13 Reasons to Have Salt Lamps

FILTER with Ambient Lighting. 

Salt lamps are more than the ambient light. They help filter the air of pollen, bacteria pet dander & other positive ions that are bad for our health and breathing which prevents health problems & offer health benefits. Even people with asthma can notice a difference in a week or two of keeping a salt lamp on. After all, we like breathing quality air more than inferior air right?

I have several salt lamps throughout my house. It’s always funny to see people’s reactions when they don’t know what they are. Some walk up and smell them, some people touch them to see if they’re hot, and other people ask if its art. Others just look bewildered. So if you’ve been wondering what the deal is with those salt lamps & salt rooms too …here’s the scoop.

Salt Spa Rooms

One of the newest crazes I’ve seen is a retail space with a room built of Himalayan salt. The claims are that sitting in this room will improve difficult breathing patterns and reduce stress offering your body a calming and soothing effect. They allege that it will also lesson your fatigue and give you better cognitive function. In these locations you walk into the room and lay down on a chair or lounge chair for a period of time.  It is soothing and if you’re like me you fell asleep so it’s relaxing too. I’m not sure what I think about the better cognitive function (no pun intended). I think that just came from giving my mind a rest because I fell asleep in the chair. I also wonder with 23 hours of breathing bad air what restorative measures can take place in 30-60 minutes? is that really enough? My experience didn’t sell me but I’m a hard sell and have so many other health challenges, it would have taken me seeing a burning bush to convince me. (That was a biblical reference for those who may not be familiar with The Book) So all this to say, don’t take my word for it – try it & come to your own conclusions or comment on this post if you have had a positive experience you’d like to share. Some folks go when they have a cold and swear by it. I can accidentally swear when I slam my finger in the door so I don’t need a salt spa for that experience.  In contrast, it is pretty clear how the salt lamp functions in my house.

Positive & Negative IONS

To fully grasp the impact to your health, it helps to know how positive and negative ions work for or against the body. Positive ions are those ions created by electrical equipment such as your computer, microwave, TV etc. This is one of those cases where positive is not “positive” it’s actually a negative. Negative ions however are good. They are abundant in nature especially in places like a forest, on hiking trips near waterfalls or the beach. It’s therapeutic to be in perfect harmony with the movement of nature’s water sunlight and the earths radiation. If you’ve ever experienced the recharging that you get from taking a barefoot walk on the beach then you have a sense of the effect of negative ions on your body. The challenge with our modern lives is that we spend less time outside walking barefoot, getting vitamin D from the sun and enjoying nature and more time in our offices, houses, & cars wile bombarding our bodies with negative ions from every direction. Not to mention that we use our cell phones more than we drink water, take vitamins or get exercise but I guess that’s for another blog post!

We add insult to injury with EMFs like office lights & computers that depress the conversion of serotonin to melatonin. Melatonin is what the body needs for quality sleep. It’s really not enough to take a supplement. In fact in some cases it’s dangerous but again melatonin is a different blog post. So back to benefit of positive versus negative ions and how does this fit in with salt lamps. You see, the bad guys (Positive ions) have a detrimental effect on our health. But like you….I really can’t do away with my electric devices, cell phone, Dogs, etc. and we all work in buildings made with Synthetic materials. The buildings have paint on the walls and varnishes, florescent lighting, copy machines, HVAC systems that don’t get cleaned out frequently and duct work as well as other huge electronic sources of EMFs.

The Science: Turning negative to positive

You guys might remember science class here. When a positive and a negative ion come together they neutralize one another. Negative ions attach themselves to positively charged molecules floating in the air. (It’s kind of like a stalker you can’t shake loose.) except these molecules become too heavy to remain airborne. As they fall they take the airborne allergens and other bad guys with him.

Get more negative ion exposure! Negative ions will detoxify the air. Negative ions attach to the positively charged particles in the air (like cigarette smoke, viruses dust and other airborne cooties). Salt lamps offer you negative ions. The Salt attracts the moisture. By the small amount of heat that’s given off by the lightbulb (that’s inside the block of salt) Once the salt is heated and evaporates into the air it goes to work to neutralize the bad guys. Salt lamps also neutralize electromagnetic radiation. Constant exposure to EM radiation is known to have negative effects on the body from increased stress levels to chronic health conditions. When the body is under stress its in flight or fight mode and cannot heal and rejuvenate itself.

The challenge is the salt lamps are small and rooms are big.  So you may need a very large salt lamp for bigger rooms or a few depending on its size. And obviously a large salt lamp would need a stronger wattage bulb to create the desired results but too much wattage isn’t good either so balance is key. If you can only start with one small one hey that’s the start. The air surrounding the salt lamp will be measurably cleaner by the transformation of the oxygen and hydrogen positive and negative ion love affair.

Speaking of love affair some people choose to sleep with their salt lamp on. I must tell you this ambient light is a little like candle light – without having to blow out the candle before you fall asleep! It’s also light we all look good in….yes, you can read into those lines.

Salt Lamps are also great for a kids room.

Keep it on all the time and use it as the nightlight too.  There isn’t a better, softer, more ambient light and it has healing properties – it’s also great at night when changing their diaper.. its low enough to allow you to see without needing to turn the lights on (which makes it easier for us to get back to sleep once they are down.)

I have many rooms with salt lamps but admittedly none in my bedroom because I like a very dark sleeping quarter. I did try putting it on in the AM and turning one off at night but I kept forgetting which became a source of stress and self-beating so I opted to give myself a break and take it out. … I have my salt lamps in all the rooms that are used a lot. There’s one in my office closer to my computer and other electronic devices and in my den, kitchen, guest bedroom, the sun-room, etc. Those that are in tune with their bodies will also sense the slight energy shift. The room will seem more peaceful and inviting.

6 Tips:

1. If you live, work or breath in areas with any of the below then you have at least 13 reasons to use salt lamps in your environment!

• Computer,
• Phone,
• Copier,
• HVAC,
• Household appliances,
• Air Ducts,
• Varnished furniture,
• Painted walls,
• Pet dander,
• Mold,
• Bacteria,
• Carpeting,
• Dust,
• etc…

2.  The salt attracts moisture and the light-bulb evaporates that moisture so if you turn your salt lamp off for many days at a time don’t be surprised if you come back and you see little bits of salt remnants around your lamp. I don’t turn mine off anymore but if you are going away or you want to turn it off for whatever reason you may want to wrap it in plastic to keep the moisture away from the salt lamp.

3.  Salt lamps are pretty easy to find. Sure, I’ve seen them and bought them from health food stores & Walmart, but I’ve also seen them on eBay, Amazon, and even Groupon had a deal on them once. There are post that reviews the various types. The most popular (and cost effective) are the 8-10 lbs natural cut that can be found on Amazon.

4.  You really don’t need an expensive one but I’d get one that you will enjoy having on display.  They say the darker shades of pink and orange are considered higher-quality salt lamps but I don’t know that the others are any less effective.

5.  This is where bigger is better. The bigger the surface size the better they affect… Of course the bigger the price too. By the way one FYI this is not where you want to Eagle friendly LED light you want that light to heat up the salt.

6.  Buy extra bulbs before you need them. If you’re like me and you have them on all the time you will eventually need them. Its easier to buy extra bulbs before you need them then continue to forget each time you go to the grocery store! (25 watt bulbs are good size for 8- 10lb lamps but be certain to read your sale lamps manual for certainty.) Some people say their bulbs don’t burn out but the bulbs in my house everywhere seem to burn out frequently so maybe its just my electrifying touch???

You can always start with one lamp and if you’re like me…..over time you’ll end up with at least one in every room !

September 12, 2016