If you don’t know this about me already I love Himalayan Salt rooms! The relaxation, the ambiance but most of all the health benefits of breathing in the salt. Yes there are health benefits of putting yourself in a room that is full of pink Himalayan salt. In the medical world it is known as halotherapy (dry salt therapy) and research has shown it is beneficial for lots of different ailments but especially healing for the lungs, skin and immune system.
Having had asthma as a child and my own healing journey of trying everything under the sun to help I fell in love with halo therapy when I first tried it in 2016. Even though I haven’t used my inhaler since I was 17 and no doctor would say I have asthma now I still really enjoyed the benefits of spending 30 minutes in a salt room. Feet up and just breath deep while meditating.
So with the new office and the 8 treatment rooms I wanted one of the rooms to be a Himalayan salt room but with COVID I was thinking shared space for halo therapy was not a great idea at the same time we needed the support for our lungs and immune system now more than ever so I was so grateful when I found a Himalayan salt booth. Best of both worlds, halotherapy with privacy!
Before COVID I was thinking halo therapy was great for 4 things: sinus and lung issues, skin issues, to boost up the immune system and to detox from crappy NYC air. Now with COVID I think halo therapy is a must to stay healthy. We can no longer just assume we are healthy but to take preventative measures to ensure we really do stay as healthy as possible. So we can add wellness care to the list of why one would get halo therapy.
Salt itself is known to be: anti-bacterial, anti-viral, mucolytic (loosens mucus & phlegm) and anti-inflammatory. For this reason I have suggested using a Neti Pot which is specific container that you put warm salt water in to wash your nasal passages and sinuses with. Instead of just rinsing out your sinuses, which is wet salt therapy, halotherapy, or breathing in salt vapor takes the healing properties of salt deep into the body through the lungs and the skin. Breathing in the salt is super cleansing to the body because it’s full of negative ions. How can negative ions help your body? Well, back to Science 101, “A negative ion is an atom that has more electrons than protons, giving the atom a negative electrical charge.” Our bodies are full of positive ions from all the chemical reactions that occur and toxins we have in our bodies. Positive ions also come from electronic devices like computers, TVs, microwaves, and even vacuum cleaners and can often exacerbate problems like allergies, stress and sleep trouble. An ion having a charge is known as a free radical and causes oxidative stress in the body. That's why eating and drinking antioxidants is healthy for your body and now with the Salt Booth you can breath in salt which acts like an antioxidant helping the body to heal. On a much smaller scale you can get a Himalayan salt lamp to have the health benefits at home. I would keep it at your bedside to get the most benefit of breathing in salted air while you sleep. The salt from the lamp automatically goes into the air from the humidity.
When you breath in the salt or negative ions they neutralize positive ions by bonding to them. With less positive charge on the body there is less stress and inflammation on the body and the immune system is boosted. Negative ions occur more often in nature and they are often created by things like lightening storms, sunlight, waterfalls, and ocean waves. This is one of the reasons people often report feeling renewed or refreshed after a storm or at the beach. Other than walking along the ocean, or being outside immediately after a thunderstorm, it’s hard to expose yourself to as many negative ions as you can inside a halotherapy room or booth. It’s an enjoyable way to spend time literally recharging your body!
More than 40 years of research, conducted around the world, shows that treatment with halotherapy has beneficial effects for patients with:
Asthma
Chronic Bronchitis
Sinusitis
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
Allergies
Ear Infections
Various acute or chronic respiratory diseases
Smoker’s cough
Viral infections
Coughs and colds
Chronic ear-nose-throat illnesses
Salt is so good at killing bacteria and viruses that there is new research showing how salt on face masks can decrease the spread of infection.
Acne
Psoriasis
Hives
Eczema
In addition, negative ions have been shown to reduce:
Stress
Headaches and migraines
Lethargy
Depression
High blood pressure
And negative ions can dramatically increase your:
Immune system
Energy
Mental alertness
Overall sense of well-being
As you sit in the salt booth you really want to spend your time taking deep breaths to get the most of your salt treatment. The deeper the breath, the more oxygen can come in per breath. The amount of oxygen that we inhale through our breathing, influences the amount of energy that is released into our cells. On a molecular level, this progresses all sorts of chemical and physiological processes. Breathing is controlled by the autonomic nervous system. The part of our nervous system we don’t have to think about that makes our heart beat and digests our food. There are two parts to the autonomic nervous system, sympathetic and parasympathetic. These two parts control different things in the body. The parasympathetic controls the breathing, digestion, sleep and libido. This is the part of our nervous system that makes us feel relaxed and that is why breathing is so good to do during stressful times. It helps get us out of fight or flight mode. Breathing is also the easiest part of the autonomic nervous system to control and navigate. In fact, the way you breathe strongly affects the chemical and physiological activities in your body. It’s amazing what you can do when you can control your breath. I’m not just talking about how long you can swim under water for but Wim Hof has developed special breathing techniques that keep his body in optimal condition and in complete control in the most extreme conditions. The breathing technique is first and foremost premised on inhaling deeply and exhaling without any use of force! With his controlled breathing the heightened oxygen levels hold a treasure of benefits, more energy, reduced stress levels, and an augmented immune response that swiftly deals with all germs.
Wim Hof got his nickname “The Iceman” by breaking a number of records related to cold exposure. His feats include climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts, running a half marathon above the Arctic Circle on his bare feet, and standing in a container while covered with ice cubes for more than 112 minutes. Patients who have used his method say that it helps with stress and it even helped one patient heal from his eczema and that’s even without the use of halotherapy! He has great youtube videos that I do twice a day to stay healthy and strong.
I’m so excited to bring personalized skin and lung therapy into the office. When I discovered the salt booth not only did I get excited about the booth for privacy during COVID but I also liked the idea that if someone had acne on their back or rashes on their thighs or chest that with the privacy they could expose the skin the air and get even more benefit from the salt treatment. The particles of salt are so small in the air that it won’t make you cough or irritate the skin. It is also super safe for children and even babies. I see a lot of babies with eczema and other skin irritations. I also love that with the salt booth unlike the salt room the concentration of salt particles can be adjusted to offer a more individualized and targeted salt therapy session. Because the concentration of salt is higher in the booth and your the only one breathing it sessions only take 10 minutes. There's nothing you need to do to prepare for your salt booth experience. There are no side effects and you can wear your street clothes in the rooms.
Since salt is a drying agent, I do suggest drinking water afterwards. I also recommend waiting to shower afterwards since rubbing the salt residue on your skin can help soften it and act as an exfoliant. If you stay away from having salt in your diet due to water retention or high blood pressure know that breathing in salt is safe to do and will not affect your water retention or blood pressure.
If that wasn’t enough the salt booth also does sound and light therapy. I love light therapy, which you may already know because we have chakra light therapy and chakra glasses in the office already as forms of light therapy but this is my first type of sound therapy in the office. Sound therapy has been shown to help relieve stress, help people have few headaches, increase focus and energy, have clearer thoughts, improve attention span and Relief from common ailments such as hypertension, stomach pain, depression, and joint pain.
Color therapy has been shown to reduce swelling and decreased inflammation in the body in this way it’s good for accelerating healing and pain relief. Color therapy is also good for:
Increased range of motion
Decreased muscle tension
Improved circulation
Anti-aging benefits,
improve sleep and
Regulated mood including seasonal affective disorder. I recommend full spectrum light bulbs for the middle of winter because we don’t get outside enough and the full spectrum light bulbs literally emit all the electromagnetic rays ranging from infrared to healthy ultraviolet rays which are the wavelengths that are useful to plants.
Now more than ever people are suffering from respiratory issues. I see it in my office now more than I have in the last 15 years. From air pollution to airborne diseases, pollens and toxins our lungs need help to detox. Not only does salt therapy help with the lungs but also the skin and immune system while decreasing the stress on the body. Plus the salt booth adds in privacy, sound therapy and light therapy. A salt booth treatment is $30. Book here, you have to try it the next time you are at the office. You won’t believe the results!
Resources:
In a 2007 study people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) had fewer symptoms and improved quality of life after halotherapy https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18019972/. And in 2014 COPD patients were tested before and after halo therapy and even though lung tests before and after halotherpay didn’t show a difference, 65% of patients were satisfied with halotherapy and requested it again https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4153239/
Halotherapy triggers anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic responses in people with bronchial asthma or chronic bronchitis, according to 2014 research
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4391365/.
Himalayan Salt Lamps -https://healingartsnyc.blogspot.com/2016/06/health-benefits-of-himalayan-salt-lamp.html
Salted Masks - https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39956
Wim Hof - https://youtu.be/wFj6TOYpQG8
Chakra Light Therapy - https://healingartsnyc.com/chakra-light-bed
Sound Healing https://www.healthline.com/health/sound-healing
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