(Lower Stress, Anxiety and Reduce Inflammation)
by Sheleana Aiyana
1. Lower Cortisol and Stress Hormones: While you're in the tank, you're experiencing a deep reset for your entire nervous system. With no external stimulation, you get an extended period of calm in which your body isn't reacting to noise, light or sound. Cortisol, ACTH, lactic acid, and adrenaline are all lowered while endorphins are boosted, making a potent recipe for better mood, energy and physical recovery. As you float, you may notice at around 30 minutes, endorphins start to flow through your body. Some notice this more than others, but even if you're not hyper sensitive to changes in your body, you can trust that you are getting the benefits while you rest in the float tank.
2. Better Sleep: By using a float tank, you naturally boost THETA brain waves which are also triggered during REM sleep. If your sleep cycle is out of wack and needs adjusting, rather than taking extreme measures or sleeping pills, hop in the tank for a few sessions. Not only is a float tank useful for regulating your sleep cycle, but you'll also get the health benefits of being inside the tank that are similar to the benefits you get from a good nights sleep. Regeneration, repair and healing all occur while you float.
"With no external stimulation, you get an extended period of calm in which your body isn't reacting to noise, light or sound."
3. Anxiety and Depression: Among our population, these two mental disorders are so prevalent they could almost be considered common side effects of living life in North America. This is a sad but mostly true blanket statement, and if you're reading this, chances are you can relate. Life gets stressful, and if hormones or other chemicals in our body are out of balance due to not enough sleep, poor nutrition, trauma or major life change, anxiety and depression can take over. Float tanks have been known to help induce positive feelings in the brain and body, overtime supporting healing, better mood and more control over anxiety. One would think that perhaps being in a float tank would trigger anxiety because of the dark environment, however many sufferers of anxiety and even claustrophobia find the float tank very useful and supportive to their healing.
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4. Accelerated Healing: Injuries keep us out of the game longer than we'd like, and at times, healing takes time away from the things we love. By floating after an injury, a heavy workout or physical training session, you can speed up the process. This is in part due to the high levels of magnesium in the water, and partly due to the lowered stress levels that being in a tank promotes. In addition to these two obvious reasons, floating also supports healthy blood circulation which can make a difference in how quickly your body repairs itself. Many professional athletes and competitors rely on a float tank as part of their recovery protocol.
5. Pain Relief from Arthritis and Other Chronic Pain: Due to high levels of magnesium in the water (a float tank has about 1000 pounds of epsom salts inside), lowered stress hormones and a boost of endorphins, you can look to float tanks for a natural way to lower pain levels and get some relief. Floating in the salt rich water may also deliver magnesium through the skin, a mineral almost all of us are lacking in proper amounts.*
Other Benefits of Floating:
Mood boosting
Balancing left and right hemispheres of the brain
Lowers pain and inflammation
Boosts energy levels
Fights insomnia
Supports super learning
Improves ability to focus
Can help heal addictions and phobias
Supports mental clarity
Boosts creativity
Resources:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/68721/science-behind-relaxing-hallucinatory-float-dark-tank-water
http://examinedexistence.com/the-science-of-sensory-deprivation-how-does-sensory-deprivation-work/
*More research is currently underway the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Oklahoma
