Floatation therapy is an out of this world experience
THERE’S nothing more calming than ending a stressful day with a long soak in the bath.
But a trendy new-age therapy is taking the wonders of floating your cares away to new extremes - by suspending its devotees in total darkness in a sealed pod of water.
It’s called floatation therapy and, according to a holistic school of thinking, it can do everything from help balance hormones and reduce stress, to aid recovery and alleviate insomnia.
It may sound and look like something from a sci-fi film, but with celebrity fans such as Wayne Rooney, Gwyneth Paltrow and Elle Macpherson extolling its benefits, the concept has gone quasimainstream in the UK, with “floatation centres” popping up across the country. Essentially, it’s a way of achieving deep relaxation, by spending an hour or more lying quietly in total silence and darkness.
The saline water inside is warmed to 35.5C, the same temperature as the air and your skin, so that you can’t quite tell where the air stops and the water begins.
The floating element is made easy with a secret trick – the water is filled with enough Epsom salts to keep the body gently suspended on its surface.
The idea is that while you bob, your brain is stripped of all sensory distractions.
Many compare it to the experience of floating in outer space.
While the vast majority of us are probably still in the dark about this alternative therapy, it’s actually been about for decades and first cropped up in the 50s.
In recent years though, it’s had a millennial-friendly rebrand, moving away from being known as “sensory deprivation” or “isolation” therapy, to the rather less grisly-sounding “floatation therapy”.
There’s still limited scientific research into the healing powers of floatation therapy but converts say it’s a cure-all method for all sorts of health and wellbeing maladies.
Chris Plowman, founder and director of Floatworks, a floatation experience provider in London, said: “Floating creates a unique space for our brain and our body to switch off.”
According to Plowman, his clients have reported everything from an increased sense of calm and clarity to better sleep, reduced anxiety and stress, plus faster recovery from sporting injury.
On a physical level, floating is said to be able to help reduce muscle tension, pain, inflammation and blood pressure, thanks to an extra boost of all-important magnesium in the water.
The benefits can be spiritual too. All that disconnected floating works wonders if you’re looking to get your creative juices flowing.
While it all sounds very alternative, it might just be that us Brits are behind with the times. It’s classed as a luxury holistic treatment in the UK but in Sweden, which has more than 120 float centres, floatation therapy is actually covered by their national health service.
Floating creates a space for our brain to switch off