This is really exciting news! Dr. Justin Feinstein and his team at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) have published their first peer-reviewed study on floating. Here’s a quick summary: Continue reading New research on floating
Tag Archives: muscle tension
Guest post: the small, unexpected benefits of floating
From time to time we like to turn over the microphone to other people. This guest post is from Float staffer Shayna C. – Sara
Now that I am a staff member at Float Boston, I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to float regularly (thanks, Sara and Colin!). Many of the immediate effects of frequent floatation are predictable enough: better sleep, fewer muscle aches, being physically unable to shut up about how great it is. Some of the other unforeseen results of regular visits to the tank took me by surprise. Perhaps you can relate? Continue reading Guest post: the small, unexpected benefits of floating
First reactions
After we got our float tank up and running, we started having our friends come by and try it out. They’d helped us in numerous ways, including actually hauling the thing into our basement and maneuvering it into place. We were excited to share floating with them, and they were excited to try it out! Here are some of our friends’ thoughts after floating for the first time.
Epsom salt and magnesium
A float tank contains a lot of epsom salt. Like, a lot a lot. Eight hundred to a thousand pounds each, to make the water so dense you literally can’t help but float.
People sometimes wonder, though, why epsom salt? It’s hardly the easiest thing we could lay our hands on in bulk. Most importantly, it’s harmless to soak in for long periods, and it doesn’t cause the itchy, pruny feeling you get from soaking in sea salt. But there are other benefits.
Epsom salt is called that because it was first produced from natural springs at Epsom, England, around 1618, and from 1695 chemists and pharmacies were selling purified “bitter salts” all over England. For three hundred years since it’s been used to cure just about anything, from muscle aches to skin health, foot odor, wrinkles, psoriasis, eczema, mosquito bites, bruises, inflammation, hangovers, migraines, constipation, and the common cold.
Do any of these really work? Let’s look at the science.
Floating and stress-related pain
One of the benefits you’ll most often hear claimed for float tanks is their powerful relaxing effect. Subjectively, people use descriptions like “I felt more rested than if I’d slept for 16 hours on a pile of tranquilized chinchillas,” or “the way you physically feel afterwards is like getting a massage, doing a full workout, and getting 8 hours of sleep all at once”.
Many scientific studies have attempted to quantify this effect. Does it have measurable biochemical effects? Does everyone experience it? If a person has tension headaches, for instance, does this relaxation effect actually help them? And if so, how long does the effect last?
One study done recently in Sweden says the answer is yes, and the effects seem to last for months.