Nestled into the heart of the nation's oldest city sits Salt Spa St. Augustine, a salt spa oasis. The boutique spa's specialized salt therapy offerings follow Poland's Wieliczka salt mine therapeutic model.

After walking the historic cobblestone streets of Saint Augustine, taking a load off at the Salt Spa is perfect for tourists and locals alike. This destination spa offers services to reset the mind and body, including salt cave sessions, float tank experiences, massage, infrared sauna and yoga.

It’s a place to decompress and reconnect, says founder Beata Kosakowska, a Polish native who deeply admires Wieliczka and the health practices that stem from the mine.

“We live in this crazy age where within decades we have lost the connection to each other, even with families,” says Kosakowska. “Screen time has become dominant; people are happy on the screen. I want to take them back to that time when they can relate to one another, whether they sit in the salt cave or get a couples massage. I want to help people do something where they interact in a personal way and find a connection of body and spirit, and that’s what brings about the best health and wellness.“

Halotherapy, also known as salt therapy, is known for its healing abilities and is used as an alternative approach to treating health concerns. Clients with allergies and respiratory issues like asthma may benefit from salt therapy.

Recent research also indicates that salt therapy is safe, well-tolerated and beneficial, as salt particles have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.¹ Here, we will look at three of Salt Spa St. Augustine’s most popular services that harness the healing power of salt.

1. Himalayan Salt Cave Therapy

In Eastern Europe during the 20th century, visiting salt caves was a common practice. Even now, Wielickza has seen an uptick in visitors suffering from long-term COVID seeking relief and healing by being in the presence of the mine’s pure air.²

For guests looking to relax in a Zen atmosphere, the 45-minute Himalayan Salt Cave Therapy sessions offer a reset. The room is chilled to 69˚F and filled floor-to-ceiling with more than 25,000 pounds of Polish and Himalayan crystal salt. The cave’s humidity is set to 60% by two brine graduation towers, giving the air a cool, crisp feeling, similar to fresh mountain air.

Guests are invited to walk across the salt pebble floor with clean socks to settle into a black zero-gravity chair before cozying up with a fleece blanket. For an even more relaxing ambiance, light spa music plays while the sounds of the towers’ recirculating salt brine water mimic the sounds of a trickling creek.

Sessions may be private or public, where guests can relax with up to eight other individuals in the cave.

Related: Unlocking Untapped Revenue With Salt Therapy

2. Salt Spa Signature Massage

The spa also offers 50- or 80-minute massage sessions, where guests can opt for Swedish or deep tissue techniques, as well as salt therapy. For example, hot Himalayan salt stones can be added to the service to enhance the massage experience. Salt stones are said to balance the body’s negative and positive ions and decrease inflammation.

To further reap the benefits of a massage session, guests can opt to receive their massage inside the spa’s salt cave for 50 minutes ($158) or 80 minutes ($230). All massage services include the use of hot towels, aromatherapy and a tuning fork.

3. Float Tank Experience

For those searching to quiet the mind and body, a solo session in a float tank—one of two on site—can do just that. Guests float inside a pod that is fully enclosed and filled with 50 gallons of bath-temperature water containing 1,000 pounds of Epsom salt. The oxygenated, purified water renders the body weightless and feels like what could be compared to a water hammock.

Regular users of float tanks experience benefits like stress reduction, relaxation and even migraine relief, thanks to high levels of magnesium in the Epsom salt.³ Ideally, users of the tank will float nude to eliminate distractions during the experience.

Kosakowska herself floats once the spa has closed for the day and she knows she won’t be distracted by business operations. “You’re doing blissfully nothing,” says Kosakowska of floating. “Those quiet moments are the best.”

For guests, she advises they do their best to let go of anything bothering them by repeating a mantra, prayer or meditation. Floating, Kosakowska says, is all about achieving “good health, a good mind and good direction in life.”

While floating, the body can fully stretch out without touching the roof, walls or floor of the soundproof tank. To further create a sensory deprivation experience, clients can choose to use earplugs. The tank lid can also be left open or closed, and a light inside the tank may be shut off for an experience often likened to floating in space. Session options include 60 minutes ($69) or 90 minutes ($90).

At the end of any salt-inspired treatment session, the Salt Spa St. Augustine team hopes that guests feel deeply relaxed. For spa-goers who want to bring a bit of the experience home with them, the lobby is decorated with various salt lamps shaped like owls, cats, lighthouses and hearts, all lit from within to cast a warm glow.

Above all, Kosakowska is grateful to have the opportunity to expose native Floridians and visitors to the European philosophies of relaxation, natural wellness and the therapeutic power of salt. “What we do relaxes them and delivers so many benefits,” she says of salt therapy. “Relaxation gives you happiness.”

References:

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34726628
2. https://notesfrompoland.com/2021/03/15/long-term-covid-sufferers-treated-in-ancient-polish-salt-mine-135m-below-ground/
3. www.webmd.com/balance/what-are-the-benefits-of-float-tanks

Seraine Page is a four-time award-winning freelance journalist who specializes in lifestyle and wellness. Her work has been featured in wellness magazines and websites like EVOLVE Magazine and TotalWellness.com.