Halotherapy at Aqua Float
Aqua Float Spa is tucked behind a quiet residential neighborhood in rural Happy Valley, OR. You wouldn’t expect a full-service spa with float rooms, saunas, halo therapy, and massage services here but I’m glad I got to check it out on my way to Los Angeles.
A salt room is a simplified version of Halotherapy. In a salt room, the warmth gives off trace amounts of salt particles, enabling potassium, calcium, and iron into the air to treat your lungs and skin, and relax your muscles.
The salt walls of Halotherapy establish this environment but also incorporate a machine, often near the ceiling, that grinds and distributes pure medical-grade salt into the air. Sitting in a room with this condition heightens the healing technique.
Aqua Float Spa goes one step further and houses two full-body massage chairs. For 30 min, I laid back, slowly breathed in the salt through my nose, listened to the ocean waves, and allowed the massage chair to knead my body into dough.
The chair had a firm grip on my calves which really helped from all the driving. The salt in the air felt like I’d been at the beach all day and the glowing salt bricks calmed the rush of highway traffic. For me, the light quality of the salt bricks is so relaxing that I can’t decide if I want to close my eyes and pay attention to the massage or gaze at the veining details of each brick.
Tonia and her husband opened Aqua Float Spa in 2018 to provide a relaxing space for her community. In the central lounge area, there is a hydration station with teas, snacks, and a copy of the Holy Bible. I flipped through to read the 5 tabbed passages and was reminded of words that I grew up with as well as words of gratitude for what a restful spa can provide.
I asked Tonia about her mission behind the Bible and she shared that she wants Aqua Float Spa to be a safe place for soul searching. She is open to talking, praying, or just listening to what's in your heart. I noticed as guests passed in and out of the shop that they talked to her like family and after interviewing her, I felt like we were already close friends.
August 1, 2022
