5 Star Salt Caves Wellness Center likely would not exist had Markus Bohunovsky not received a loving nudge from his parents.

While visiting them in Vienna, Austria, late in 2013, Bohunovsky was suffering from a scratchy throat, mucus in his sinuses and felt stressed. Their suggestion: Visit a local salt cave.

Bohunovsky and his wife, Stephanie Pham, had salt lamps at home and were familiar with how they can clear the air. They had never heard of a salt cave but were intrigued.

“The salt lamp's kind of subtle,” Bohunovsky said. “But this was very clear. My breathing opened up. And the most amazing thing was I could feel an immediate sense of calm in that place.”

They went back. After the third visit, Bohunovsky said his cold symptoms vanished. And each time he returned, Bohunovsky said he experienced the same sense of calm he initially had felt. The visits set Bohunovsky and Pham on a path to build a salt cave in Denver. 

They researched salt caves extensively and visited several. They consulted with a woman in Vermont who is an expert in the design and building of salt caves. And they slogged through a long search for a suitable site for a salt cave in Denver and finally found a 2,000-square-foot space at 722 S. Pearl St. that formerly housed a bicycle shop.

Other services at 5 Star include an infrared sauna and ionic foot bath. But most visitors come for a 50-minute session in the salt cave. There are six tons of Himalayan salt in the cave, a distinctive, inviting and mildly mysterious sanctum. 

Himalayan salt, which comes from Pakistan, is used for its high-altitude purity. This particular salt contains the same 84 minerals and elements found in the human body. Sea salt would be as effective, except the pollutants and toxins now found in the ocean would contaminate the salt to some degree. Himalayan salt is basically pristine sea salt, since the Himalayan mountain range rose millions of years ago from an ocean after the collision of two tectonic plates. 

Small- and medium-sized salt crystals have been fitted together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to form the orangish walls of the cave. There are five to six inches of granular salt on the heated floor—the reason patrons enter wearing no shoes and white socks. Additionally, a halogenerator in an adjacent room cuts salt into very fine particles and blows it into the cave to keep a constant concentration of salt in the air.

“Even with all the salt on the walls and on the floor,” Bohunovsky said, “there would be not be enough salt in the air for the treatment to be really effective.”

Salt saturates the air with negative ions that neutralize the positive ions from toxic air that can cause health problems. The salt cave, Bohunovsky claims, “draws out mucus, allergens, toxins—basically clears out the lungs as you're breathing.”

Aesthetics and ambience enhance the treatment. On the ceiling, small fiber optic lights twinkle against a black background, giving visitors in one of eight zero-gravity recliners the relaxed feeling of gazing at the stars. Before the session starts, Pham makes sure everyone is not just covered with a light blanket but tucked in snugly. 

“Clients tell me the last time they got tucked in was when they were a child,” Pham said.

On a recent afternoon, Chrissy Reeder was one of those getting pampered. A close friend had bought Reeder a session in the salt cave, and she returned and had just finished her second session.

“I was able to get one of the more deeper forms of meditation I've ever got in there,” said Reeder, a registered nurse, who meditates and practices yoga. “I don't know specifically if it was the environment, the Himalayan salt, but it certainly puts you in a very relaxed state. I went in with a headache and came out fine. I just felt zen, if you will. I actually bought a (six-visit) package. I'll be back many times.”

Bohunovsky said more customers have visited the salt cave each month since it opened last August. And Pham said it is very common for people to say they “want to stay longer” and they're “ready to go again” when she informs them their session has ended. 

It has been a satisfying journey for the couple. Bohunovsky sold his interest in Modula4, a software company he co-founded in San Francisco, where the couple lived before moving to Denver in 2012. Pham also worked for the firm. She said neither wanted to return to the corporate world, a desire that 5 Star Salt Cave Wellness Center happily made a reality.

“It feels very, very good right now,” Bohunovsky said. “I think a big part of it is that my passion is actually my work now. It's not like I have a job and I make some money so I can do something else. This is what we actually want to do, and it is where our income's coming from.”

For more information on 5 Star Salt Caves visit 5starsaltcaves.com.