Beauty Tips
I Visited a Salt Room and You Totally Should TooI couldn't believe how calm I felt after spending 30 minutes breathing in salty air |
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I chose to try a salt bed because it's private, meaning I could strip down to a tank top and shorts and allow the salt to get to work on the rough, bumpy skin I have on my arms. In both cases, Breathe uses a halogenerator, a device that crushes pink Himalayan salt and disperses it into the air. (A room session is $35; a bed session is $40. So yeah, it's pricey.)
The bed was tiny and I had a jolt of anxiety when I realized I would be encased inside. (I wouldn't recommend this option if you're claustrophobic.) I laid down, closed my eyes and tried to focus on my breathing and not think about the many items on my to-do list that week or the fact that I was confined in such a small space. (You can listen to music while you're in the bed if you want to, but I decided not to.)
The bottom of the bed lit up and changed colors throughout the course of my 25-minute session. Breathe uses chromatherapy (changing ambient lights). Per research published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, chromatherapy has been used since ancient Egyptian times. The theory is that different colors have different effects on your mood. For example, white light is supposed to clear your mind and turquoise light is supposed to be de-stressing.
Within a few minutes of being inside the bed, I started to feel really tired—so, apparently, the combination of the colored lights and the salt in the air was working. I rested contentedly until the 25 minutes was up and the lights turned off, then I headed back to the locker room to change.
Image via @breathesaltrooms
SEE NEXT PAGE: How I Felt Afterwards
