Entrepreneur using pink salt to bring healing at new Carmel spa
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAn entrepreneur in Carmel is using pink salt from the Himalayas as a form of healing.
Skye Winslow’s own health journey, including a difficult recovery from brain surgery, was a long road that led her to a cave. Salt caves use what’s called halo therapy, an alternative treatment for respiratory conditions such as COPD, asthma, sinusitis and allergies.
Carmel Salt Caves & Spa has two salt caves with a total of 22 tons of pink Himalayan salt from floor to ceiling and even in the air. Special machinery grinds salt into tiny particles that are circulated in the room.
“We pump in pharmaceutical grade salt through something called a halo generator, and that mists around the room,” Winslow said. “When you breathe that in, these micro-particles go down and they thin out mucus and calms inflammation almost immediately. If you’re having breathing problems, you’ll feel it right away.”
As the salt particles thin mucus, it’s easier to clear congestion. An approved therapy for most health savings accounts, the treatment is a natural alternative to taking medicine.
“We hear that a lot,” Winslow said. “People come in here all the time because they don’t want to have medication again; they want to have the natural therapies, and what’s more natural than breathing and salt?”
The historical home was taken all the way down to its bones for a major remodel, and 22 tons of salt shipped from Pakistan to Indiana make the caves among the largest in the country.
While there are others in the state, Winslow says the Carmel salt caves are different because she partnered with Dr. Margaret Smiechowski, the Polish doctor and widely known expert who introduced salt caves to the U.S.
“I think her being involved with our caves not only makes it legitimate, it makes it correct,” she said. “We want everything to be just perfect for you when you walk in, so that in the 45 minutes that you’re breathing in the salt, it makes a difference in your life. Having the right person doing that like Margaret is a big deal.”
If visitors want more holistic healing, they can also do a foot spa detox, which Winslow says helps release heavy metals from the body. She said the foot spa is outrageously popular.
“You come in there, and you put your feet into warm water and we put an electrical array in there and you’re grounded to it,” she said. “In 30 minutes time, lots of things come out of the body and our chairs also have something called far infrared mats. So when you sit on these mats, it’s taking the pain out of your body.”
Winslow says visitors are coming from all over Indiana and out of state because they see it as an experience. The salt cave session and foot spa are $45 each or both for $90.
“In two months time, we have started making a profit. So we are doing very, very well, and most of our businesses repeat business so the therapies must be working because we’re seeing a lot of returns in our clients.”
Trying to find answers during her own health battle, Winslow became a board certified naturopathic doctor. And now, she’s also business owner on a mission for holistic health.
“The most rewarding part is always seeing people get well because I had so many health issues. So for me, it’s watching people leave here happy, feeling good.”