How Salt Yoga Helped My Crazy Allergies
Clients are encouraged to relax with yoga as micro-particles of pink Himalayan sea salt float through the air. (Photo: Breathe Easy)
by Kristin Booker
As someone with year-round allergies, thanks to dust, mold, pollen, pet dander, the air around me can wreak havoc at any given minute, causing hours of wheezing and itching. On most days, if I’m breathing, I’m sneezing. To try and avoid taking allergy medication my entire life, I started looking for new cures for my year-round fits and bouts of sensitivity. So, when I got an email suggesting that time in a room covered in pink Himalayan sea salt might bring some relief, I paid attention. When I heard it wouldn’t just be me sitting in that room: I could do a yoga class in said chamber, I was completely intrigued. So I hauled my box of tissues along with my yoga mat to Breathe Easy.
Upon entering the cool, slightly chilled room, you’re immediately struck by its beauty. A great percentage of the walls are covered in bricks of the luminous mineral, as is the floor, which is pebbled in the stuff. But as I moved onto my yoga mat and began to breathe deeply, I noticed that within a few minutes in the room my skin had stopped itching, and my eyes had ceased watering. Oh, this is going to be good, I thought. And it was. It really was.
Yoga in a salt room is akin to what I imagine it might be like to do the practice on the moon. The mat moves and shifts a bit, so you have to lighten your stance. But aside from the physical aspects of the class, I was struck with how deeply I could breathe. The dry salt therapy at Breathe Easy works through halogenation, where micron-sized particles are emitted through the air within the rooms, embedding themselves in your lungs and sinuses. The tiny salt soldiers remain to fight infection, absorb bacteria and assist with mucus reduction that might block the airways.
For the first time in what felt like a very, very long time, I could feel the bottom of my lungs expand. My nose started to run without irritation, a sign that my nose was clearer. By the end of the deepening, stretching class, I had no allergic symptoms whatsoever. It was the first moment of physical peace in months. Not only was my mind calm from the beautiful yoga class, my body was free from allergic symptoms.
Pink Himalayan salt has long been touted for its healing properties, making its way to chic restaurant tables across the country. While questioned for its benefits over other types of sea salt when it comes to food, the beauty and Ayurvedic community seems to have embraced its powers, with products like Tata Harper Smoothing Body Scrub ($68) and Josie Maran Bohemian Waves Argan Hair Mist Texture Volume & Moisture ($22). But for people like me who live with raging allergies all year, a little time in a room filled with rocks and blocks of the stuff might be just what the doctor ordered. The calming effects lasted for a few days, and that’s enough to send me right back. Breathe Easy offers packages across the country for their dry salt therapy and yoga classes, both of which I would most definitely try again. But the cessation of allergic response is such a blessing. Who knew that my skin and tired nose could be cured with just a little (or a lot, in this case) of salt?
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