Trends in the spa world change rapidly: One year spa-goers are crazy for mud wraps, and the next year coffee scrubs are all the rage. Recently though, there’s been a heightened focus on disease treatment and imbalance prevention when it comes to the services that women are looking for. Pampering is still an important part of the spa experience, but nowadays we want to leave the spa feeling like we’ve done more than just worked out a few knots: We want to detox, reset, and recharge.
This new push towards mental relaxation could be one reason for the growing popularity of a very unique type of spa. “Float spas” utilize special isolation tanks, which are dark, soundproof chambers partially filled with skin-temperature salt water. Anyone who lies in the tank is able to float effortlessly, easily buoyant due to the high salt concentration.
I know what you’re wondering – Why would anyone in their right mind spend 60 to 90 minutes submerged in a dark tank? Well, “float therapy” soothes the body by providing an experience very close to complete weightlessness – the zero gravity environment created in the chamber allows every muscle in the body to completely relax. (Fun fact: 90% of your brain activity every day deals with managing your body and how it reacts to gravity. In a float tank, you get to use that extra 90% of brain space to focus on relaxing!)
Float therapy soothes the body by providing an experience close to complete weightlessness.
Floating allows the body to conserve energy, and the other features of these “sensory deprivation chambers” allow you to relax even further: The darkness allows your eyes to stop constantly searching and moving, and it actually balances the left and right brain. The skin-temperature water and surrounding air means that your body has no perception of the separation between skin and water, soothing your nerve endings and allowing tension in the skin to release.
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