Chiang Mai’s first Salt Cave and Flotation tubs at Relaxing Emotions Spa. Despite high quality USA floating standards and Spa quality the prices are 40-60% cheaper than international prices.
If you close your eyes and curl your toes, you can imagine yourself lounging in a sunbed under the moonlight on a soft sandy beach – that familiar salty scent of the ocean filling your lungs with each deep breath.
Open your eyes and you will find that you are not in the Maldives, but in fact sitting in a recliner under the gentle twinkling lights of faux stars in an exciting new spa, right by Chiang Mai’s Tha Pae Gate.
Relaxing Emotions is a labour of love by its Italian-Thai owners who have created a traditional Thai Spa, with a very exciting twist; the addition of salt therapies (Salt Caves and Epsom Salt Floating/Sensory Deprivation tubs).
This is a great opportunity to try three rare if not unique services here in Chiang Mai, all of them involving salt therapy, which has a long established healing pedigree.
Chiang Mai’s first salt caves were built by the spa owners, who have used the latest in techniques and technology to personally hand-paste the walls and ceilings of their two salt caves with thick sea salt. The floor is covered with sea salt which gives the cave its beachy feel, and a dry saline aerosol dispenser in each cave disperses fine sprays of salt, of 1-5 microns in size, to mimic the micro climate of a natural salt cave. This is called halotherapy, or salt therapy.
The dry salt aerosol, best breathed in for up to an hour each session, does wonders for the respiratory system, penetrating deep into the airway passages and lungs. The salt particles are anti-bacterial agents and help to dislodge pollutants in the respiratory tract. As you breathe, the sodium chloride salt has an healing effect not just into your airways, but also on your skin. The caves are designed for pure relaxation, with soothing music, dim lighting and an ambiance conducive to deep breathing optimizes the absorption of the micronized salt into the respiratory system. Is also an ideal ambience for a strong placebo effect, stronger with babies. You can even get a massage in the salt caves to get the most out of the experience; it is a lovely new healing experience available only in Chiang Mai.
If dry salt isn’t your thing, then check into one of the two floatation rooms (also called sensory deprivation rooms) which offers up massive floatation baths in rooms which also have dim to no lighting and relaxing music piped in. This Dead Sea experience is very similar to the Middle Eastern one, but without the peskiness of hordes of tourists and sweaty heat to ruin your chill. The high-salt concentration in the water allows you to float on what feels like a liquid mattress, shedding stress and tension as well as immersing yourself in the healing properties of salt. This is one of the most relaxing experiences you will ever have as you float quietly in the dark shedding your stress and absorbing minerals.
Relaxing Emotions is just behind Imm Hotel opposite Tha Pae Gate. Parking is available at Imm Hotel. Prices and more information are available at www.relaxingemotions.com
