Floating towards wellness

Benefits of Floatation Therapy

A float tank (aka. sensory deprivation tank or isolation tank) is a tank filled with water that has enough Epsom salt mixed in to allow a person to float on the surface – without any effort. In fact, it’s easier to float in the tank than in the Dead Sea! The water is kept at skin-temperature, making it imperceptible – you cannot tell where your skin ends and the water begins. The tank is soundproof and pitch-black, creating a place free of gravity and all stimulation from the outside world.

So what is the big deal about that?

A float tank is not as much as an object as it is an environment that can act as a counterbalance to every other interaction we have with the world around us. Entering a sensory deprived environment allows your body and mind to sink away from outside pressures and focus inward – to heal and revive your intentions.

There is no magic in the flat tank, the magic is in us. All we need to do is let go…our body will do the rest.

Pain Management

There has been much research in the area of pain management with frequent floating. Relief from arthritis, back pain, neck pain, tendinitis, inflammation, and psychosomatic pain relief through float therapy have all been documented.

There have been many experiences reporting the drastic reduction or altogether elimination of pain management medication with regular float therapy sessions; especially with fibromyalgia.

Effects on the Nervous System

The nervous system in general is allowed to experience a higher quality break from normal stressors in a floating environment compared to a normal sensory environment, with a decrease in plasma cortisol – the hormone that responds to stress.

Controlled studies have indicated improvement with anxiety, depression, optimism, and sleep quality with as little as 12 float sessions (of 45 minute duration), with lasting benefits.

Increased Immune Function

Modern research has established clearly the interrelationship between high levels of distress and a depression of the immune system.  In addition, conditions like pain and depression impair the immunological functions. 

Floatation therapy is very useful in these cases since the deep relaxation attained through floating releases negative stress, helps chronic pain and depression giving a natural boost to the immunological system.

Sports Recovery/Athletic Performance

Floating maximizes the benefits of fitness training, exercise and workouts.  Although exercise stimulates muscle growth, the growth occurs during relaxation some 30-40 hours after exercise. 

The deep relaxation of floating improves blood circulation, promotes the elimination of lactic acid, and accelerates the growth and regeneration of muscle tissue.

Magnesium Absorption

Magnesium is the key component of Epsom salt and performs more functions in more systems of the human body than virtually any other mineral, including regulating the activity of more than 325 enzymes. 

While you float, the extremely high concentration of Epsom salts are absorbed through skin and can actually supplement your diet for a mineral that has been shown to be deficient in the average person’s diet.

Magnesium can prevent cardiovascular disease, regulate high blood pressure, prevent osteoporosis, relieve menopause symptoms, provide PMS relief, create healthier bones and teeth, and is involved with detoxification.

Anti-Gravity Benefits

The buoyancy afforded by the dense Epsom salt solution eliminates the body’s specific gravity, bringing the floater closer to an experience of total weightlessness. 

Because gravity occupies up to 90% of the central nervous system activity, our bodies are constantly adjusting against the gravitational force whether we realize it or not. 

By freeing ourselves from some of the demands of gravity, we liberate the mind and body to provide relief from conditions such as chronic muscular tension, back pain, neck pain, high blood pressure, etc.

Increased Stress Resistance

Because of the deep relaxation and meditative state floating provides we become more resistant to the stimuli of chronic stressors bombarding us in modern society. 

Regular floating literally gives us a physiological higher threshold for what our body considers stress so that the modern post-pandemic won’t trigger our stress response as much.

Chronic Stressor Relief

The floating environment eliminates as much external stimulation as possible allowing your nervous system to take a break. In a world with a constant buzz or hum, our systems rarely, if ever, experience the calm that floating provides.

Having this experience can be very refreshing, nourishing and healthy for our bodies and minds. It can be an escape to your “personal cabin” at the lake any day of the year.

Meditation

Meditation has a plethora of benefits and floating is a unique and phenomenal tool used to cultivate mental stillness. It often generates a sensation of being intensely awake yet extremely relaxed.

It can induce theta-state brainwaves and allows for one to remain conscious in this frequency without falling asleep – a technique that Zen monks spend years trying to perfect.  For some, floating may also induce an altered state of consciousness.

Brain Synchronization

Research has shown that floating promotes greater communication between the right side (creative-side) and left side (analytical-side) of the brain – the majority of people are left side dominant.

Also, people experience increased vertical communication between the primitive reptilian brain, the limbic middle or mammalian brain and the conscious neo-cortex.

These synchronizing reactions can cause elevated states of creativity, greater non-linear connections, and deeper realizations.

Visualization

The combination of being extremely relaxed while intensely awake allows techniques of visualization to become very powerful.

From athletes preparing for competition to public speakers rehearsing a presentation, floating can induce the calm needed to perform at ones best. Research has shown that mental rehearsal is just as practical as physical rehearsal.

Super-Learning

With the brain being held in the theta state, the mind becomes hyper-suggestible. With less distractions and greater resources at its disposal the mind is able to absorb new material very deeply with research showing improved performance in memory and recall activities.

It is great to use in conjunction with exam or business meeting preparation, mastering a new language, and increasing higher education.

Endorphins

Floating and the relaxation response it induces flood the body with endorphins. These neurotransmitters are responsible for relieving us from pain, enhancing our mood, decreasing feelings of depression and potentially generating feelings of euphoria. They can suppress our appetite, and decrease anxiety leaving us in a calm and clear state of being with a deeply relaxed mind.

Poor Sleep/Insomnia

From managing chronic stress to inducing a natural calm, many people report drastically improved sleep abilities from regular float sessions.

The change in your physical state and your mental outlook can provide you with a healthier perspective in which to put your body and mind to rest if sleeping is an issue.

Also, 90 minutes of floating can feel like 4-6 hours of sleep. It is extremely therapeutic, refreshing and rejuvenating. So if you pulled an all-nighter, suffer from insomnia or have a baby who never lets you sleep through the night, floating can help make up for any lack of sleep you may be experiencing.

Enhanced Well-Being

Studies conducted in 2006 and 2007, have shown increased connection between our mental and physical states, improving balance and pain perception in the participants. Feelings of fear were better confronted in the “safety and calm” of the floatation cabin. One study had participants increase self-awareness and insight, as well as better identifying the meaning of their pain and wellness.