Flotation Therapy is the miraculous process of relaxing the human body and mind in an anti-gravity, zero-distraction environment. There are approximately 1,000 pounds of Epsom salts, or Magnesium Sulfate, dissolved into ~160 gallons of skin temperature (93.5 F) water. This creates a very dense, 30% salt-to-water solution, which allows the human body to float on top of the water effortlessly. With the body supported and minimal tactile sensation, we are able to fully let go and enter a euphoric relaxation. The user has a choice of turning off the lights and music, which reveals another layer of deep tranquility and stillness. Often, customers enter a theta brain wave state when floating, which is associated with deep meditation, creativity, and dreaming.
Epsom Salts are great for your skin, hair, nails, and act as an exfoliate. They aid in joint pain, ease stress, and naturally relax the body. Magnesium (commonly missing from our diets) is absorbed through the skin, while Sulfate eliminates toxins and heavy metals, naturally detoxing the body.
1000 pounds of salt in 180 gallons of water creates a 30% salt solution, enabling the human body to float effortlessly atop the water. This creates an anti-gravity environment. This sensation is euphoric, as all weight and tension can be dropped; it’s even safe to fall asleep. There are no pressure points on the body in this state, which can provide up to 100% pain relief. The spine naturally elongates and straightens, and the body undergoes the same regeneration process that transpires during sleep. Lactic acid is drained from the muscles, reducing soreness and recovery time.
Finally, just taking an hour of alone time (meditation), will decrease the production of cortisone, a stress hormone, leaving us feeling refreshed and serene after the float. The brain enters an elusive theta brain-wave state, associated with deep sleep and dreaming. We are able to access deeper levels of creativity and higher-level problem solving due to this distraction-free environment. The water is even heated to skin temperature, nearly eliminating any sensations at all; it feels like floating on a cloud, or in outer space. All of the benefits of an hour meditation are inherently seen in flotation therapy.
There are a number of benefits that come from three elements of floatation therapy:
These benefits are vast and varied. They can be present during the float session only, or they can last for an extended period of time after the session ends.
The intricate interplay of our body and mind has everything to do with living a healthy and happy life. Floating offers an all-natural approach which has been proven to help a wide scope of ailments and offer physical and mental well-being to its practitioners.
Although there are many ‘typical’ or common experiences, many customers have unique responses to their own individual physical and emotional needs. Regardless of the variety of physical and emotional responses, one general rule of thumb stands out, the more you float, the better it gets!
As you might imagine, being in a low-gravity, totally silent, and pitch-black floatation tank gives the body time to relax. While the healing benefits of relaxation have long been documented, the intense relaxation of floatation therapy is unique to the low-gravity environment that floatation tank provides. This environment leads to more profound relaxation, and allows our bodies to recuperate faster and more thoroughly.
The near-weightless environment of floating allows for the muscles and joints of the body to relax, increasing blood flow and helping to more quickly repair muscle tissues and heal the body. This is especially beneficial for those with injuries or chronic pain.
The floatation tank environment has been shown to expedite the healing of broken bones and sprained joints, sometimes healing twice as fast as without floatation therapy.
Floatation tanks and floatation therapy have seen success easing more chronic pains such as neck and back pain, and help with spinal misalignment issues. Float tanks have even been shown to ease the pain from such conditions as arthritis and fibromyalgia, conditions with few natural treatment options. This alleviation in conjunction with the healing of massage or the strengthening of yoga and other exercise can lead to prolonged periods of respite from pain.
The low-impact environment gives your body time to rest and recuperate, and gives your immune system the opportunity to shift into a higher gear, strengthening your body’s immune response.
Bodies physically rest and recover more quickly in a floatation tank, up to four times faster, in fact. This means that you can train yourself harder and reap the benefits of slower recovery times with the use of a float tank. Water in the float tank has the added benefit of being saturated with Epsom salts, which have well-established healing effects, helping to draw out toxins and lactic acid from work outs, speeding up recovery time and allowing athletes to push themselves farther, faster, especially in conjunction with massage or other alternative medicine.
Being in a low-gravity, totally silent and pitch black environment gives the mind time to relax as well. This mental release is almost the opposite of stress, and allows the brain to stop allocating its resources to processing the experience of all of our senses, producing profoundly positive mental effects and releasing a surge of positive neurochemicals. Studies have shown the use of floatation therapy to be extremely beneficial for relaxation and mental health.
The lack of external stimuli is extremely rare in modern society. In the floatation environment, without the hustle and bustle of the world imposing itself, people experience a profound calmness of mind. This respite from the world allows for stress management, offers the psychological benefits of a feeling of inner peace, and is a perfect complement to many alternative well-ness regimens.
Sensory deprivation allows the mind to enter into the theta state, a somewhat dreamlike state that most people only experience when on the cusp of sleep or right after waking in the morning. These lower frequency brain waves, primarily generated by the right hemisphere (the hemisphere associated with creative, non-linear thought), have been called “the state of inspiration” and there is evidence, both anecdotal and scientific, to support an increase in feelings of creativity accompanying these type of brain waves.
The sensory deprivation of the floatation tank environment has been shown to heighten the senses post-float and even lead to increased sensory acuity for days following.
Floatation tanks have seen much success as an aid to those with insomnia or other sleep disorders. The sensory deprivation allows the brain a natural calm-down period, aiding those who have trouble entering this period naturally. Floating can even be used to alleviate feelings of “jet-lag” caused by changes in time zones or reset sleep schedules for those needing to do so to maintain a healthy level of sleep, something many alternative medicine regimens attempt to cultivate.
Floating also offers a natural increase in dopamine and other neurotransmitters, which create feelings of euphoria and aid mental relaxation. This has both the subjective benefits of a feeling of well-being, and the mental benefits of a more balanced brain chemistry.
This means that for anyone with stress induced or related diseases, such as hypertension, ulcers, heart disease, and many others, the floatation tank offers a mental solution to the physical symptom, and goes after the problem at its source. By combating the stress, which is at the root of these issues, floatation tanks help to heal the body and the mind. Even more abstract mental issues, such as depression, psychological issues, even PTSD, have been shown to be alleviated in the tank environment due to shifts in brain chemistry.
For many conditions, floatation therapy offers an alternative to medicinal, or “pill therapy” which has become the default in our culture. Floatation therapy offers a safe, natural, and scientifically researched alternative, or enhancement to many conditions plaguing our modern-day culture.
