Team Salt

Welcome to Salt of the Earth! Defining and building our salt cave has been a dream come true and an unbelievable adventure that I am eternally grateful for. 

My fiancé, TJ Gentile, and I have been “Pittsburghers” our entire lives and have our roots here. Not only do we love our community, but we also love the way people are in western PA.  True to form, Peter’s Township, Canonsburg, Washington County, and the entire South Hills have been immensely welcoming and supportive since we opened and we are eternally grateful.

Want to make God laugh? “Tell him your plan”.

Many have asked us how we got into this business. In all truthfulness, it came to me initially as a “cool thought” and an option for the alternative healing center we wanted to create.  Then it just kept reappearing, reminding me of Horshack in Mr. Kotter’s class.  (I’m pretty sure I just aged myself with that one).  Anyway, kinda crazy that we built a salt cave when you consider we had never even been in one.  Fortunately we moved forward and Salt of the Earth quickly began to come together, and in a few short months, became a reality.  The construction and material delivery (all 16 tons of Himalayan salt) came together, financing aligned to the day, and we had the most amazing team of artisans from Poland arrive to build the cave.  

Salt has an extensive role in history and modern life, and the benefits amazing. Naturally antibacterial, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory, we have witnessed the effects first-hand. Clients breathe better, sleep better and feel better after only one session!  We love offering alternative healing to our community and based upon the response, our community loves it as well. 

Our world has changed dramatically in the past twenty years. So much so, it is hard to grasp at times. We are a global society with limitless exposure to other cultures. Consider how our perception of massage, acupuncture, essential oils, yoga, Reiki, etc. has shifted. If prejudice is ignorance and that it is overcome with knowledge, then our acceptance of these and other healing modalities reflects our collective intellectual and spiritual growth. And that is simply awesome. 

We sincerely hope you enjoy the salt cave and all the services we been blessed to offer. Including, guided meditations, energy healing, crystal sound bowls, reflexology and massages with amazing providers. Don’t forget to check out our boutique. I love the crystals (and can talk about them for hours), salt lamps and jewelry, and sincerely hope you do as well.  

Just Breathe!

Lisa Mascara – Owner

 

Meet Our Providers

Brooke Smokelin

Salt Cave, About Brooke is an experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT), IKYTA certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher, Yoga Therapist, Sound Healer, and Musician, or “Nada Yogini”, She has been a practitioner of various forms of Sound Therapy for over 15 years and works with the instruments of voice, percussion, guitar, tuning forks, and quartz crystal bowls. Her Chakra Sound Bath is extremely popular as are her personal healing sessions.

Jen Guyton

Salt Cave, About

Jennifer is an intuitive bodyworker who dances between physical and energetic healing modalities to create a customized session designed specifically for the individual and his/her needs at the time of the session. This dynamic blending of modalities allows her to facilitate deep healing and transformation at the root of the imbalance, creating a ripple effect of beneficial change at all levels—mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical. The end result encourages overall well-being, self-awareness, and spiritual growth for her clients. She is honored to be of service and invites you to start your personal journey to wellness.

Kara Anthony

Salt Cave, About

Kara Anthony, is a life- long Peters Township resident and an experienced a reiki master, teacher, medium and medical intuitive. She is a popular resource for those interested in divine messages from personal spirit guides, angels and loved ones whom have passed on. Stemming from her love of animals, Kara has become widely recognized for her unique ability to connect to pets, living and deceased and has become known as the Cave Woman Guide..

Wendy Borne

Salt Cave, About

Wendy Borne is a Reiki Master/Teacher and Intuitive Medium. As an advocate of Reiki and the Reiki way of life, Wendy is dedicated to sharing the possibilities offered through a healthy and balanced energy system. Wendy has been combining Reiki and Intuitive Mediumship since 2003 through private healing sessions and Reiki training and workshops. She is honored to guide you through your Reiki healing journey. 

Michele Buehl

Michele Buehl has been facilitating Sound Healing, Guided Meditations and Breathwork since 2018. Michele’s empathic abilities allow her to connect to her clients revealing  what you need in that moment and her intuition guides her toward how to play and the words to guide you through. In her sound healing Michele has worked with native americans, and performed at peace summits. Michele was invited to play her bowls at a summit event with the Mitchell Hedges Skull, a famous Crystal Skull that travels the world, and has been featured on the History and Discovery channels. She has performed in many different yoga studios and a few wellness centers in the city. Carlow University invited Michele to perform and present a teaching on how to incorporate meditation and sound into the classroom. This led her to perform at Myrtle Elementary school to perform for each k-5th grade classroom. From there she performed mini sessions for a couple of Head Start pre k classrooms. Now Michele, is providing sessions at retreats and outdoor healing sites that provide an elevated meditation experience. She also performs sessions at her small wellness studio in Castle Shannon and the first Sunday of every month at Salt of the Earth himalayan salt cave and wellness center in McMurray.

Neysha Arcelay

Neysha is a transformation advisor and coach helping overwhelmed individuals overcome burnout, heal, and get their minds to work for them instead of against them.

Neysha holds various certifications such as Usui Reiki Master, Spiritual Life Coach, Mindfulness Master Practitioner, Crystal Healing, and Angel Guide. She is also a member of the International Natural Healers Association.

As an avid learner and practitioner, she is an eternal student of personal growth, natural remedies, and metaphysical disciplines, which principles she integrates into her daily life and professional practice.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Neysha lives west of Pittsburgh with her husband, two daughters, and furry son Milo.