Relaxation and rejuvenation using a floatation tank
• BY LEIGH OVIATT, LICENSED MASSAGE THERAPIST AND OWNER OF PRANA WELLNESS CENTER
n this day and age, we are so inundated with
technology, stress, and trying to keep up with
the pressures of daily life, it is hard to find the
time to destress and recharge. One approach to
achieve relaxation and rejuvenation is to use a
floatation tank or enjoy a session in an infrared
sauna.
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What is a floatation tank?
A float tank is an enclosed tank of water big
enough to stretch out in, containing 10 inches of
water and 850 pounds of Epsom salts, making
your body extremely buoyant. It is completely
dark, quiet, and warmed to skin temperature,
allowing your body and mind to relax and go into
homeostasis.
You lose track of where your body ends, and
the water begins, feeling a profound sense of
relaxation. You completely lose track of time and
physical orientation, your body unwinding and
stretching out into the depths of the tank.
The extreme buoyancy of the water lends the
environment an almost zero-gravity quality,
allowing your body to float effortlessly. The float
lasts 90 minutes, and you shower before and after
the float. The water is filtered 3 times between
each session through an extensive filtration
system, skimmed, and sanitized with UV light and
a concentrated hydrogen peroxide solution.
Float tanks were first developed by
neuroscientist John C. Lilly in 1954 in order to
study the effects of sensory deprivation on the
mind. The user was completely submerged in a
tank of water and had to wear a breathing
apparatus and wetsuit.
Over the years, float tanks evolved into the
current style where one floats comfortably on their
back in warm, super-saturated salt water, allowing
them to completely relax.
Rather than calling it “sensory deprivation” the
experience is now referred to as REST, or
Restricted Environmental Stimulation Technique.
What are the benefits?
Clinical and psychological studies show that
floating eases chronic pain, reduces blood
pressure, aids in injury recovery, and reduces
stress by triggering a drop in levels of cortisol, the
stress hormone. It has been shown to help fight
addiction and depression, improve sleep patterns,
elevate mood, and even improve sport
performance.
Many professional athletes and sports teams
now have floating as part of their training regimen.
Some of the first sports teams to use them were
the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys.
16 • GOOD HEALTH 2016
It is also extremely effective in helping people
with pain management who are suffering from
fibromyalgia.
Floating in a float tank allows the
mind to enter into the theta state,
the state between awake and
asleep and where you are able to
go during deep meditation.
Floating allows the mind to enter into the theta
state, the state between awake and asleep and
where you are able to go during deep meditation.
It has been shown anecdotally and scientifically
to support an increase in creativity, intuition and
nonlinear thinking. Soaking in the Epsom salt
(magnesium sulfate) rich water has many benefits,
as well. Magnesium is most readily available to the
body when absorbed through the skin. Magnesium
is essential to more than 300 different biochemical
reactions in your body, making it crucial for good
health. Studies show that at least half of the
American population is magnesium deficient.
Infrared sauna
Sauna therapy has been around for centuries as
a great way to detoxify your body and improve
your overall health. The dry, radiant heat of an
infrared sauna is more therapeutically beneficial
than a traditional sauna because the heat penetrates
your soft tissue at a deeper level where most toxins
are stored.
Sweating is one of the body’s most natural and
effective ways to remove toxins. As a result, this
helps with disease and illness prevention and
improving general health and vitality. Sweating
can help the rid the body of accumulated heavy
metals and environmental chemicals, as well as
alcohol, nicotine and other harmful substances.
Fewer toxins in the skin means improvements in
skin complexion, tone, texture, elasticity and
overall appearance.
Infrared saunas can also help with weight loss.
A single 30-minute sauna session has been shown
to burn upward of 600 calories!
Your core body temperature increases, making
the body work harder to cool down, which causes
an increase in heart rate, metabolic rate and cardiac
output, allowing you to burn calories as you relax.
The heat deeply penetrates joints, muscle, and
tissue, allowing deep relaxation, increased blood
flow, and pain relief.
Whether you need to relax and rejuvenate,
explore your creativity, recover from an injury or
chronic pain or are searching for alternative
healthcare options, the float tank and infrared
sauna offer many wonderful therapeutic benefits.