Pretty In Pink: Hudson Valley Holistic Healing Center's Himalayan Salt Cave
Halotherapy — detoxifying and rejuvenating in a salt cave — is an experience that is said to have many health benefits.
Holiday stress sneaking up on you? Here's a calming experience that may not have come across your radar: salt therapy. The salt releases negative ions into the air that promote balance, purification, and release. It's been shown to have a therapeutic effect on conditions from asthma and allergies to eczema and inflammation. Since at least the 12th century, people have been “taking the waters” or relaxing in mineral baths both natural and man-made, as well as spending time in salt caves.
Several years ago, Hudson Valley Holistic Healing Center (HVHC) built its own salt cave in Poughkeepsie The room was created to feel like an actual cave deep inside the earth, complete with a ceiling that mimics a nighttime sky full of twinkling stars. The cave is composed of Himalayan salt bricks. The walls are lined with it, and 4 to 6 inches of crushed salt covers the floor. A halogenerator grinds the salt up and releases it into the air, where it’s monitored with a sensor. The salt particles are so small that you can’t see them with the naked eye. It works because small molecules can reach places larger ones can’t. Dry salt isn’t attached to a water molecule like wet salt is, like when you’re at the beach, so it can go deeper into cavities and lay longer on your skin.
According to science, Himalayan salt emits negative ions that are absorbed by the body when inhaled. The ions help the body with everyday functions such as fluid exchange, and balance and conduction of muscles and nerves. Salt also has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antifungal properties that can fight germs.
One 45-minute session in HVHC’s salt cave, where you can zone out in zero-gravity reclining chairs, is $45. An additional feature is sound healing in the salt cave, in which the vibration of singing bowls wash over you as you relax and rejuvenate. A one-hour session is $100. The Center also offers gentle flow yoga meditation classes, reiki sound and crystal healing, tarot and angel card readings, ionic foot detox, massage, and other services.
Hudson Valley Holistic Healing Center
Salt Cave and Wellness Services
51 Springside Ave., Poughkeepsie, NY
(845) 849-0838
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A rendering of a proposed sign by Norm Magnusson.
- Norm Magnusson
Pam Ellis performs at the Bercshire South Community Center.
Alicia Johnson and Catherine Zack preside over a Buried Treasure workshop at Village Yoga. (Photos Provided by Alicia Johnson)
