaxaca, a meditative soak in a Japanese onsen, the near-spiritual heat of a Finnish sauna, or a morning of movement in Vietnam, where yoga unfolds in the open air. These traditions are not trends; they are inheritances. And through them, we don’t just seek relaxation—we connect with something much older than ourselves.

On our journeys, we don’t just experience these practices but instead, we learn from the people who have preserved them, ensuring that their significance is never lost in translation. Here’s a glimpse into what these moments of wellness feel like, as seen through the lens of tradition.

A Zapotec shaman performing a fire cleansing ritual on a participant lying on woven blankets, surrounded by assistants in traditional clothing.

Oaxaca, Mexico: A Zapotec Shaman Experience for the Soul

The scent of burning copal drifts through the air—sweet, resinous, ancient. In Oaxaca, where the mountains cradle centuries of tradition, the Zapotec people have long practiced rituals of purification, using smoke, prayer, and intention to restore balance to the spirit.

This tradition is led by a local shaman—a guardian of ancestral knowledge. Dressed in woven huipil, they move with quiet purpose, lighting candles, and murmuring words that feel as old as the land itself. The ceremony begins with a gentle sweeping motion, lifting away stagnant energy. The warmth of copal smoke follows, rising in curling tendrils. Eyes closed, breath steady, the sensation is both grounding and weightless at once.

A soft chant fills the space, rhythmic and low, a language of protection and renewal. The shaman’s voice carries with it generations of wisdom, a connection to those who came before. The ceremony is not just about removing the negative—it is about making space for something new.

When it is over, the stillness feels different. Outside, the Oaxacan sun is golden, the earth red with clay, the air thick with the scent of wild marigold. The ritual lingers—not just on the skin, but in the bones and in the unspoken understanding that wellness is not only about the body, but about the unseen as well.

“Our time with the shaman was remarkable – emotionally impactful, deeply personal, and culturally illuminating.”
Sam T. from a recent trip to Oaxaca

A serene Japanese onsen with a round wooden soaking tub, surrounded by dark wood paneling and soft natural light filtering through shoji windows.

Japan: The Quiet Reverence of the Onsen

In the mountains of Japan, steam rises in delicate ribbons from natural hot springs, a reminder that the earth, too, is alive. Onsens are not just a place to bathe; they are an integral part of Japanese culture, a tradition shaped by both geography and philosophy. The volcanic activity beneath the surface has gifted Japan with thousands of thermal springs, each one uniquely mineral-rich, some milky with sulfur, others infused with iron or magnesium.

The ritual is unhurried. Before entering the bath, one must cleanse thoroughly at the washing stations—small stools, wooden buckets, and a slow, meditative process of pouring warm water over oneself. This is not just hygiene; it is respect.

Once inside, the water envelops you, impossibly hot at first, then perfect. The body relaxes in ways it forgot how to. Silence is observed, not out of rule but reverence. In outdoor onsens, snow drapes the rocks in winter, contrasting with the warmth below. In others, the water is dark, opaque with minerals. Some onsens are infused with yuzu in the colder months, their citrus perfume rising with the steam.

Here, wellness is not performative. It is as simple as water and heat, as ancient as the bathhouses of Edo-era Japan.

Towering banyan trees with sprawling roots and lush green foliage, shading a quiet courtyard near a historic Vietnamese temple.

Vietnam: Yoga Beneath the Banyan Trees

In the early morning, when the light is still soft and the air carries the scent of lemongrass and distant woodsmoke, Vietnam wakes slowly. This is when you’ll find people practicing Thể Dục Dưỡng Sinh, a local form of yoga, in quiet courtyards, on the banks of the Perfume River, beneath the sprawling roots of ancient banyan trees.

Vietnamese yoga, influenced by both Indian traditions and Chinese Qi Gong, is fluid—movements designed to align breath with energy, deeply connected to nature. It is not about power poses but about presence. A stretch held just long enough to feel the body awaken. A deep breath that expands the ribs, drinking in the humid morning air.

Nearby, the city hums to life. Cyclo drivers sip strong, egg-sweetened coffee called cà phê trứng, as the scent of grilling pork and freshly baked bánh mì fills the streets. But here, beneath the trees, time slows. The practice is quiet, meditative, grounded not in a studio but in the world itself.

Afterward, breakfast is simple: a warm bowl of cháo, rice porridge with ginger and scallions, eaten slowly, spoonful by spoonful. In Vietnam, wellness is found in the balance—of movement and stillness, of tradition and the moment at hand.

A cozy Finnish sauna with wooden interiors, a crackling wood-burning stove, and traditional sauna buckets, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere.

Lapland, Finland: The Soul of the Finnish Sauna

Stepping into the wooden embrace of a Finnish sauna, the scent of birch and pine immediately takes hold. In Finland, sauna is not a luxury—it is a way of life, as essential as eating or sleeping. There are more saunas here than cars, and the tradition stretches back over two thousand years, rooted in the belief that heat cleanses both body and spirit.

The process is deliberate. First, a slow acclimation to the warmth, which can reach 190°F. A ladle of water over the kiuas—hot stones stacked in the corner—sends a fresh wave of steam, known as löyly, swirling through the room. The heat deepens, pressing into the muscles, and loosening everything. Conversations fall into a natural rhythm or cease entirely. The only sound is the occasional hiss of water meeting stone.

Then, the plunge. Outside, snow stretches endlessly in all directions. A hole has been carved into the ice, a dark void against the frost. The cold is immediate, breathtaking, electric. Blood rushes, skin tingles, and just before it becomes unbearable, you emerge, alive in a way that is almost primal.

This is the cycle: heat, cold, heat again. In its simplicity, it is transformative.

Wellness Beyond the New Year

These rituals were never meant to be quick fixes. They are not trends to be adopted and discarded. Instead, they are testaments to how cultures have long understood the connection between humans and the earth.

On our journeys, we don’t just try these traditions—we experience them through the people who hold them close, ensuring that every step is more than just a visit. These moments are an invitation to not just seek wellness but to redefine it—through stillness, through heat, through breath, through water.

If you find yourself longing for more, for that feeling of stepping out of a shamanic ritual into the cool Oaxacan night, or that first inhale of a sauna’s birch-scented air, you can find your ultimate adventure on one of our expertly curated trips.