So you’ve probably seen several of my posts mentioning the company Little Moon Essentials, and a few of their products on my Resources page. I should probably go into a bit more detail here, because if you just pull up their website, I will admit that some of the products sound a little like something created while coming down off of a pretty wild acid trip. I mean, bath salts for different phases of the moon? I was skeptical, but I should explain how I came across the site and started using their products.
This past spring, my husband and I took a road trip from our home in Austin to Santa Fe for my birthday. Neither of us had been before, and it seemed a good way to christen his new car that he had only had for a couple of months. During our week in Santa Fe, I had read about a mineral spring relatively nearby called Ojo Caliente. The material on it said that it had various mineral spring baths containing things like iron, arsenic, and lithia that supposedly were healing for all kinds of ailments. As it was only an hour away from where we were and I am always up for a new experience that may help my body, I mentioned it to my husband and he agreed.
The trip out there was remote, and when we first pulled in and I saw several tee-pee’s with smoke coming out of the top, admittedly I wondered if we were going to be sold some special kool-aid and told to pack our belongings for an arriving comet. The place (and the clientele) definitely had a hippie/granola type of thing going, but that didn’t faze me in the least. It was an incredibly peaceful setting, and I wanted to experience some of this healing that I had read about. Due to a steep drop in my hemoglobin levels before we left (I have chronic anemia, and sometimes my levels go off the deep end with no warning) combined with the high altitude, I was having a hard time adjusting that week and really wanted a day to just relax.
We stopped by the reception desk, where for $18 apiece, we were given an all access day pass, robes, sandals and a towel. After changing and meeting outside by a row of inviting looking hammocks hanging from a large pergola, we did a quick lap of the grounds to see what we were going to do first. Each of the pools had a sign next to it stating what the pool was and what ailments it was used to treat. The Lithia Spring’s sign said that it was used for centuries to cure depression and aid in digestive issues. Um, yes. The Iron Spring, which I referred to as the “Mother Ship” during our day there, was especially good for blood and immune disorders, so I was practically ready to dive headfirst into that one. The Soda Spring was next, said to help relieve digestive problems, followed by the Arsenic Spring, which was listed as beneficial for skin disorders, ulcers and arthritis. Next up was a large pool filled with warm mud; you were supposed to climb in and cover yourself in the mud before lying on a large flat rock next to it to let it dry. You would then shower off with a few of the shower heads lined up against the stone wall. Finally, in the middle of all this was a large pool of cool water where you could take a dip to cool down and “regroup” between soaks in the mineral springs. There was a whisper-only policy enforced in the spa area, so the whole scene that day was very calm and serene.
We started with the Iron Spring and continued to rotate through each of the springs that afternoon, pausing occasionally to bundle into a large fluffy towel and snuggle up burrito-like into one of the hammocks. Definitely one of the most peaceful afternoons of my life. After about five hours there, we showered and changed for the drive back to our hotel in Santa Fe. That night I noticed that the mild nausea that had plagued me for the last five days was gone, and I had an actual appetite. We celebrated with a dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, which was amazing. I slept soundly that night, and the next morning upon rising, I noted that I wasn’t dizzy when I stood up and that my joints barely ached at all, which is an almost daily occurrence for me in the morning. My husband said he felt great that day as well, which led me to want to research this whole concept a bit more. Was there a way I could bring a piece of the mineral springs back to Austin with me?
Of course, I wasn’t exactly expecting to find bottled arsenic in a jar to add to my baths, but I started searching for mineral salts, etc. When I looked up “iron bath salts” using Google, lo and behold, the link for Little Moon Essentials appeared. The reviews on all of their products looked great, but not wanting to waste a lot of money, I only allowed myself to order a small jar of the Ironman Bath Salts and the Dream Cream, which came to about $20. The products arrived a couple of days after we got home, and after one use of each, I was hooked.
Again, I haven’t tried all of their products, but the ones that I mention are those I am fiercely loyal to given the results I’ve had. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – having IBD is insanely expensive, so you don’t want to blow a shitload of money on Jack’s Magic Beanstalk Beans. If you’re interested, do what I did and start with a small size of a couple of things and go from there. Coincidentally, they are doing a Holiday Sale right now, so I think you can get 20% off your order for the next few days. And if you ever find yourself around the Santa Fe, give Ojo Caliente a try, too. No kool-aid required.
Guts and Glamour 