How to Eliminate Stressors with Flotation Therapy
Stress is a common experience in today’s fast-paced world. But what exactly is stress?
Stress is the body’s response to any demand placed upon it. The demands can be physical, such as heavy lifting or running a marathon. They can also be mental, such as taking a final exam or giving a speech.
When we perceive a threat, our bodies go into “fight-or-flight” mode, releasing stress hormones that prepare us to respond. This response is designed to help us deal with real threats, but it can also be triggered by everyday worries and concerns.
Over time, chronic stress can lead to physical health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and anxiety disorders.
Thankfully, there are many ways to manage stress and promote relaxation. Exercises like yoga and meditation, deep breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation can all help to reduce stress levels. One lesser-known way to reduce stressors is floatation therapy, which works on both the body and mind. Flotation therapy has been around since at least the 1950s when John C. Lilly grew interested in the effects of sensory deprivation and what it can do for the brain. He began his float therapy research and constructed the first float tank in 1972. Since then, flotation therapy has taken the world by storm and is practiced on every continent helping millions of people find relief and feel good.
How to Eliminate Stressors Holistically with Floatation Therapy
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to remove life’s stressors? What it’s like to be completely weightless? What about not being able to smell, feel, hear, taste or see anything? What if we told you that you didn’t have to go to outer space to experience these sensations and manage stress? Instead, you could try the holistic wellness practice known as float therapy. You might have already heard of it, sometimes referred to as sensory deprivation.
Float therapy is the experience that happens inside float pods, where guests can meditate in a quiet space to achieve high levels of sensory relaxation. Each pod is filled with about 180 gallons of water mixed with over 1,000 pounds of Epsom salts, creating a buoyant environment denser than the Dead Sea. With relaxation as the primary goal of floating, the weightlessness and lack of distractions work together for mental and physical support.
As a holistic option for complete wellness and its intuitive service requiring little interaction with others, floating is changing the self-care game by introducing a solution that targets a widespread health issue culprit: stress.
How to Eliminate Stressors: Sensory Deprivation
From a young age, people know what the human body’s five senses are: sight, smell, taste, touch and sound. We learn from our senses to navigate the world, and they are a big part of our day-to-day life. So, sensory deprivation, or lack of senses, might be difficult to understand. Why take away the senses that help us so much?
The benefits of float therapy exist inside the realm of sensory deprivation, where the mind can distance itself from processing external sources of distraction. When stimuli are produced around us and registered through our senses, the brain processes them, so we understand our surroundings. The brain is constantly working to understand the world around it, sending signals to different parts of the body so it too can understand and feel the external components of our universe.
When that is completely cut off, there is nothing for the brain to process, which means the mind can rest and focus inward rather than outward. Of course, not every external stimulus is considered harmful. However, many stimuli can induce anxiety or stress.
Float therapy supports the idea of reducing these external distractions, managing stress, anxiety or symptoms of depression or sadness. By eliminating outside stimulations like sound and light, you are creating a pathway for the brain to rest, fully and completely. The benefits of doing so are tremendous.
Floating has been shown to improve one’s mood, relieve anxiety and provide stress relief; float therapy can increase creativity and enhance focus. Floating can even be a form of meditation. It is a great way to reconnect with your mind and achieve a state of peace, serenity and tranquility. It is a great way to fall asleep faster and leave the day’s stresses behind in favor of a healthy mind.
How to Eliminate Stressors: The Feeling of Weightlessness
Float pods, also known as float tanks, offer users the ability to experience an optimal zero-gravity environment. But why is weightlessness important? Well, zero-gravity has a host of health benefits.
Float pods filled with just a few inches of water limit environmental stimulants to the degree that it allows your nervous and musculoskeletal systems to relax. The Epsom salts mixed into the water enable one’s body to float effortlessly, releasing gravity’s hold on muscles and joints.
As the body becomes weightless and relaxed, the nervous system releases hundreds of “happy chemicals” called endorphins. This is because floating activates the parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for the fight or flight response), which slows your heart rate and relaxes the muscles. As a result, the heaviness one feels after a day of work or exercise melts away while you’re floating. The results are calming with anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting effects on the body.
Floatation therapy can be a great aide to chronic pain sufferers or anyone interested in relieving muscle tension, reducing blood pressure or improving circulation. Athletes, in particular, are known for using float therapy to help reduce or heal injuries and minimize lactic acid (the fluid that allows muscles to move by being a fuel source) in the body after vigorous training and game days; too much lactic acid can cause health issues.
Some might not realize that while float therapy works to heal the mind and body separately, it also works to heal both together. The mind and body are connected, and studies have shown that chronic pain can have severe effects on mental health. Pain in the body is uncomfortable and, depending on continuous severity, can cause agitation and irritability; no one likes being in pain, and it can be a miserable experience. So, when physical pain is reduced, it can directly impact someone’s mental health.
How to Eliminate Stressors: Who Can Try Float Therapy?
Nearly every person is an excellent candidate to try flotation therapy as the benefits are wide-ranging. From stress-related conditions like insomnia, immune system issues, depression and anxiety, high blood pressure, skin and nail problems, and healing from various athletic ailments, anyone hoping to improve their health and eliminate stressors are great candidates for floating.
How to Eliminate Stressors and Other Benefits of Float Therapy’s Holistic Practice
Stress is a massive culprit of multiple health problems, so a proactive approach to minimizing its presence benefits everyone. Floatation therapy is a great stress reliever – but the benefits don’t just stop with stress. There are many conditions float therapy helps with.
Mental health benefits of float therapy:
- Anxiety and Depression: By reducing sensory input, the brain and nervous system can fully relax, reducing the flight or fight response and combatting it from overreacting.
- Visualization and Mental Training: Floating allows you to experience realizations about yourself, your life, and your internal abilities.
- Increased Focus & Concentration: Float your way to an increase in focus. Athletes and those that work out can visualize results and gain focus to achieve future goals through clarity.
- Improve Cognitive Function: Allowing your brain to relax in absolute silence gives you a chance to get rid of outside stressors and brain fog to think more clearly.
- Improve Memory: Achieve optimal memory status by letting your brain shift its focus to your innermost thoughts; floating can help you increase your memorization and memory abilities.
- Theta-Brain Wave State: The theta-brain wave state allows you to achieve a deeper state of meditation (and, as such, stress free relaxation).
Float therapy is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety, but it’s also beneficial for a lot of other reasons. If you’re looking for a holistic practice that can help you eliminate stressors from your life, float therapy may be the perfect solution for you. To experience all the benefits this treatment has to offer, schedule your first session today.
With experienced float consultants and over 10 years of float experience, True REST Float Spa can provide you with answers to all your float questions. To chat with a consultant, check out our locations to find the nearest at https://truerest.com/locations/. Learn more about float therapy from True REST Float Spa at https://truerest.com/float-therapy/.
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