Recently I wrote a roundup of holistic therapies in available in Columbia for COLAtoday (and I didn't even hit on half of them) but I got the most questions about the salt spa! Due to space restrictions I couldn't go too much into it but here I have unlimited word space so let's chat about the salt spa.
Salt spas (also called salt rooms or salt caves) are pretty simple but powerful health tools. The ones I've been in are enclosed rooms with a special fan that blow in salt that's been crushed into insanely fine particles. In each space you'll find ground Himalayan pink salt lining the floors, and gravity chairs lined up around the room. From there, depending on the level of fancy, there are also often rope lights embedded in the floor salt to give the room a lovely pink glow, and some have salt wall art or salt covering the walls, again, often with lights to give it an ethereal glow. The point of spending 45 minutes to an hour laying in a room where you're breathing in teeny tiny salt particles is that the salt acts as a scrub brush for your lungs, to put it in simple terms.
Breath of Salt
I spoke at length with Brenda Streett, who owns Breath of Salt, the only salt spa in the Midlands. It's located at 817 Moss Creek Drive in Cayce. Park in the driveway or in front of the house, and enter through the garage, up the steps to the finished room over the garage, and fill out a little paperwork. Once it's time for your turn in the salt room, where there may or may not be others too, you need to be in white socks to enter the room. Plan on a blissful 45 minutes with your thoughts, or catch up on sleep since electronics are not allowed. Smokers are not allowed either, as to keep the small room as free from allergens as possible for sensitive breathers. Blankets are available but the room is kept at a balmy temperature for a comfortable session. Light yoga-style music plays in the room, so just relax into the gravity chair and breath deeply to get the most out of the salty air.
I suffer from pretty bad allergies especially springtime when the pollen is in the air, and in the autumn when leaves and their particles are floating around in the air. I really enjoy the benefits of the salt spa, though I don't make it there as often as I should for optimal lung health. Brenda was also telling me about an elementary school teacher that goes two to three times a week to keep her immune system strong with so many germy kids around all day. Now that's some commitment to good health that we all need to have.
Salt sessions are most effective when they are done on a regular basis, but even one session is beneficial. To book a session, visit their website or call 803-772-7258. Bonus points: they are open on weekends, which is great for the office dweller who often can't make weekday appointments. If you want to know more, Brenda is a fantastic resource. She retired from her previous career and is currently in nursing school because she wants to be able to speak confidently about her health issues with doctors. Inspiring, right?!
Rest your feet on these heated salt lamps at the salt cave in Asheville, NC.