“The Oxygen Bar owner Cleveland Bartley, at far right, talks with co-owner Harvelle Earl as he hands a curious mall visitor information about the benefits of a visit to their oxygen bar. Jason Moon, left, was paying his first visit after reading about oxygen bars gaining popularity state and nationwide. (Photo by Bonnie West) A bar just opened at the Tacoma Mall. It has comfy bar stools and you get a good shot of something, but it is not an alcoholic beverage slid your way in a shot glass, it is H20 delivered through a tube you breathe from. The Oxygen Bar is the newest addition to the kiosks that fill the promenade between the stores at the mall, and one of the most unusual. Although popular in Europe and Japan for some time, the concept of offering oxygen to the public as a nutritional supplement wasn’t approved for use in the United States by the FDA until the passage of the Nutritional Supplemental Act in 1994.Cleveland Bartley and Harvelle Earl, who opened their bar in front of Mervyn’s two weeks ago, used to live in Anchorage, Alaska, and frequented an oxygen bar in a mall there owned by Angela Harris.Bartley said he was a regular and would talk with Harris about oxygen’s benefits.Paying for better quality air to breathe is no different than paying for better quality food or water, Harris said when contacted at her O2oxygen & Aroma Therapy Kiosk in Anchorage. When Harris told Bartley that Washing-ton State would be a good area to branch into, Bartley and Earl decided to give it a try. Their trendy blue oxygen bar has a row of comfortable stools in front of it and a line of tall, colorful cylinders around the top. The four water-filled cylinders in front of each stool offer different organic aromatherapy scents to enjoy, and heighten the senses, as well as one with no scent at all. A generator under the bar produces the oxygen, which is pumped through the water to moisturize it because oxygen is naturally dry.There is an important difference between medical oxygen and stabilized oxygen which is offered at The Oxygen Bar. Medical oxygen is highly explosive because it is stored at high pressure in cylinders which are available to the public by doctor’s prescription only. A visitor to The Oxygen Bar purchases a $2.00 nose piece that rests comfortably in each nostril, and can be kept for each visit. It has a long tube that is attached to a tube on the oxygen cylinders. When the client is ready, they turn a lever on the unit to start the oxygen pumping through the water.It costs one dollar per minute for the oxygen, which is offered in five to thirty minute increments. According to literature available at the bar, 90 percent of our energy comes from oxygen. Only 10 percent comes from food and water.The information also states that many people experience a number of symptoms from the lack of oxygen in their system-from headaches, mid and end-of-day fatigue, depression, a weakened immune system, poor digestion, premature wrinkles in the skin, unhealthy hair and nails, and other health problems.Not surprisingly, foods like processed sugar, white flour, alcohol, coffee and colas require large amounts of oxygen in order to be metabolized by the body.Oxygen gives the body the ability to rebuild itself. It displaces harmful free radicals, neutralizes environmental toxins, and destroys anaerobic infectious bacteria, parasites, microbes and viruses. It also greatly enhances the body’s absorption of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, and other nutrients. Convinced by the benefits, Jason Moon, 18, of Tacoma, elbowed his way up to the bar for his first visit. He said he had read about oxygen bars gaining popularity and wanted to pay one a visit.He purchased his nosepiece, made himself comfortable on a bar stool and selected the row of cylinders that held aromatherapy scents Pear, Jasmine and Clarity. After his five-minute shot he was asked how he felt.I feel pure, clearer, he answered.The Oxygen Bar is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m to 6 p.m. Have bar will travelThe Oxygen Bar, which is portable, can be set up at shows, clubs, or health fitness centers as a novel introduction to holistic healing.For more information, contact Cleveland Bartley or Harvelle Earl at their Tacoma Mall kiosk at 253/473-3333. What is it like to belly up to an oxygen bar? By Bonnie West, Editor I am always game for a new experience and was really curious about The Oxygen Bar that just opened at the Tacoma Mall. One of the owners, Cleveland Bartley, patiently explained the various aromatherapy scents I might want to try after asking me how I was feeling. I told him I had stayed up later than my normal bedtime watching a movie with my daughter and was a little worn out.He suggested I try oxygen mixed with Revitalize, an aromatherapy blend of lemon, rosemary, peppermint, and sweet basil for an uplifting, strengthening, warming experience on top of the 90 to 97 percent shot of oxygen I’d be inhaling.I liked the scent right away and breathed in through my nose, exhaling through my mouth and sat up straight like Bartley had instructed me.After about ten breaths, I felt clear-headed and laughed. I explained to Bartley that I hadn’t expected to experience anything and was pleased to feel the tiredness lift. In that five minutes I also tried the other three aromatherapy scents in the row that included Eclipse (peppermint), Tangerine Dream (tangerine and jasmine), and Sublime (lime juice concentrate).Bartley told me I could expect to feel revitalized an hour for every five minutes of oxygen I inhaled. (I did.)He added that people of all ages, including children, can safely pay a visit and that Chocolate is among the most popular aromatherapy scents available.Bartley’s aromatherapy preference? I enjoy Sublime (lime juice concentrate-harmonizing, refreshing, equalizing) about once a week because it makes me feel calm, he said.Although no medical claims can be made about a visit to an oxygen bar, it’s worth a visit simply for the novelty of trying something new. “