7 Ways That You Can Benefit from Floatation Therapy
I’ve been floating for two years and I’m surprised by how many people do not know about this unique healing experience.
Picture this: You’re nude and floating in warm salt water. Soon you can’t tell where the water begins and where your body ends. You’re alone in absolute darkness and silence. There’s an almost complete absence of external stimuli, so there is little information for your mind or body to process. You lack awareness of your body’s position in relation to your environment; it’s like you’re weightless and floating in a void. With such an absence of external stimuli, you become hyper aware of your body and your mind. Consequently, you may experience deep relaxation, reduced physical pain, or new, more lucid and helpful thoughts. If you’ve never experienced floating, this may sound strange or even frightening. Yet floating has been around for over 50 years, and more and more people are taking advantage of its positive impact on their mental and physical health.
There are many reasons why people seek flotation therapy. Michael Hutchison’s The Book of Floating: Exploring the Private Sea cites many studies which have suggested that floatation therapy can help treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and chronic pain, as well as improve weight loss, athletic performance, and learning. Hutchinson concluded that there are seven main explanations for the success of floating.
1) Antigravity
Gravity is great, but it has its disadvantages. Your upright posture puts strain on your body, which can lead to chronic pain. Moreover, competently navigating your everyday environment requires the deployment of many perceptual and cognitive capacities. Thus, the sensory deprivation and near weightlessness afforded by floatation therapy frees the body and mind from their ordinary, often strenuous, skillful engagements with the world, thereby enabling an increased awareness of one’s own internal mental and bodily states.
2) Theta Brain Wave
Theta brain waves are slower and tend to occur when you’re falling asleep. Theta waves can generate insights, vivid memories, and creative inspiration. Studies suggest that floating can encourage the production of theta waves. Some artists engage in floatation therapy regularly due to their reliance on theta waves.
3) Left-Brain, Right-Brain
Your right brain comes alive during flotation therapy while your left brain takes a much needed break. Studies indicate that your left brain is usually more dominant because it helps you to think analytically, while your right brain is more intuitive and imaginative. Floating diminishes the stimuli processed by the left brain. This temporary change in the guard, therefore, may help balance left and right brain functioning.
4) You Have Three Brains
Your brain can be roughly separated into three distinct parts: 1) The “reptile brain,” which controls life sustaining processes, 2) the limbic system which generates emotions, and 3) the neocortex which provides cognitive functions such as language, memory, and consciousness. These regions are all connected, but there are often communication issues between the neocortex and the reptilian and limbic systems. Floating increases your awareness of your own internal bodily and mental condition by decreasing physical arousal, and this in turn can enhance communication between the aforementioned three regions of your brain.
5) Neurochemicals
Endorphins are chemicals in your body that create feelings of pleasure while other chemicals, such as ACTH, cortisol, and adrenaline, create feelings of stress. There is evidence that floating increases endorphins while decreasing stress-related chemicals. This shift in chemicals can have a positive impact on physical and emotional wellness.
6) Biofeedback
People use biofeedback instruments to acquire a better awareness and understanding of various physiological functions in order to control them more effectively. For example, if I receive feedback that indicates the conditions under which my heart rate increases, I will be better able to control my breathing. Floating provides an environment that allows your body to be your own biofeedback machine, since it forces you to focus only on internal feedback. An increased internal focus can help you learn to beneficially modulate and create changes in your body.
7) Homeostasis
The body is constantly trying to return to a state of homeostasis, which is a state of internal equilibrium. External stimuli often disrupt homeostasis, as our bodies and minds must constantly readjust to changes in the environment. Research suggests that floating can return the body to a state of homeostasis due to the absence of external stimuli, for this enables the body to concentrate its energies directly toward the achievement of such a state.
I’ve participated in floatation therapy for two years and I’m surprised by how many people do not know about this unique healing experience. Like everything, it doesn’t work for everyone — but I encourage you to give it a try.
Amanda Ann Gregory is a national speaker who provides mental health, wellness, and specialize trainings for companies, conferences, and communities. Schedule a speaking engagement and check out the Transforming Trauma blog. Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or YouTube.
Hutchison, M. (2017) The Book of Floating: Exploring the Private Sea. Nevada City: Gateways Books and Tapes.
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