Nestled in the back of corporate office space, a new business that's hoping to offer a place to help people's mental health has been open in east Salina since June.

Founder and owner Ben Lee said Myne, Body and Soul is the first mental health gym in Kansas and he hopes that it can not only help people as they deal with the stresses in life, but also allows people to be more open about that stress and other aspects of their mental health.

"(This) is here to provide the community another resource when it comes to mental health," Lee said.

Lee said while the concept of the gym began with the idea of helping deal with stress, anxiety and depression, he believes the use of the various equipment at the gym, including 4-D massage chairs, saunas with dry salt therapy and vibroacroustic beds, can extend to other areas of mental health.

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A place to bring positivity and calmness to people and the community

The name of the gym is inspired by Lee's wife, Jazzmyne who died by suicide in August of 2021, and was a big inspiration to the creation of the gym here in Salina. While his son was in the hospital, he saw a mental health gym on TV and began doing more research on what the concept was.

"(I thought) what if Jazzmyne had...a place like that she could've gone to help just create a calmness within you?" Lee said. "I really feel like this place is good at that. It creates a really good calming point."

Lee said while Myne, Body and Soul offers that possible starting point, it's up to each individual as to what to do after they leave the gym.

"We can't control them, but I'm a firm believer that you (can) really create a nice foundation," Lee said.

From what Lee has seen, people are leaving with that positivity.

"Most people are smiling when they walk out," Lee said.

This foundation not only can benefit the people who come into the gym, but may offer more positivity in the community as well. The gym is located in the Woodland Corporate Center at 1410 E. Iron Ave., Lee offered an hypothetical of someone leaving the gym and maybe stopping in at Casey's down the street.

"(Maybe) you're interaction with that clerk was positive...there's so much good to that," Lee said. "That (attitude) could be passed on to the next person they interact with. That's a rippling effect to that."

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How does the gym work?

Session costs at Myne, Body and Soul are based on time, with the rate being $1 per minute beginning with 30-minute sessions. As the gym is getting started however, Lee said it is offering $10 off a session.

The gym offer three rooms to use, each of which has the same three pieces of equipment with customers able to use all of them.

While a 30-minute session is enough time to use one of these pieces, Erin Kerby, the gym's coordinator, said booking an hour-long session to really get the most out of the gym and be able to fully use all of the equipment.

"The way I look at it, if you do 20 minutes in (the massage) chair, 10 minutes in (the vibroacoustic) bed and 30 minutes in that sauna, you're going to have the full effect," Kerby said.

Being the coordinator, Kerby also is the one who often shows people how each of the equipment works and has great knowledge about them.

When is Myne, Body and Soul open?

While Myne, Body and Soul has listed hours of 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, Lee said this is really for walk ins, and he encourages people to call, 785-515-2212 to book sessions during this time and possibly for times outside of the list hours.

Finally, for people who aren't sure whether the gym might be something for them Lee and Kerby said to come and try it anyway.

"It's really hard to explain what these things can do for you unless you try them," Kerby said.

For people interested in trying it out for themselves, Lee said the gym also recently became part of the Choose Saline County app, and is one of the locations where people can redeem stars collected through the loyalty program for local businesses.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina's Myne, Body and Soul is Kansas's first mental health gym