Flotation Therapy: a way to return to the Maternal Womb

There is currently a therapy that could help you achieve maximum relaxation, one in which your senses seem to turn off, and the brain stops receiving signals.  That’s how it sounds according to the people that promote it, they say it’s like going back to the maternal womb where there is not gravity.  It’s like being in space, floating, without any effort.

Flotation therapy, according to the so-called float tanks, which are a series of personal pools, not only helps eliminate stress, but it also relaxes physical and mental senses, balances muscle tone, and experts on the topic claim it has the ability to eliminate insomnia and even strengthen the immune system.

It’s amazing, right?  It was explained that once leaving the floating chambers, one feels renewed, deeply relaxed and fresh, as if having taken back several years from your life.  Some say it is the most pleasant and enriching life experience.

Where do you float?

A float tank is a pool that contains roughly 800 liters of water and 350 kilos of sulfate and magnesium salts, creating a saline solution of 30 cm that allows a body to float without any effort.  In some centers, even the architecture combines with chromotherapy and music therapy, upon user request.

Some people, on the other hand, want the entire environment to be dark and silent, eliminating up to 90% of the signals sent to the nervous system in the brain.  One hour in this deep relaxation technique is equal to roughly 4 hours of sleep.

Float and leave your problems behind

Whenever someone is in the pool floating, time seems non-existent.  A lot of users that have already lived this experience simply throw themselves into the water and enjoy it, entering a state of conscious sleep, without thinking about what they feel, or if they could be using this time to solve some sort of problem.  They are meditative.

Although these options are worthwhile as well, the creators of the therapy state that one can “direct” the floating experience to focus on creative solutions to daily problems.  If you like, you could prepare yourself mentally for an important work meeting, or an interview, a test, etc.

Parasympathetic response

So how does one achieve all of this?  When creating this environment as if it were a maternal womb, there is no gravity, temperatures are balanced and all stimulation is eliminated, this unleashes the so-called “parasympathetic response”.  This is one of our body’s natural mechanisms for self-healing and regeneration, only reached during deep relaxation.  

Floating is the quickest and easiest way to obtain this relaxation and to enjoy relaxation that spreads to all levels of the body.

Other benefits

– Some say that floating in these conditions readjusts the biochemical and metabolic balance in the body, strengthening the immune system.

– By reducing muscle tone, circulation is activated, thereby promoting oxygenation to all bodily tissues and accelerating physical recovery.

– Reduces vertebral compression, releasing nerve endings in the spinal column.

– Helps reduce lactic acid and other metabolic waste in tissues and blood.

– Counteracts fatigue.

– On the cerebral level, it induces a reduction in electric activity, promoting beta (wakefulness) brain waves that vibrate at a lower frequency (alpha or sleep waves) and even theta (deep sleep), just like those attained by great meditators.

– Also induces creativity and concentration, as well as learning abilities.

– Fights insomnia, depression, and anxiety.

– Tones and softens skin, thanks to the Epson salts, which are rich in magnesium sulfate.

Recommended for pregnant women

If you think that just because you’re pregnant you can’t enter a floating chamber, you’re wrong.  Specialist in this new therapy recommend it especially for pregnant women.

What could you get from it?  Well, beyond just a moment of intense relaxation, you can free yourself from the weight of your body, which, is roughly half what you experience daily.  Floating in these conditions has also been proven to help noticeably tone the cervix in women that have dilation problems.

So this could be a healthy experience not only for you, but for your baby as well.  

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