I love hot tubs. For a long time, my dream home goal was to own a hot tub of my own, so that I could soak every day in peace and privacy. I thought that hot tubs were best for resolving exhaustion and tension.
Then I started a regular floating practice…
This year marks 70 years since the world's first float tank was invented in 1954. What began as fringe experiments and personal exploration has transformed into a mainstream wellness activity embraced around the globe.
As we reflect on the decades past, we wanted to share how far floating has come as both an industry and as a recognized tool for bolstering wellness and performance. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of history worth delving into (far more than we can cover in this short blog post), but we’ll be covering the high level eras and milestones over 7 decades of float tanks.
Read MoreWe all have goals we want to achieve, whether it’s pushing our physical limits, developing new skills, advancing in our careers, or establishing healthier lifestyle habits. No matter how dedicated you are, the pursuit of these personal and professional objectives can sometimes feel like an uphill climb.
Finding the right support and tools is crucial for turning these aspirations into reality. At our float center, we've observed how floatation therapy not only complements but also enhances these endeavors, offering a unique space for physical rest and mental clarity that's essential for achieving whatever diverse goals you might have set your sights on…
Read MoreWhen we think of sports athletes, we often think of their success in terms of physical ability, performance under pressure, and in-game strategy. However, much of the brilliance and outstanding success we see from top athletes is built on the less flashy foundation of practice, conditioning, diet, and recovery. Based on our article from last month about Dr. Matt Driller’s work around floating and sports, we’d like to look at some other research being done by Dr. Lydia Caldwell out of Ohio State University (now at the University of North Texas).
Float tanks have become increasingly popular in recent years, with professional athletes and weekend warriors using them as a tool for mental and physical recovery. Dr. Caldwell has worked with float tanks for years and presented at the 2017 and 2021 Float conferences. She has worked with special forces military and top-performing athletes to increase their performance and has incorporated float tanks into her research and protocols for both.
Read Moremmediately after her first float, Jeanine was already at a new level of relaxation. She says it was an “oh my gosh” moment for her, and recounted how all of her muscles were, “just so relaxed,” even after that single session. Over the following weeks and months, she became aware of another benefit that was even more profound – a rise in her blood oxygen levels, something she had been tracking regularly using an O2 ring.
Normal blood oxygen levels are around 95%, and before finding floating, Jeanine was seeing huge dips in her overnight blood oxygen levels, reaching as low as 77%.
Read MoreThe ideas of altered states of consciousness, mystical experiences, and voluntary self-isolation often bring with them images of shamans, spaced-out hippies, geometric art, and vibrant colors, as exaggerated stories and tales of these experiences get passed around. These misconceptions are reinforced through movies and TV shows. As many who have emerged from the tank can attest, it is often a much more dreamy, ethereal, and calming environment than is typically conveyed on screen.
Read MoreThe idea of yoga in the west often begins and ends with pictures of various movements you do in a cramped studio surrounded by other sweaty people. In reality, this is but one sliver of what yoga truly is. Rather than a physical workout that you do, yoga is more of a way of life that you pursue. It is an internal practice involving the mind and body, working towards alignment.
Read MoreLike many float enthusiasts, if you ask us what floating is good for, our first answer is often, “What is it not good for?” Having witnessed floating help so many people, it’s easy to think of it as a panacea for all sorts of ailments and afflictions. However, despite decades of published research, some in the medical field still look at floating with a side-eye, skeptical of the claims made by floaters.
From curing insomnia to heightening your athletic abilities, there are personal stories from all over the globe of the benefits of floating. Unfortunately, large-scale clinical trials are very expensive and time-consuming, and most of these claims either receive funding for small-scale studies, or aren’t able to be pursued at all with any rigor.
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