Manila, Philippines —  Did you know that you can actually improve the quality of your breathing and overall wellness through salt therapy? And we are in luck, because the first-ever salt therapy hub and yoga studio in one here in the Philippines has opened its doors to give us the benefits of breathing in salt for better a better well-being.

The Breathing Room PH in BGC, Taguig offers a rejuvenating halotherapy room, or a salt therapy spa-like hub, which allows clientele to breathe in air with tiny salt particles to improve one’s breathing and health. 

Jeanne Fregil, founder and owner of The Breathing Room PH, explained to Stylish Magazine how the salt therapy room works, saying, “This room has a machine that pumps the salt, and we use 98% pure medical salt. The machine grinds it into micro particles. This makes the halotherapy a bit more potent than the ones I saw before with salt only on the floor or on the walls.”

Jeanne Fregil, founder and owner of The Breathing Room PH
Jeanne Fregil, founder and owner of The Breathing Room PH

A yoga expert and human movement specialist for more than a decade, Fregil first discovered the health benefits of salt therapy when she lived and worked in Ireland for many years running Init Yoga Ireland, named one of the best yoga studios in Ireland. She decided to bring home the science of salt therapy in the Philippines through The Breathing Room PH.

Here are the benefits of salt therapy or halotherapy:

1.Addressing Respiratory Issues

Halotherapy is an alternative treatment for lung problems such as asthma, bronchitis, and cough, and in some cases, even covid19. 

“If our clients have any respiratory issues like cough, colds, asthma or allergic rhinitis, they just chill in the salt room and the instantly feel better. Especially if one feels congested, because the salt therapy is going to really soften all the mucus so they will come out,” Jeanne shared in the interview.

“For people who are actually sick, even if they have COVID19, they can actually come here. Actually, you know what? Even if they come here, because there’s so much salt in the air and the salt level is so high, none of the pathogens will survive in this room.”

Jeanne shared that some parents also bring in their kids with their toys to address their cough or colds, wherein the children get to relax and enjoy the benefits of breathing in salt.

According to some medical studies, the main active ingredient in halo- and speleotherapy is NaCl aerosol particles, which penetrate all layers of the respiratory tract. In addition to their antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, salt particles also facilitate mucociliary transport and reduce immunogloblin E (IgE) levels. Clinical trials have confirmed that salt therapy is an effective option for relieving symptoms and improving functional parameters in sinusitis, bronchiectasis, chronic bronchitis, mild and moderate asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

2.Catering to Skin Issues

“The salt therapy is super, super helpful to cure skin issues like eczema and psoriasis or even acne, because the salt is anti-bacterial and anti-microbial,” Jeanne said.

3.Offering Mental Relaxation

The Breathing Room PH offers regular sessions in its salt therapy rooms, as well as guided metitation classes.

“The salt therapy room is almost like a spa-like, relaxation room. We offer regular sessions where clients are just here, breathing in the salt. They can lie down on their mats, or they can chill and listen to the soft music playing. There is also an option wherein you can actually request for an instructor for breathing exercises. There is an additional fee for that.”

“The instructor will lead you to do certain breathing work exercises and some meditation work, which can help improve your mental relaxation.”

“So if you’re stressed, if you have anxiety, the guided meditation class with salt therapy will really help calm everything down. And for people who cannot sleep well, this is really helpful, too. We have clients who have written feedback to us saying they’ve had the best night’s sleep ever after a session here. Nobody is able to get a good night’s rest these days because even if we’re in bed, we’re looking at social media. So, what happens here in the salt room in a guided meditation class here is, we start with breathing and then we start to lay you down and we do some meditation. The people tend to take a nap or what we call yoga nidra or non-sleep deep rest. It is a 40-minute session where they’re like in and out of consciousness. We take you from stimulated state from social media exposure, to removing all the sense of stimulation. Then we actually guide you to down regulate through the words of the teacher, meditation, imagery, and all that.” 

Aside from the salt therapy room, The Breathing Room PH offers fitness classes like yoga, pole fitness class, HIIT pilates, and barre.  The Breathing Room PH is located at the Icon Plaza BGC on 26th Street in Taguig City. For updates and class schedules, you may follow The Breathing Room PH on Instagram @breathingroom.ph.