Scientists contend with its supposed benefits, but all-natural salt therapy may be the next best excuse to stop, recline and relax.

You enter a dimly lit room. Salt covers the floors and lines the walls. You take a seat in a lounge chair or settle into a salt bed—and breathe. You can rest, meditate, listen to music or read a magazine, but mostly you just breathe in the salt micro-particles. You do this for 30 to 45 minutes as those micro-particles gather on your skin and on your clothing. This, in short, is salt therapy.

How does it work?

The notion of salt therapy as a healing practice (or halotherapy) originated in the 1800s; at that time, health officials discovered that salt mine laborers rarely had any respiratory issues. Although it’s new to the United States, people in Europe and Asia have basked in salt caves and salt rooms for decades.

The concept is simple: An all-natural dry salt aerosol is circulated in the room. “Inhaling the salt sends it through the respiratory tract, where it cleanses and kills bacteria and germs.”

Salt therapy rooms, caves and booths are becoming more commonplace. In addition to the typical services, luxury salt spas offer their clients meditation and yoga classes.

Spa-goers can wear their own clothing, but many prefer to cozy up in a velvety Micro Chamois robe and indulge during their session.

What are the benefits?

While these claims are contested by experts, The Salt Suite maintains that halotherapy has numerous benefits, including:

• Clean sinuses and nasal cavities
• Improved lung function
• Relief from chronic skin conditions
• Reduced symptoms of respiratory issues
• Stress relief
• Improved endurance
• Reduced snoring

Whether you’re booking sessions at the Cryotherapy Spa or breathing in micro-particles in the Salt Cave, it’s clear that wellness is in the air. So however you choose to better yourself, just be sure to do it comfortably.