I was invited a while ago to visit the Halo Salt Rooms in Manhattan. As a big fan of the salty ocean scent, I thought it might be a little like a day at the beach, so off I went.

The salt rooms are a little more like tiny, personal caves, where you sit in a lounge chair and watch TV, one of three videos, or listen to music. Before you go in, you take off your clothes–at least down to your undies–and done a little gown that is sort of like the ones in the doctor’s office, to protect your clothes from getting salty. You also get surgical style foot coverings and hair covering. They also give you a blanket but if I recall, I kept my sweater on too because it gets chilly in there.

It is actually a very cool (as in hip and interesting) place to be, and the health benefits can be terrific, with consistent visits. I was told that the salt helps with everything from asthma to acne. Anyone who knows the benefits of the day at the beach might find 50 minutes in the salt room helpful for certain ailments. Or even to clear your head and sinuses.

I enjoyed relaxing and digging my toes in the salt, which is all over the floor (and walls). Some of it was hardened but some could be loosened up by digging in your toes, the way we do at the beach. Several times while in there, the salt would suddenly get sprayed in from a mechanism built into the salty wall. You could smell it and you will smell a little like it when you leave.

The mistake I made was to choose to watch a nature film. It was indeed beautiful, except for the three times I saw a big animal go after and capture a small animal in nature. Since I am sensitive to those kinds of scenes,  I should have just clicked it off after the first animal to look like it was going to be the dinner of another, but it took me to the third. They give you a clicker to change your form of entertainment so if you don’t like what you are watching, switch it faster than I did! You are in control.

Here are some factoids from their website.

Designed to feel like a natural salt cave, or salt mine, the walls are
covered in salt to absorb any moisture or impurities in the air. The purest of
rock salt, dug from European Salt Caves 300 meters below ground, is mixed with
air and then pumped into the room to create a unique, microclimate atmosphere.
Using what is known as a HaloGenerator, the salt to air ratio is set on a
measured concentration, while the humidity and temperature are controlled to
maintain comfort and deliver the dry salt aerosol

 

Salt therapy commonly known as Halotherapy has been around for centuries in
Eastern Europe. Research has shown that the effect of dry highly dispersible
aerosol of natural rock salt and other factors of a microclimate have shown to
cleanse the respiratory tract and the body as a whole. The size of the particles
is the same as in a natural salt cave. Research on salt has shown that
Halotherapy alleviates many bodily discomforts that we suffer from today. For
decades and even centuries, people have visited salt caves in Europe to
alleviate their respiratory and skin discomforts.

 

Halo Air’s technology grinds the salt into air particles and consistently
pumps it into the room to create a dry salt aerosol. While sitting in the room
you are surrounded by the fine salt and the negative ions created in the air.
Our high-end technology measures the salt concentration in the air and
automatically fills the room with the proper amount of salt particles. The
walls, ceilings and floors are covered with salt to sterilize the room. At the
same time the air is circulated with a developed system to keep the air fresh.
The temperature and humidity are constantly maintained to keep the rooms at the
microclimate of a natural salt cave.

My suggestion: Go get some salt therapy if it calls to you, but go for relaxing spa music instead of the movie. Like the woman in the image above, who is not me, make sure you relax!