A phenomenon that has been catching the attention of California consumers for more than two years is hitting the Tristate this weekend.

        For a breath of fresh air — nearly pure oxygen scented with a variety of herbs — customers will pay $12 to $20 for 20- to 30-minute sessions connected to breathing tubes connected to tanks of flavored water.

        Pranayama Oxygen Bar in East Hyde Park is unique in the Tristate, says owner Jessica Kinzbach, who got the idea from a similar business, the O-2 Bar, owned by actor Woody Harrelson, in West Hollywood, Calif. Mr. Harrelson, who grew up in Lebanon.

IF YOU GO

What: Pranayama Oxygen Bar.     Where: 3385-88 Erie Ave., East Hyde Park.     When: No reservations are necessary where, ultimately, daily hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; 11 a.m. to midnight Wednesday and Thursday; and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. For now, the business is open 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays only.

        “He helped me hook up my stuff,” Ms. Kinzbach says. “I imagine he'll be back at some point.”

        The nearest oxygen bar, Ms. Kinzbach said, is in Chicago. Others have popped up in major cities in California, Colorado, Texas, New York and elsewhere. The practice originated in India.

        Medical experts have voiced concerns over its value other than to people with breathing ailments. Some have questioned its safety. Breathing pure oxygen for extended periods, some say. can irritate the linings of the lungs and cause fluid buildup.

        Dr. Frank McCormack, a University of Cincinnati pulmologist, says occasional oxygen therapy can be dangerous for some chronic smokers. Breathing pure oxygen can prevent them from eliminating carbon dioxide from the bloodstream, he says, and suppress their normal breathing drive.

        Oxygen therapy is a legitimate medical treatment for people with heart and lung disease and other medical conditions that cause oxygen levels in the blood to fall below normal levels. There is no evidence that occasional use of pure oxygen has any medical benefit, says Dr. McCormack.

        The appeal?

        “It makes you feel really good,” Ms. Kinzbach says, comparing it to a natural high.

        No alcohol will be available in the bar.

        “I expect a lot of the Hyde Park area people looking for a healthier lifestyle,” she says.

        Customers will choose the aromas they want from a printed menu, she says, then settle in to the informal, Eastern setting.

        The bar, designed to look like an opium den, she says, will feature live music.

        In about a month, a companion business, the Healing Arts Center, will be open by appointment at the same location. It will offer massage-reflexology and yoga.

Medicine's her music
Stern behaves himself in debut
Theater review: Macbeth
E. Hyde Park oxygen bar a breath of fresh air
WNOP manager answering 'a call'
Get to it