Recapping My First Time Floating at REVIVE Float Spa

It's July 28th, 9am. I had already had the perfect morning swim with my pop, after conversation and coffee with my dad on the back pool patio. I opened the door to Revive Float Spa and was greeted by the biggest smile and hello from the owner Jenny. Even though I had researched all of the benefits of floating prior to my first float, I still was unsure of what I should expect over the next hour. Befor a few weeks ago, had you asked me about floating, I would of assumed you were referring to me floating on a handful of noodles soaking up sun in a pool.

Floating is a sensory-deprivation practice meant to enhance mindfulness by removing pesky, distracting things like sound and gravity. The idea is you’ll emerge with a deeper awareness than you would with traditional meditation.

Benefits of Floating:

faster recovery from injury

reduced blood pressure

pain relief

reduction of swelling

decrease of stress and anxiety

enhanced creativity

relief from insomnia

migraine relief

eczema

boosts immune function

improves circulation

PTSD relief from chronic pain

energizes, rejuvinates and revitalizes

improves sleep

In preparation for my personal float, she led me back to one of the two pods that they have in the spa. Pods are booked in two hour increments: one hour floating, followed by an hour of replenishing the 180 gallons of water and salt. I was amazed to think that 1,000 lbs of epsom salt were before me. The concentration of Epsom salt in the water is 10 times that of the ocean, which is why you float. After explaining how to use the pod, she left me to shower, put ear plugs into my ear and begin my journey.

As laid back into the water, I was still startled when I instantly floated to the top of the top 10 inches of water, just as she had said I would. Soft ambient music muddled through the now still water. You can float in total darkness and silence, if you choose too. I did. Wiggling around my body was light in the water. I moved effortlessly. I could feel my back and jaw, which are constantly under tension... the pain melting away.

Have you ever been in a yoga class in downward dog, trying to tell your mind to shut up as it's running a million miles a minute? You’re thinking through your to do list of where you need to go, what you need to do... just after you check spending time on yourself off the list, too. Me too. It seems that no matter what I do.. yoga, meditation, running... my mind does not turn off. I expected floating to not be any different. Sure, relaxing, calming, a method of relapse and rejuivination but nothing more.

So there I was at the start of the hour laying in a tank, now in the dark, my mind racing about what I should be doing to maximize the experience... how I should be feeling.. my mind running it’s usual race.

It took a while of experimenting different body positions that I found my arms goal posted above my head to be the sweet spot of surrender. I turned the music off. I tuned into my breath. Inhaling. Exhaling. I didn’t fall asleep. I was aware of my body but over the rest of the hour, it was as if my mind floated out of my body. (No pun intended) I was just a human being, being.

It felt like seconds passed before bubbles began bursting out of the jets, bringing me back to my pod and the present moment. As one who suffers from an anxious heart and anxiety, I felt an unbelievable sense of serenity and bliss as I sat up to exit and shower the salt off my body. I was surprised that while my skin felt incredibly slippery and salty, it did not sting at all or feel overly dried out.

Floating is not a new form of therapy. Tanks have actually been around since the 1950's, the first invented by neuroscientist, Dr. John C. Lilly in 1954. In 1973, Lilly teamed up with Glenn and Lee Perry to design the first float tank to be used commercially and in people's homes. The first float center was open to the public in Beverly Hills, Ca., included 5 tanks, in 1979.

As Jenny asked how my first floating experience was, she squealed saying” I KNOW!” as I was speechless. She shared many stories of patients that have been positively impacted, saying how incredible it is to see someone enter with so much pain, yet leave an hour later appearing to walk a little stronger, straighter and with a little more ease. “For patients with chronic pain, there hour floating is the only reprieve they receive in a month.” After experiencing the tension subside myself, I had a list running through my head of suffering friends and family who would reap so many of the benefits floating provides.

I can’t thank Revive Float Spa of Shelby Township enough for giving me my first (certainly not my last) experience floating. Floating will certainly be included in my future health and wellness regimen for its mental, physical, and emotional benefits. For those of you who have been wary for your own first float, what are you waiting for?! Thank me later. Floating is a great gift to any male or female of any age, or an even greater gift to yourself.

Find REVIVE Float Spa at:

45965 Hayes Road

Shelby Township, MI

www.revivefloats.com

586-580-3938

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