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What Is Floating?

Understand the clinical neuroscience behind it

It is quite possibly the most relaxing thing you’ve ever experienced.

You will be completely weightless. The 500kg. of epsom salt in the water takes care of that while you lie on your back and simply relax.

The water is kept just above 34 degrees C. This makes the skin-receptor neutral – meaning you lose track of where your body ends and the water begins.

Next, is the sound – or lack thereof. Our float rooms are built to recording studio level soundproofing. Your ears stay just below the water, and the tanks are insulated against sound. Noise from the outside doesn’t reach you.

After you shut the door you can either choose to turn off the light or use colour light therapy. It is important to note that for the best interoception results we recommend that you float in total darkness – like sleeping.

Floating is about everything that you won’t be doing.

During your float the outside world is gone, and amazing things happen. It turns out that when you’re not fighting gravity or constantly taking in information your body has a lot of extra resources at its disposal.Your mind is free to mull things over without distraction, your brain waves slow down, and your body gets to rest, de-stress, and heal.

Benefits of Floating

Promotes Mindfulness

  • Relaxation response
  • Visualization & self-awareness
  • Creativity & problem solving
  • Behavior modification
  • Meditation

Relieves Stress

  • Reduces anxiety
  • Promotes great sleep
  • Reduces cortisol
  • Pain management
  • Helps with depression

Improves Health

  • Lowers heart rate
  • Decreases blood pressure
  • Muscle recovery
  • Spinal health
  • Increased immune function

The effects of floating have been studied in laboratory settings since the first isolation chamber, providing a fair amount of scientific data on the practice. Not all health benefits are created equal, however, and it can be difficult to determine which are backed by research and which are strictly hypothetical. In every emerging wellness practice there are dozens of far flung claims of benefits, and many float center owners can sometimes feel like snake-oil salesmen when explaining even the established research on floating, due to its very unusual nature. Click below for a list of growing research publications.