Happy New Year to you!

I have had a little blogging holiday but I am back, refreshed and ready for another wonderful year with you! 2014 was the Chinese year of the horse, and for me, it felt like the year of the workhorse! My two beautiful little people, my business and just keeping up with daily life seemed to consume every spare minute of the day and night. There was plenty of joy but also a lot of hard old slog of which I’m hoping to be able to leave a little behind this year!

I don’t think I realised how much I needed some uninterrupted, nourishing, me time until I spent 3 hours of my life at the Saltuary. The Saltuary is one of the most heavenly places, particularly if you are anything like me and your usual way of “relaxing” is watching a movie while tapping out some work on the computer, or your “downtime” is a dynamic yoga class to music. Life had become such a constant juggle for me that I almost forgot what it was like to completely switch off.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to GIVE AWAY ONE SALTUARY VITALITY PACKAGE (the experience I had) to one lucky Nourishing Hub following. Read more on how to WIN below.

What is the Salturary
The Saltuary is the brainchild of James and Tiina Hogg. I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Tiina, a qualified naturopath who has an enormous passion for making people feel well (and boy did she achieve this with me!). As soon as I arrived I felt I was in the best possible hands.

The Saltuary is a special place where people feel restored, nurtured and comforted with a sense of relief, rejuvenation, and relaxation. When you leave Saltuary, you can’t help but feel amazing. The Saltuary offers float therapy, salt therapy, sauna therapy, massage, naturopathy and more. I felt so fortunate to experience some of these incredible therapies.

My experience at the Saltuary

Infrared Sauna
The first of my trio of nourishing events was the infrared sauna. Infrared saunas warm your body directly through the use of hot air without humidity or steam. Infrared heat is a form of energy transmitted at a wavelength slightly longer than visible light (ultraviolet sits at the opposite end of the visible wavelengths, so no health issues from infrared).

I felt like I was going into a decompression chamber as I sat in my private little wooden sauna– nude! I went in feeling wound up like spring and left feeling like I had sweated out all of my stress and toxins in one short window. Infrared saunas are a powerful way to detoxify waste from the body. They also help the body shed old cells and help break down scars, leaving your skin glowing.

As a little bonus benefit they are amazing for fat burning – a very enjoyable way to burn calories). I have to say that was the easiest and most relaxing workout I have ever done!

The Float Tank
For me, the float tank was the absolute highlight of my time at the Saltuary. The only word I can use, to sum up my time in the float tank was blissful! I have never been in a float tank before but all of my expectations were exceeded. The Saltuary float tanks are particularly special; they are custom-built spaces that are just a dreamy place to be.

I was surprised at how quickly I felt myself slip into a deeply relaxed state once in the tank. Apparently floatation therapy brings about relaxation deeper than sleep. A session in the float tank is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. I lay there in the darkness, looking up at the tiny starlight lights on the roof, listening to gentle xxx music, my body weightlessly floating in densely saturated saltwater (the bath had 500kgs of salt dissolved into it) – it was magic.

There was nowhere to go, no chores I should be doing, no distraction, no kids shouting “Mummm!” – just me lying there with my body and my busy mind I was trying desperately to tame. The music stopped and I choose for the lights to go out…my senses were heightened as my world turned inward. I listened to my slowing breath and the water trickling around me. It felt like what I imagine it is like being back in the womb: completely nurtured and supported and safe. It was the most beautiful 50 minutes of ‘me time’ I’d had in a long time.

Not only was the salt float tank deeply relaxing, but it can also reduce blood pressure, reduce stress and anxiety, improve concentration and creativity and can relieve aches and pains from old injuries.

“floating is a method of attaining the deepest rest that humankind has ever experienced.”

Himalayan Salt Therapy
After a short interlude of delicious herbal tea and raw treats, it was time to enter the Salt rooms. I have never seen so much Himalayan salt in once place in all my life. The salt had been made into beautiful glowing orange bricks and on the floor was a carpet of tiny Himalayan stones (2 tonnes of them in fact!).

Tiina guided me towards one of the reclining chairs and there I there lay completely surrounded by salt. The rooms have state of the art halogenerators that disperse finely ground salt throughout the air. It felt like such a healing place to be – my body felt completely relaxed. I picked up a magazine to read, I flicked through the first page and then fell into a deep sleep (which is not usually easy for me to do).

The benefits of Himalayan salt therapy are numerous:

• Strengthening the Immune System
• Detoxifying
• It provides 84 minerals essential to health.
• Improves lung capacity for greater athletic performance
• Provides respiratory relief: Helps to decrease mucous congestion, anti-inflammatory; antihistamine; antibacterial
• Treating skin conditions: Provides an abundance of minerals necessary for skin health, and acts as a natural anti-inflammatory to decrease skin irritation, infection, and inflammation.
• Natural, drug-free & clinically proven way to treat skin and respiratory / lung problems.

When I came out of my ultimate ‘me-time experience’ I felt an overwhelming sense of calm. I had 10 missed calls from my husband, who was trying to juggle a broken down car, kids dinner and a myriad of other things (which all worked out fine). Instead of driving home stressed and panicked, I put on the music, took a few deep breaths and was in the moment. The journey was the same – I was just different.

To read more about the wonderful Salturary (which is based in Sydney) click here.

1. For your chance to WIN a Saltuary Vitality Package, you just need to…
   Be a subscriber (if you received this email you already are)
2. Comment on this blog below with 3 things you like to do for ‘me time’

Wishing you a beautiful weekend

Simone X