Salt Chalet - Mining Salt's Benefits
Happy new year! For me there is no need to make dramatic resolutions on January 1st because my focus is on making each day count.
One of my former co-workers and I used to devote 1 day each month to trying something new and adventurous that we wouldn't normally do. In my 20-something days that's all we could squeeze in between going out all the time. Now I think why restrict those experiences to once a month? Why not always look for them? So I do.
A couple of readers and friends suggested I share some of these alternative finds, so for that reason, here is Salt Chalet!
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| Salt Chalet - Encino, California |
Salt Chalet offers salt room therapy, or halotherapy, a holistic treatment for breathing ailments. This innovative therapy recreates the negative ion microclimate found within natural salt caves in Eastern Europe. The treatments are popular in Israel, and Israeli entrepreneurs started this company, bringing this proven therapy to the U.S.
Salt therapy improves conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, smoker's cough, colds and flu, sinusitis, allergies, snoring, eczema, psoriasis and other related ailments. In Los Angeles, the air pollution and car exhaust we breathe in alone warrants huge benefits.
The treatments run $55 per session, with discounts for family members and a series of multiple sessions. 10-15 sessions are recommended for most chronic conditions. Tippr offered a voucher for 3 sessions at 78% off the regular price, which I immediately snagged. With that deal there was nothing to lose.
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| Salt Chalet - Private Room
The treatment rooms are coated from floor to ceiling with layers of untreated salt and salt deposits hanging like stalactites. A generator disperses a mineral rich, Israeli Dead Sea salt dry aerosol into the room. To keep the rooms bacteria free, each person enters the room in their street clothes with a set of surgical socks on their bare feet. Shoes are left in baskets outside the room. The rooms contain ambient lighting and music, zero gravity lounge chairs (the same ones I have on my deck at home) and a flat screen TV.
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As far as maximizing the experience, I tried different methods for each session. My first visit was in the private room. The aerosol is fine and effortless to breathe in. I opted to listen to music, watch ocean waves on the screen and just focus on breathing. The staff told me the salt softens the skin so those in the private room have the advantage of removing some clothing to obtain skin benefits. The salt on the floor is quite jagged against my bare feet so I made a mental note to wear socks during the next visit.
By the end of the session the warm room filled up with a light mist which I could see clearly due to the blue and purple tinted lighting against the white salt.
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| Salt Chalet - Private Room |
After coming out relaxed, the wonderful staff offered me water and gave me a tour of the other rooms. The treatment is so gentle, it is completely safe for children and they have their own sandbox type room (of course with powdered salt instead of sand) with toys and books.
Finally there is a communal room. Just sticking my head inside partially I broke into a fit of coughing. A woman exiting after her treatment was also coughing. It was clear the salt concentration was much higher in that room since the salt is pumped in all day. I made a mental note to try that room for visit two.
By the time visit 2 came around I had been suffering from a sinus infection for 2 1/2 months and had a real condition to test. Neither antibiotics nor nasal sprays made a dent in clearing the congestion and I was exhausted from constant coughing and sneezing.
For this visit I met a friend and we did our session in the communal room. We chatted the whole time while lying on the lounge chairs and the time just flew. What I did notice was that I was effortlessly breathing through my nose by the end of the treatment. My friend, also a longtime sinusitis sufferer, indicated the same benefits. This continued for several days along with sleeping like a baby.
On our way out we met a lovely woman named Orit who told us that she provides massages in the private rooms that can be added on to regular sessions for $35 extra. The deal was sealed for my third visit, which I didn't wait too long to schedule.
By visit 3 my sinusitis was still dragging on with less congestion but heavy coughing and runny nose. I didn't think a 45-minute massage would be too relaxing but Orit has a warm, serene energy and beautiful smile that already began to relax me. She uses Avani dead sea lotions and oils imported from Israel, also sold at Salt Chalet.
Her style was a bit different than typical Swedish massage which focuses on different quadrants of the body at a time. It felt more holistic and she definitely honed in on the tense spots with a fair amount of pressure. Her face and scalp massage at the end was worth the experience alone. She used a quilt to cover me up instead of a light sheet which felt cozy in the already warm room. The experience of having a massage in a cave added to the natural feel.
So in conclusion, what health benefits did salt therapy provide? It killed bacteria, reduced inflammation and broke down the mucus in my bronchial tubes and lungs, which were then either coughed up or expelled by the metabolic process through the bloodstream.
How do I know this? I never once had to take Mucinex, cough syrup or use nasal sprays after my third treatment, after three months of a sinus infection. The symptoms are gradually diminishing. I truly believe the sessions accelerated my recovery process. And the icing on the cake is softer skin, better sleep, relaxation. And a desire to return to Salt Chalet.
We just discovered this blog that you wrote about your experience at Salt Chalet, and we were so pleased to read your beautifully-written and very detailed account. Thank you very much for sharing it on your blog, and we sincerely hope to see you again soon.
Warmest regards,
Dikla Kadosh and David Mashiah, owners, Salt Chalet
Hello Dikla and David,
I am so pleased you found this write-up and liked it. I look forward to returning for additional treatments.