Feeling Salty

Breathe in healthier lungs with Dallas spa's detoxifying new treatment

Salt Room at Woodhouse Day Spa Mockingbird

Breathe in, breathe out.

Photo by Kathy Tran

On a quest to get in shape this year? Help your body out by making sure it's at its healthiest before you begin. This especially includes your lungs and respiratory system, and one way to improve their functioning is with halotherapy.

Although it sounds ethereal, the treatment is very much rooted in the earth. Halotherapy is where you inhale fine salt particles to improve lung function, drawing water into the airway and thinning mucus so that it's much easier to breathe.

The best part? This lung detox can be done while getting a massage at the new Woodhouse Day Spa in Mockingbird Station. The spa itself opened in November, and its Salt Room debuted on January 1, 2021.

One entire glowing wall of the treatment room is made of stacked Himalayan salt blocks, with an adjustable ventilation system that circulates a customized amount of salt micro-particals through the air. The LED light warmer uses very little electricity and no chemicals, while emitting negative ions to reduce oxidative stress in the treatment room.

This unique atmosphere is paired with a Swedish or deep tissue massage, plus several small breaks where you're instructed to simply focus on your breathing.

Instead of traditional volcanic stones, the massage therapist uses hand-carved, heated discs of pink Himalayan salt to ground and balance the body's electromagnetic field. One side is even exfoliating, to better help slough off dead skin and make it easier to absorb the healing salt.

At the end of your treatment, look down: the floor will be covered in a thin film of salt, showing just how much had been dispersed while you were blissfully relaxing.

Himalayan salt is said to have 84 naturally occurring minerals and elements that can benefit the body by stimulating circulation, detoxifying, improving sleep, reducing inflammation, calming the nervous system, and reducing the signs of aging.

The Mockingbird spa is the first of Woodhouse's 70 locations — including ones in Fort Worth, Plano, and Highland Village — to offer this new Salt Room.

Woodhouse Day Spa is following strict COVID-19 protocols, including personal hand sanitizer and touchless faucets, sanitation stations throughout the building, seating configurations set up for social distancing, antimicrobial coating on surfaces, and frequent sanitization.

You can book online or by calling 972-777-6068. Woodhouse Day Spa is located at 5331 E. Mockingbird Ln., Suite 172, across from West Elm.

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Thrifty shopping

Massive Goodwill store in Garland reopens as 2nd largest in the U.S.

Photo courtesy of Goodwill

The Goodwill in Garland is the largest in Texas.

A major expansion has made a Garland Goodwill store nearly the largest of its kind in the country. Goodwill Industries of Dallas officially reopened its "Broadway store," at 451 W. Interstate 30 #100, on April 30 after a major renovation. The new-and-improved store is twice its previous size.

According to a release, at 31,000 square feet, the Broadway Store and Donation Center is now the largest Goodwill in Texas and the second largest in the U.S.

The expansion will significantly boost inventory turnover. According to the organization, the store will introduce about 10,000 new items daily, including clothing, home goods, and accessories. At that pace, inventory cycles through the store roughly every four weeks, they say.

“Our newly expanded Garland store sets the gold standard for Goodwill in Texas — not only as our largest location, but as our most operationally complex,” says Tim Heis, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Dallas, in the release. “Turning out 10,000 fresh items every single day requires a tremendous, coordinated effort behind the scenes to make sure our shelves are always stocked with new finds."

The reopening comes amid "explosive growth" in the resale sector, Goodwill says. A 2024 report from ThredUp found that the U.S. secondhand market grew 11 percent in 2023 (growing seven times faster than the broader retail clothing sector) and is projected to reach $73 billion by 2028.

“As consumers are increasingly turning to resale for its affordability, unique product variety, and positive environmental impact, the new Garland store redefines what’s possible — every visit promises one of the widest, most frequently refreshed selections anywhere in North Texas,” says Joel Ibanez, vice president, Donated Goods Retail.

To support its larger retail footprint and meet demand, Goodwill Dallas has also expanded its donation network, they say, opening new Donation Express locations in Frisco, Plano, and Lantana in recent months and bringing the total number of donation drop off locations in North Texas to 52.

The Garland store includes a drive-up donation center, and additional sites are in development across North Texas, they say.

"Over the past two years, Goodwill Dallas has experienced record-breaking performance, earning recognition as the top performing Goodwill in the country for two consecutive years," they say in the release.

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