The wellness trend aiming to achieve sensory deprivation

Freed from the weight of gravity and any awareness of sound, light, touch, or temperature — floatation therapy is the increasingly popular wellness trend helping people achieving state of deep sensory relaxation, through sensory deprivation.

Inside a float tank there is no sound or light, and the skin-temperature bath is composed of water and 25 per cent per cent pure grade Epsom salt, a solution five to seven times denser and more buoyant than sea water.

Surfcoast Wellness Rooms owner Bianca Liberatory said the aim was to reduce all sensory input.

“If you imagine you can finally turn your brain off and your mind off and let your brain have a moment to think what you’ve got to think, for that one hour when you’re in there,” Liberatory said.

Liberatory said the weightlessness produced by the Epsom salts intending to allow the mind to drift into the deepest state of relaxation possible.

“The magnesium salt is there for multiple health benefits, and ultimately to help you float.

“You are weightless and don’t experience gravity, you’re just floating in there.”

Inside the tank you are freed from all sensation of gravity, which together account for 90 per cent of normal neuromuscular activity, helping you conserve and redirect physical and mental energy.

Liberatory said in a float tank your muscles would no longer have to fight against the constant downward push of gravity: the single greatest cause of wear and tear to bones, joints and body tissue.

“You are weightless, so it’s not like your mind thinks ‘my leg hurts’ or ‘my back is in pain’.”

Liberatory said the benefits of floatation therapy were equally physical and mental, and the experience increases your mental clarity both in the tank and out.

“The health benefits really include anxiety reduction, sleep improvement, so for anyone suffering with insomnia, it’s great.”

Owner of Pinch Salt & Float in Ocean Grove, Leah Singh, said the health benefits of float therapy include stress and anxiety relief, relief from headaches and muscle tension and muscle pain, deep relaxation, better sleep quality and relief from tension in your muscles.

“As far as health benefits go… it puts your body back in alignment, and you also soak up the magnesium,” Singh said.

“There is 500 kilos of magnesium salt in there, that calms your nervous system, it’s great for your muscles.

“It’s good for the body and it’s good for the mind.

“It’s amazing for anxiety, depression… All of your senses are shut down, it just brings you calmness… it’s forced mediations.”

“It’s also really good for your skin, people with exam or psoriasis and a lot of people use it for sports recovery.”

Singh said while there are zero side effects, therapists can help anyone who might struggle to get in or out of the float tank, and anyone suffering from claustrophobia can use an open salt bath or leave the float tank open.

During float therapy, you also become increasingly aware of your breath and heartbeat, which can help you relax, reduce anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate.

Surf Coast local Adrienne Minchinton has been doing floatation therapy for five years and finds it extremely helpful for reducing built up stress.

“I just do it because it helps with my stress and relaxes me. I feel so much better, so much calmer after I’ve had a float. It just helps me chill out,” she said.

“I can just tune out and relax and come out and feel way better.”

Another Surf Coast floatation enthusiast, Bindy Eskrigge, said she loves floatation therapy because it helps her manage chronic pain.

“It’s the only time I can find relief, in a float tank, it’s amazing.” Eskrigge said.

“And for me, I go into a meditative state.”