When designing our Float Spa in Utah we knew we wanted to create the most healing environment possible for the people working with us. Having experienced firsthand the amazing benefits of float therapy and seeing the emerging scientific research also showing those benefits we wanted to create a place that would be comfortable and accessible for a wide range of people to be able to also experience the same benefits that we have seen. That is why we chose to go with open float pools from Floataway, the same company that provides the pools used for scientific research into floating at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR). As Dr. Justin Feinstein put it, “Each day I become more and more convinced that the positive clinical benefits we are witnessing in our research are enhanced by Floataway’s masterful engineering.”
What emotional benefits does floating provide? Dr. Feinstein has spent the past few years studying the effects of float therapy and is now beginning to publish his findings. In his most recently published paper he discusses the benefits of float therapy for those who suffer from various types and degrees of anxiety, stress, and depression including posttraumatic stress (PTSD), general anxiety, panic, agoraphobia, and social anxiety. In doing the study Dr. Feinstein wanted to see what kind of benefits people suffering with these types of problems could receive from just one session of floating. The benefits that those participating in the study experienced were overwhelmingly positive “with the top 3 being ‘A feeling of total serenity and peacefulness,’ ‘Total relaxation of the body (without any muscle tension),’ and feeling completely refreshed, like the reset button was hit.’” Incredibly, the study found that every single one of the float participants self-reported that they experienced a reduction in anxiety which approached non-anxious levels. The study participants also reported significant reductions in anxiety, stress, muscle tension, pain, depression, and negative emotions while at the same time experiencing an improvement in serenity, relaxation, happiness, positive emotions, overall well-being, energy levels, contentment, and peace. The study concluded that float therapy “may be a promising technique for acutely reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression,” and noted that further “analysis revealed that those with the most severe anxiety reported the largest effects.” These results are very encouraging to say the least.
My biggest key takeaway from this study is the fact that all 50 of the participants had a reduction in negative emotions and an increase in positive emotions and those who suffered the most receiving the most relief with 82% of them stating they received more relief from the single float session than they had with other past treatments such as medication and psychotherapy
Why did we choose open pools? We decided to go with the open pool design to support the widest variety of people who want to experience the benefits of floating. One major benefit from using these types of pools is the elimination of the small enclosed space that is found with your typical float tank. This allows for a much more welcoming experience to be had for those who may be struggling with some of the problems discussed earlier as well as those who are not necessarily experiencing those problems currently.
With the promising results coming from the current research why not give float therapy a try! Schedule your session today at Body Balance Massage and Float, the best Float Spa in Utah. We would love to have you!
To read the details of the study yourself visit the following web page : http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0190292