Himalayan salt lamp – Mothering A Rainbow

Last Christmas Luke bought me a Salt Lamp, at the time I knew nothing about them. Apart from the ambient light which I find very calming they are known to have many health benefits. They have quickly become very popular – especially with those interested in natural health. I’ve put it next to the bed as I had read they are great in the bedroom. Since then we’ve added to our collection and purchased another salt lamp which sits on my desk.

Below I’ve written up 5 benefits of owning a salt lamp – these are all things I feel I have noticed. I must add it did take a week or two before I started noticing any benefits to using the HPS lamps, so if you are wanting to try then I’d recommend using them for a longer period of time.

1. Filter and Deodorise the air

This is probably the most well-known benefit to owning and using salt lamps. They are able to filter the air, remove dust, pollen, bacteria and lots of other contaminants from the air. They do this through something called hygroscopy, which basically means it attracts water molecules from the environment, absorbs the molecules into the salt crystals. As the lamp warms up the same water evaporates back into the air but keeps all the trapped particles locked in the salt.

2. Reduce Allergy/Asthma Symptoms and Eases Coughing

This is one of the main reasons we purchased another lamp for the living room. Due to the fact that the lamp removes the contaminants such as dust and pet dander and mold from the air, the lamp can reduce the allergy symptoms. Himalayan pink salt is actually great for your airways so the asthma sufferers in our house have noticed a difference too. (You can even get Himalayan Pink Salt inhalers!)

Himalayan pink salt lamps removes contaminants from the air and helps your body filter air more efficiently meaning any particles that do happen to be breathed in won’t get to your lungs therefore reducing the need to cough.

3. Improves Concentration & Mood

HPS lamps are a super way to naturally enhance your mood, the calming ambience is known to help you unwind and relax. They are perfect to keep by your bedside. They can also improve your concentration. We have touched on hydroscopy above but when the HPS absorbs water and particles it also takes positive ions with them. Positive ions can cause us to feel sluggish. As the lamp absorbs the positive ions it expels negative ions. Negative ions have a great effect on our bodies, they improve blood and oxygen supply to the brain as well as providing a boost of serotonin.

4. Better Sleep

Having an over-exposure to positive ions (usually from electronics!) can reduct your quality of sleep. Positively-charged particles can reduce blood and oxygen supplies to the brain and results in irregular sleep patterns. HPS have the opposite effect on our sleep patterns due to the negative ions it expels. It’s best to leave the lamp on as long as possible to warm up so that it has already absorbed the positive ions before sleep.

5. Environmentally Friendly

HPS lamps can use a low-watt bulb which consumes very little energy while others are usually powered by a lit candle which makes them more environmentally friendly than most light bulbs.