What is Floating?
Floating is a practice where you enter into a float tank (also called an isolation tank or sensory deprivation tank) which is a well-engineered enclosed tub filled with 10″ of water that has 900 to 1100 lbs of dissolved Epsom salts in it. The individual lies down in the water and floats effortlessly in the nude. The water is heated to the same temperature as the surface of your skin so that when the water settles and you remain relaxed and still, you do not really feel the water anymore. The tank is light-proof and sound-proof.
All forces of gravity on the musculoskeletal system and nervous system are eliminated from the extreme positive buoyancy; so imagine a space where you don’t feel, see or hear anything. The tank’s extremely unique environment is designed to allow for a minimal amount of sensory input to enter into your nervous system. This environment then has a plethora of benefits and applications for health, personal development, spirituality, and well-being.
Floats are regularly 90 minutes long. You can also book two sessions back-to-back for longer floats and get an extra 30 minutes since there is no room preparation needed in between (total of 3.5 hours).
Benefits of Floating
Whether you're using floatation therapy as a tool for meditation, creativity or rest & recovery, there are a wide-range of benefits that are difficult to get anywhere else.
Relaxation Response The tank suppresses the functioning of the sympathetic nervous system which when active produces our ‘fight or flight’ response. And it then activates the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for relaxation, healing, replenishment, etc. Some physical symptoms of the relaxation response are decreased muscle tension, decreased blood pressure, decreased stress hormones, and increased endorphins.
Heightened Senses
Research indicates increased visual acuity, improved tactile perception, improved auditory sensitivity, and increased taste sensitivities after floating.
Pain Management
Arthritis, back pain, neck pain, tendinitis, bursitis, inflammation, and psychosomatic pain relief have all been documented via tank use.
Immune Boost
Immune function is enhanced by suppressing stress hormones which not only weaken the immune system but also suppress the digestion and reproductive systems, affect regeneration processes, and decrease insulin sensitivity.
Enhanced Healing , Rejuvenation and Recovery
Floating increases circulation to extremities, promotes greater elimination of metabolic by products, decreases the forces of gravity to help promote greater muscular relaxation, and it can prevent adrenal fatigue.
Musculoskeletal Awareness
Floating decreases chronic muscle tension and creates greater awareness of less noticeable areas of muscle tension and imbalances.
Although floating is not zero-gravity (like outer space), the density of the Epsom Salt solution does create the maximal amount of the forces of gravity to be dispersed across the greatest surface area of the body. Rigid postures and chronic muscular tension from daily life can cause ailments such as lower-back pain, neck pain, shallow breathing, high blood pressure, etc. The anti-gravity environment of the float tank disperses forces to the smallest amount and thus decreases the source of gravity-related stimulation to the minimum possible value providing relief to these specific areas.
Chronic Stress Relief
The tanks environment eliminates as much external input as possible. It lets your nervous system have a break. In a city with a constant buzz or hum, our systems rarely experience (if ever) the isolation and silence that the tank’s environment provides. Having this experience can be very refreshing, nourishing and healthy for our bodies and minds. We are well adapted for acute stress, however, for chronic stressors such as noise and air pollution; business, social, and family pressures; war; unemployment; street crime fear; general antagonism between the sexes; we are not well adapted and have been cited to be a cause of several forms of disease.
Increased Stress Resistance
Regular floating can alter the set-points in the endocrine homeostatic mechanism which can cause adjustments such as a lower adrenal activation threshold. This means that we become more resistant to the stimuli of chronic stressors bombarding us in modern urban settings and modern lifestyles and literally we have a physiological higher threshold. The modern urban life-style won’t affect our stress response as much.
Meditation
Meditation has a plethora of researched benefits and floating is a unique and phenomenal tool to cultivate mental stillness. It often generates a sensation of being intensely awake yet extremely relaxed; presence. It can induce theta-state brainwaves and allows for one to remain conscious in this frequency instead of falling asleep. Floating may induce an altered state of consciousness.
Mental Reset
The mental “reset”. Patterns exist throughout our lives. Going throughout our daily routines we get “numb” to so much around us, we become automatic with so many of our thoughts, our actions, our environments. The “resetting” experience provided by the tank can shift us out of this automated existence and bring us into greater awareness of the things we are often over-looking, less aware of or insensitive to, and not appreciating.
Behaviour Modification
Floating is a great way to bring greater awareness to various patterns of behavior. Floating has shown to have beneficial effects such as decreased anxiety and depression; increased calmness or sense of well-being; it has shown fantastic results towards anti-smoking assistance as well as positive effects on weight-loss programs.
Brain Synchronization
After settling into the floating experience research has shown greater hemisphere synchronization (promoting greater communication between the right (creative-side) and left (analytical-side) lobes; the majority of people are left-dominated. Also, people experience increased vertical communication between the primitive reptilian brain, the limbic middle or mammalian brain and the conscious neocortex. These synchronizing reactions can cause elevated states of creativity, greater non-linear connections, and deeper realizations.
Introspection
With literally zero outward distractions your attention is easily redirected inward. Habitual thought-pattern recognition and analysis can be clearly discovered, monitored, and addressed. Various forms of mental programming/reprogramming become very powerful tools to re-evaluate and change your thoughts with clarity and repetition.
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, the tank can induce the calm needed to perform at ones best. Mental rehearsal research has shown it to be just as practical as physical rehearsal.
Super Learning
With the brain being held in a theta state wave-length 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 preparation.
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)
This is a multidisciplinary approach to how well our immune system functions based on our state of mind. It correlates having a positive healthy state of mind with a well-functioning immune system. Some research has even shown how focusing on an injury of diseased area of the body with positive feelings of a healing intention has improved recovery rates from various ailments.
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 to potentially generating feelings of euphoria), they can suppress our appetite, and decrease anxiety leaving us in a calm and clear state of being.
Sensitivity Buffering
Some of us are known as introverts while others are extroverts. Introverts who float can gain a feeling of safety and security, they often enjoy the break from constant stimulation in which they are usually hypersensitive to. No person or thing will disturb you while in the tank. Extroverts can develop greater internal sensitivity from floating, typically they are always seeking extra stimulation and paradoxically through depriving the senses the nervous system’s response is to “turn up the volume” to try and feel more. Since minimal input is coming in they are able to develop greater sensitivity to their internal reality and over time they may not feel the need to be constantly stimulated; i.e. it may heighten their “dulled” senses, and won’t need to be constantly stimulated.
Poor Sleep and Insomnia
From managing chronic stress and inducing a natural calm, to facilitating introspection and identifying various less-serving modes of thinking, many people report drastically improved sleeping abilities. The change in your physical state and your mental outlook may provide you with a healthier perspective in which to put your body and mind to rest much easier each night if sleeping is an issue. Also, 90 minutes in the tank can feel like 6-8 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 the night through, floating can help make up for any lack of sleep you may experiencing.
