LIFESTYLE

Touch of Grace offers spa services infused with essential minerals

Touch of Grace offers services infused with essential minerals

Alicia Notarianni
alicia.notarianni@herald-mail.com

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A spa, by nature, is meant to be relaxing and health-enhancing.

But methods of achieving optimal wellness abound, and Brenda Walker is interested in exploring alternative ones.

Walker, who co-owns Touch of Grace Spa and Salt Cave in Martinsburg with her friend and business partner Ying Yao, said she and Yao have done a lot of “wellness travel.”

“We travel a lot throughout Europe looking for innovative ideas. We were in China in March. (Yao) is in Taiwan now. I will be going to Japan in a few months,” Walker said. “We have always enjoyed alternative, holistic lifestyles.”

What that means to guests at Touch of Grace is a variety of nontraditional services, including halotherapy — derived from the Greek “halos,” which means salt — as well as other unique treatments using an Asian detoxification sit-in steamer and an infrared sauna.

The Himalayan salt used at the spa, Walker said, contains more than 80 essential minerals, including sulfate, magnesium, calcium, potassium and fluoride, and it helps restore balance to those who receive services there.

The salt cave

The heart of Touch of Grace is its salt cave. The spa is situated in a busy strip mall, but once guests step inside, noise and outdoor elements are replaced with calming music, moderate temperatures and a décor featuring Himalayan salt lamps.

Behind wooden double doors is the cave, a dark, roughly 300-by-400-square-foot room whose floor, walls and ceiling are covered with 10,000 pounds of Himalayan pink salt imported from Pakistan. The ceiling is embedded with infrared lights that twinkle like stars in the night sky, and guests lounge restfully with socks or booties on their feet in zero-gravity chairs, which are similar to reclining lawn chairs and designed to decrease stress on the body.

“The salt has anti-inflammatory properties and antibacterial properties,” Walker said. “It can bring relief for sinus problems, allergies, and even help reduce stress and improve concentration.”

While Touch of Grace Spa and Salt Cave promotional literature says it “makes no medical claims,” salt therapy also is believed to have positive effects on some skin conditions and to provide relief for migraines, bronchitis and conditions like asthma and cardiopulmonary disease.

Cave sessions are 45 minutes and can accommodate up to 10 people. The temperature is about 72 to 74 degrees. A halo salt generator continually measures the concentration of salt pumped into the air in the room, Walker said.

Prices begin at $30 per session for adults. Reduced fees are offered for multiple-session packages.

When guests enter the cave, their feet sink into a thick, sand-like salt, and a two-minute, soothing, recorded narration explains the therapy and provides instruction.

“What we do is provide a natural microclimate of salt in a contemporary, cave-like room. This past week, we celebrated a lady’s 21st birthday there. We have celebrated an 86th birthday and anniversaries in there,” Walker said.

Halotherapy such as the salt cave was inspired during the 19th century in Poland and Russia, Walker said, when people working in salt mines observed that they were not experiencing respiratory distress, problems and diseases like those experienced by people who mined other minerals, Walker said.

While ancient Greeks are said to have utilized salt therapy, Polish doctor Felix Boczkowski, a physician at the Wieliczka salt mine, is credited with noting the benefits of it in a book published in 1843.

Margaret Smiechowski, president of Vermont-based Salt Cave Inc. Design and Construction of Himalayan Salt Caves, oversaw the building of the Touch of Grace salt cave.

Teresa Wallace, 56, of Martinsburg, said she uses the cave primarily for detoxification. Before going to Touch of Grace, she was new to the spa experience, let alone to salt-cave therapy. Wallace knows Walker and said she decided to check it out.

“We are so polluted. We can always choose an experience of detoxing,” Wallace said. “I was just amazed with that cave. It was just so relaxing, I just wanted to stay there and go to sleep.”

Kathy Graham, 65, of Martinsburg, has had other spa experiences but said halotherapy has unique benefits. Graham has been to the salt cave about six times, and said in addition to it being “very, very relaxing,” it has improved her respiratory health.

“My sinuses always feel better when I come out of it. I have a problem with post-nasal drip or whatever,” she said.

Graham takes allergy medications, but said dry-salt aerosol inhalation “helps you breathe more clearly, deeper.”

“It’s wonderful to have this service in Martinsburg,” she said.

Other holistic treatments

Touch of Grace sells salt-related products and provides more traditional spa therapies, such as massages, aroma touch and reflexology, but there’s an option to infuse them with a salt-therapy twist.

“We have special cave services. We do Swedish massage and reflexology in the cave, couples massage in the cave and classes in the cave,” Walker said.

On Thursday evenings, the zero-gravity chairs are removed and guests participate in a yoga class, with mats or towels placed on the salt floor of the cave.

Graham has had massages at Touch of Grace. She credits one of the spa’s massage therapists, Vickie Saenz, for healing back problems that she had for years.

“I’ve had back problems. Actually, I don’t have any back problems now. The muscles are much looser in my back,” she said.

She also purchases Himalayan table salt and natural deodorant eggs at Touch of Grace.

“Traditional deodorants have aluminum and other things that are not really healthy for you. It’s nice to have a natural option,” she said.

Vicki Fowler of Inwood W.Va., stopped into the spa one recent day during her lunch break. Fowler sat in a chair with one foot on a heated, dome-shaped salt lamp on the floor, while Saenz sat across from her holding her other foot and giving her a reflexology treatment.

Fowler has studied reflexology and said the tension Saenz was feeling in a particular area of her foot was related to tension she had in her lower back. The dome added warmth and relaxation to the treatment, she said.

Walker said Touch of Grace received a detox steamer from China two weeks ago and guests have been excited about its benefits. The steamer is set up in a private stall and looks like a large vase embellished with Asian-inspired art. The device opens in the front and has room for a guest to sit on a stool inside it. When it is closed, the guest’s body is enclosed but his or her head remains above it.

Like salt therapy, the steamer promotes respiratory benefits and detoxification. It also reduces inflammation, increases metabolism, boosts immunities and, because it increases perspiration, some people experience weight loss when they use it, Walker said. The spa instructs users to drink plenty of fluids and provides waters infused with natural foods like cucumbers, oranges, lemons and mint.

Graham said the steamer has had remarkable effects to her skin, leaving it soft, supple and hydrated.

The infrared sauna offers benefits similar to those of the steamer, but is a dry therapy, Walker said.

The future of Touch of Grace

Walker, who is from Maryland, said she has a background in gerontology, while Yao has worked in the restaurant business, specializing in Asian food. The two will continue to travel in search of holistic wellness ideas to bring pack to people in the area, she said.

“People are surprised when they come in. They can’t believe they have something like this in their state,” she said. “A lot of people start out with a single session, then when they see the benefits, they take plans for four, eight or 12 sessions.”

Walker hopes to educate people about services and products through the business.

“We teach people about salt lamps. They kill bacteria in a room. We tell them things they need to know, like that you must purchase a lamp according to the radius of room. Some people will buy a medium-sized lamp because of the price and will take it home, but if it is not the right size, it won’t benefit them,” she said.

Walker said a number of events are in the works to welcome a cross-section of the community. Among them are a Daddy Date Night, to which fathers will be encouraged to bring children; a Mommy and Me event; a corporate day; and a day catering to ministers and their wives.

“We want to bring that wellness component and we want to be involved in the community,” Walker said.

From left, Vicki Fowler, Kathy Graham and Kelly Taylor relax in the salt cave at Touch of Grace Spa and Salt Cave in Martinsburg, W.Va. The room’s floor, walls and ceiling are covered with 10,000 pounds of Himalayan pink salt imported from Pakistan.
Touch of Grace Spa and Salt Cave features a detox steamer from China. Set up in a private stall, it has room for a guest to sit on a stool inside it. When it is closed, the guest’s body is enclosed but his or her head remains above it.

WHAT: Touch of Grace Spa and Salt Cave

WHERE: 970 Foxcroft Ave., Suite 104, Martinsburg, W.Va.

CONTACT: Call 304-263-3070; go to www.gracespasaltcave.com; or email Gracespasaltcave.com

SERVICES: Halotherapy salt-cave inhalation, massages, aroma touch, hot salt rock therapy, reflexology, detox steamer, infrared sauna and more