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Can Float Therapy Be Used as Preventative Medicine for Improved Quality of Life?

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Does spending time in a float spa help overall wellness? Here’s what the science says.

Is floating the preventative healthcare solution we’ve been overlooking for too long? Researchers have known for quite some time that floating in a sensory deprivation tank offers benefits for inducing deep relaxation. The positive health effects for patients suffering from muscle tension, pains, and similar symptoms are also documented. Plenty of studies also link floating to clearer thinking, relief for general anxiety disorder (GAD), and improved cardiovascular health. However, a lack of concrete studies on floating’s benefits for “total” mind and body support has caused many practitioners to stop just short of recommending it to patients seeking relief from various conditions. A trial published in 2014 is helping to change all of that.

In this study, 65 participants were randomized to either a control group or the float group. The participants selected for the float group participated in a seven-week flotation program consisting of 12 float sessions. Participants were then given questionnaires measuring psychological and physiological variables, including stress levels, energy levels, depression, anxiety, optimism, pain, sleep quality, mindfulness, and degrees of altered consciousness.

The results are pretty incredible. Participants in the float group reported significant decreases in stress, anxiety, depression, and pain. However, they didn’t just experience relief from symptoms. Floating participants also reported significant improvements in optimism and sleep quality. Both of these factors can contribute significantly to improved quality of life. However, the study uncovered that the benefits of floating go even deeper.

Researchers in this study found what they described as a significant correlation between mindfulness in daily life and the degree of altered states of consciousness achieved during a float session. Participants who reported that they obtained higher degrees of altered states of consciousness while in the tank also reported that they experienced increased mindfulness in daily life. This link between floating and mindfulness supports previously published work stating that floating in a sensory deprivation tank helps to increase originality, imagination, and intuition to help enhance personal creativity. Why is increasing mindfulness through floating so important for quality of life? According to the American Psychological Association, mindfulness can provide a variety of benefits for health and wellness that can include the following:

  • Stress reduction.
  • Reduced rumination.
  • Improved working memory.
  • Improved focus.
  • Less emotional reactivity.
  • Increased cognitive flexibility.
  • Relationship satisfaction.

Is Float Therapy A Life Hack for Wellness?

It can be easy to assume that floating is a “life hack” for living a more vibrant life. After all, these improvements can lead to a more productive life that allows you to tap into your creativity and potential using your fully activated mind and body. The truth is that floating is a life hack for many people. Doctors and researchers see a floating water tank as a potentially fantastic tool for preventative healthcare because it helps take the body from the stressed, reactive, and fight-or-flight state to a calm, balanced state.

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Looking for Natural, Short-Term Relief of Depression Symptoms?

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Here’s how floating can help.

Can floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy) provide insulation against depression? There’s a reason why so many people turn to the tank for a mental reset. In fact, some researchers are confident that floating tamps down anxiety in the brain in a way that rivals some prescription drugs and meditation. The likely explanation for why floating does what other forms of “relaxation” can’t is that floating with sensory deprivation turns off the part of the brain called the amygdala that houses our fight-or-flight stress response.

According to a 2018 study, just one hour of flotation-REST was able to reduce depression levels substantially. In addition, a one-hour session also helped to decrease anxiety levels, muscle tension, pain, and negative affect. Participants also saw improvements in happiness, serenity, relaxation, and overall well-being. This research has caused many mental health practitioners to consider floatation-REST a viable option for short-term relief of depression.

As many people suffering from depression know, anxiety and stress often accompany depression symptoms. That’s why this 2018 study involving 50 participants with a cross-spectrum of anxiety and stress-related disorders is so interesting. Researchers conducting this study discovered that floatation REST appears to be a “promising technique for transiently reducing the suffering of those with anxiety and depression.” While this particular study focused on the short-term mental health benefits of floating, other studies show that it can help over the long term, as well.

A study from 2014 found that floatation therapy was powerful enough to help restore the quality of life for people suffering from pain, anxiety, stress, and depression. What’s more, many patients involved in the study were not new to alternative therapies for depression. In fact, participants who had tried yoga, massage, and physiotherapy reported never being “so successfully relieved” from pain, tension, and stress using any other treatment.

Final Thoughts

There’s still so much to be revealed about depression and floating. It’s too soon to say that floating alone can be used to fully treat depression in all people. However, the people who have already experienced the results feel that they have discovered a way to reduce depression by working with the brain instead of fighting against it.

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The Effect of Floating on Cortisol Levels

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Lower levels of cortisol equal lower stress levels. Here’s the Science Behind Why.

Cortisol is a killer. Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands. It is a “stress hormone” that works with the brain to control mood, motivation, and fear. While the purpose of cortisol is to drive us into a state of alertness when there’s a threat of danger, the body’s biological “alarm system” can quickly sabotage our health.

Cortisol isn’t the villain when it’s operating normally in our bodies. In fact, proper cortisol levels help us to properly use carbohydrates, stifle inflammation, regulate blood pressure, control the sleep-wake cycle, and provide boosts of energy when we need to handle stressful situations. However, a person with normal cortisol function will always “come down” to a balanced state after the source of stress is gone. This isn’t the case for someone with elevated cortisol levels.

When we are under extreme stress, our cortisol levels can stay elevated. This puts us at risk for:

  • Anxiety.
  • Depression.
  • Headaches.
  • Heart disease.
  • Memory issues.
  • Concentration/focus issues.
  • Digestive issues.
  • Sleep issues.
  • Weight gain.
  • Increased blood cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and blood pressure.

“Elevated cortisol levels following acute stress may facilitate the consolidation of fear-based emotional memories and condition a sensitized physiologic stress response,” according to a study on chronic stress, cortisol dysfunction, and pain.

When cortisol levels are exhausted, widespread pain and inflammation often manifest due to adrenal fatigue. What’s more, high cortisol levels that are triggered from a stressful event can trap a person in a cycle of constant stress and exhaustion.

Floating and Cortisol Levels: How Time in the Tank Can Dilute the Cortisol Response

Many studies have confirmed the link between flotation-REST (restricted environmental stimulation technique) and mood improvements. However, it appears that there’s also a direct link between flotation-REST therapy and cortisol regulation. The most comprehensive study conducted on flotation-REST and cortisol levels to date found that repeated brief REST-assisted relaxation produces a relaxation state associated with specific decreases in pituitary-adrenal axis activity. In addition, researchers have also found that repeated REST-assisted relaxation is associated with a significant decrease in plasma cortisol.

What does the data mean for people seeking holistic therapies for anxiety, depression, exhaustion, mood issues, and suspected adrenal fatigue? Flotation-REST therapy may be valuable for helping to regulate cortisol levels when they are elevated following stressful events. In addition to improving mood in the short term, flotation-REST therapy may also insulate people from the long-term adverse health effects associated with sustained elevated cortisol levels.

Travis-4

The Journey In

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Journey into yourself for yourself.

Floating is proven to reduce stress and anxiety and over time helps to cultivate stillness of mind. This power not only lies in the physical properties of the salty solution, but also in the inward reflection process and connection to the breath and life force itself. This transformation process also teaches us how to navigate stressful situations in everyday life.
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Book your next float online: www.tranquilityfloat.ca

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I Release Myself

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Enjoy this morning release for entering back into the present moment

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I release myself from all expectations

There is nothing I have to be doing right now

I allow this time and space to rest and regenerate

I smile and let my dreams run wild

And they can be dreams for a while

I step a little closer each day

I allow them to unfold

There is no rush

Only right now

…

www.tranquilityfloat.ca

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I Create

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I Create

My body is ready, willing, and calm

I feel my energy

In its’ power and vibrance

Radiating

I feel the universal pull of my energy

Attracting every moment of this life

I am a conscious creator

I am aware that I manifest in every moment

I am pulling in an expansive, ever abundant future

I see clearly

I am aware of my mind

www.tranquilityfloat.ca

Web Blog-2

Soul Calling

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A gentle and loving reminder to come back to this beautiful and most authentic moment.

Enjoy your return.

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Come back to me my love

Come back to goodness

The goodness in this very moment

Its’ goodness, the simple pleasure of being

Come back to this feeling

The love for life

The joy of living

Breathe into your belly

Feel its’ rhythm awakening the serpent within

Stretch out that jaw and mouth of yours

Let yourself yawn and sigh

Come back to here – this present moment

Where light beckons your call

The call for the sacred

The call for union, harmony, and peace

Rest here my love, in the bliss of your true nature

The remnants of the old fade away

As you release them from your body

To be born anew

AwakenedSoul

www.tranquilityfloat.ca

Web Blog (20)

Ready For Everything

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Using gratitude and positive affirmations to ground into this day and moment. Enjoy this meditative manifestation practice!

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Thank you for this day

My heart is open for all who come

And for all that comes

I breathe in gratitude

For this breath

For this life

For this sky

Thank you for this life

It is amazing, incredible, and beautiful

I am already living the life of my dreams

It is here and now

Because I am here and now

I am whole and complete

I am the broader awareness

I am here to learn, grow, and expand

I am

www.tranquilityfloat.ca

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Floating Safely & Effortlessly

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DURING A PANDEMIC

By now most of you will know that most small businesses (Including us) are open once again! Nothing is more exciting than being able to offer our services and products to the community again in person! Thank you all for being with us.

By now you probably also have some questions running through your mind regarding float safety during the time of COVID. We would like to hopefully answer some of these questions today and also ease any worry or stress along the way.

So first off, Is floating still safe?

The answer is YES! Or better yet ABSOLUTELY!

What changes have been made to ensure safe and clean float environments?

The float solution environment is clean and sanitary regardless of a pandemic or no pandemic. We use ozone and UV light to disinfect and sanitize the float solution between floaters. There is also 1100Ibs of epsom salt in the water and 35% hydrogen peroxide at all times. This makes our float solution fresh and available for each and every float.

The main concern for the spread of COVID, in our case, is surfaces. To ensure that all surfaces are properly sanitized, we have added an additional 30 minutes between floats (60 minutes total now). This allows us the time to ensure that every surface, piece of furniture, handle, etc, is properly sanitized.

We also ask that all customers be mindful of what they are touching. Signs have been placed accordingly to remind us all of this.

Outside of the float rooms, all surfaces, lobby areas, bathroom, powder room, oxygen lounge, sauna, etc, are sanitized after each and every use. Luckily we only ever have a few customers in at a time so this part is actually very easy and straight forward for us!

The extra cleaning time for us also allows little to no crossover time between customers of one time block and the next.

How can I relax with everything thats going on in the world?

This is a great questions and one that actually points out that it is time for you to dive back into the serenity of yourself.

Allow yourself time to cultivate a deep stillness within, regardless of what is ever going on.

There will always be a problem or a dilemma to overcome.

This can show up in the external world (pandemic in this case) or in the internal world as mental, emotional, or even physical pain.

Our job is not to necessarily figure out the solutions, but to simply return home to our authentic peaceful and blissful nature.

Direct yourself home again and again.

When stress, worry, or fear arrises, return home to your authentic peaceful and joyful nature again and again.

It is your right to develop and maintain a truly healthy state of mind, body, and spirit.

The power is with you!

Paradoxically, when we allow ourselves the ability to do this, problems either fade or solutions and actions present themselves in a conscious way.

Thank you once again for being with us! If you have more questions, please feel free to reach out! Mahalo.

CALL: (403) 329-0108

EMAIL: zach.palmarin@tranquilityfloat.ca

www.tranquilityfloat.ca

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