What is Floatation Therapy?

Floatation therapy is a medical treatment using sensory deprivation within a float room. Years of well-documented tests show that floatation therapy not only has an immediate effect on pain relief and elimination of stress, it also promotes ‘whole-brain’ thinking. Many athletes, writers and artists have experienced enormous benefits from floatation therapy.

Floatation therapy applications for sports people and athletes

• Deep muscular relaxation
• Accelerates healing of injuries
• Enhances Performance using visualization

Floatation therapy benefits 

• Complete physical & mental de-stressing
• Deep muscular relaxation
• Rejuvenates energy levels
• Enhances Creativity
• Promotes clarity of thought process
• Aids accelerated learning

Frequently Asked Questions

What effects does floating have on the body?

In the gravity free environment the body balances and heals internally as all the senses are rested. This will be the first time in your life that your nervous system does not have to deal with gravity. Research shows that floating measurably reduces blood pressure and heart rate whilst lowering the levels of stress related chemicals in the body. Old injuries and aches, (especially backache) experience relief as floating helps blood circulation and takes all stresses and strains off the muscles, ligaments, tendons and joints. Floating is used widely in the treatment of stress, anxiety, backache during pregnancy and to improve concentration and creativity. Sports performance and ‘wind down’ is also enhanced during floating. Also, one hour of floating has the restorative effects of 5 hours of sleep!

What effects does floating have on the mind?

During a float, you produce slower brain-waves patterns; know as theta waves, (normally experienced only during deep meditation or just before falling asleep). In this state both hemispheres work as one creating what is known as whole brain thinking. This is usually accompanied by vivid imagery, very clear, creative thoughts, sudden insights and inspirations or feelings of profound peace and joy, induced by the release of endorphins, the body’s natural opiates. Because of these effects, floating is used effectively in the treatment of depression and addictions, including smoking and alcohol. It is also used in schools and universities as tools for Super Learning.

Is floating successful for everyone?

Floating, as with other things, doesn’t suit everybody just almost everyone. It needs willingness on your part to let go and see what happens, and you may need to float a few times before you are able to relax completely, both physically and mentally. During first float you are likely to be thinking about what? and how? you should feel, rather than just relaxing and enjoying, the second float is always infinitely better than the first!
Depending on your own journey through life, a float might provide an hour of total physical relaxation – or a profound healing experience or emotionally and spiritually transforming. Floating can be a wonderful aid to opening doors into your inner world, gradually allowing access to those deeper levels at which real changes take place.

I’m pregnant. Can floating harm my baby?

Absolutely not. In fact heavily pregnant women probably get more relief from the float tank than anyone else. Just lying on a bed can be extremely uncomfortable for women in the later stages of pregnancy due to the massive gravitational strain placed on the body. The float tank is a wonderful haven to which pregnant women can escape. We do however recommend that like most activities floating should be avoided in the first trimester.

Is it private?

Yes, you float within your own individual room, so there is no requirement to wear a swimming costume or trunks. Wearing swimwear will create a temperature difference on your body that may be detrimental to the experience. However, it is a personal choice. Our room has it’s own shower and is for your exclusive use for the duration of your session.

Will my skin wrinkle?

No. Because the water contains high salt levels it doesn’t rob your skin of salt, (which is what causes wrinkling). Rather, it leaves you skin soft and silky.

Floatation philosophy

The present philosophy of floatation therapy or R.E.S.T. is to offer people in the community the possibility of one more way of regaining aspects of health, physical, emotional or psychological. There are many schools of thought at the present time in medicine and psychotherapy that are oriented to teach people how to master their bodies and minds in order to achieve a state of deep relaxation. This is essential in the very highly pressurized society of the Western World. This new concept regarding the need for deep relaxation has been validated by recent research showing that up to 80% to 90% of people that go to visit a General Practitioner do so because of a psychosomatic or stress related disorder.

The advantage of floatation therapy is that it enables most individuals to experience very deep levels of relaxation from the very early stages of this therapy. It has the advantage of the patient not needing to learn any special technique to trigger the relaxation response. Other very useful methods like biofeedback, self-hypnosis, autogenic training, progressive muscular relaxation or meditation generally need a period of learning the specific technique to be followed require a certain period of time and practice to reach deep levels of relaxation, especially when the patient practices on his own using floatation.