Floatation Therapy

Many of the issues facing the wellness industry, such as stress reduction, pain relief, mental health and disease prevention, can be addressed by a small niche of wellness known as floatation therapy.  While the initial scientific work to lay the foundation for this market originated at the National Institutes for Health (NIH), most of the commercial development of floatation has taken place in Europe.  Indeed, the floatation market in Europe provides useful data for making market predictions in the US.

Floatation therapy traces its origins to the ancient health and relaxation therapies based on floating in the Dead Sea.  Modern day floatation therapy was developed at the National Institutes of Mental Health, a division of NIH, in 1954 by neuroscientist John C. Lilly, MD.  Lilly developed a scientific approach to deep relaxation known as Restricted Environmental Stimulation Technique (REST) to treat patients for a variety of stress related disorders.  REST was based on the concept of an isolation tank.  The tank restricts all the external stress-factors and stimuli that normally affect body and mind in daily life including:

Gravity: The concentrated Epsom salt solution creates a weightless environment that liberates mind and body from the effects of gravity;

Temperature: The solution is kept at skin-temperature, thus freeing the nervous system and brain from this constant stress-factor;

Touch: With only skin-temperature salt water in contact with the millions of sensitive nerve-endings that cover the skin, there is no sense of separation between the body and its surroundings. According to research, this reduction in tactile stimulation (sense of touch) plays a subtle but important part in triggering a profound state of relaxation. In other words, it creates a sensation of complete loss of body boundaries.

Sight and sound: Floating in complete darkness and silence liberates large areas of the brain devoted to processing sensory information, further increasing the potential for relaxation.

Although people are usually not consciously aware of these external factors, some experts believe managing gravity and these other external stress factors occupies 90% of all central nervous system activity. There are constant tensions and adjustments being made throughout the body in order to counter these pervasive forces.

The floatation environment frees the mind and body from these tensions.  As Dr. Lilly stated in a discussion about his invention of the float tank, “In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally.   These limits are further beliefs to be transcended.  In the province of the mind, there are no limits.”  In the province of the float tank, in the province of the subconscious mind, there are no limits.  As you wish, so it goes. 

After the initial work by Lilly, floatation pioneers in London improved upon the NIH floatation tank by increasing its size and modifying the experience, creating the first luxury floatation pools.  These small, four foot by eight foot pools, eliminated the claustrophobic feel of Lilly’s original tank design, thus removing a major hurdle to retail adoption.  From these humble beginnings, floatation therapy has flourished throughout the UK and Europe, in spas and dedicated commercial float centers.

Today, floatation has been shown to: improve symptoms of hypertension; provide pain relief, reduce the discomfort of pre-menstrual syndrome, alleviate migraines, boost the immune system, and reverse jet lag.  Athletes use floatation to improve performance and to speed the body’s recovery process.  Many people find the joy of just simply relaxing.  As Catherine Elcik of The Boston Globe put it, “Science has proven that floating stimulates blood flow and improves hypertension, but for me, it felt a lot like waking up on the fourth day of vacation: unconnected, unfettered, and unplugged.”

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