Ask Float Doctor: Floating Your Way To a Healthier You…
Elizabeth HeitzmannShare
DEAR FLOAT DOCTOR: Help! I have been using sleep aids on and off for 2 years now. I’ve also been taking Xanax for anxiety for the last 12 years. I saw on BBC that long-term use could increase my potential risk to develop Alzheimer's. I also ended up seeing this on other reputable websites when I looked into it more. This makes me very concerned and kinda scared as I had two grandparents get this horrible condition.
So, I decided to stopped taking them and now since I saw that and now, I can’t even count on getting 3 hours straight of sleep. I am very restless and have increased bouts of anxiety about taking anything now. I need to do something to treat my insomnia and help me manage this anxiety better. It seems to be affecting so much in my life, my work and my relationships. I just don’t know what to do anymore. I am very tempted to take the pills as they are affective, but I don’t want to increase my risk of losing my mind, though I feel like I am already losing it by not taking them. Urgh… I heard floating is a natural therapy that can improve sleep and reduce anxiety symptoms. How does it work? Can it help me? --Desperate for Answers
DEAR DESPERATE: You are not alone in your struggle. As many as roughly 30 percent of the population battles with insomnia at any particular point in their life. Research reports that nearly 3 million individuals every each year get help with difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Anxiety is even more common affecting 40 million people. There are medications for these issues, and they come in many different classes. What you are referencing in the study relates primarily to benzodiazepine drugs. “Long-term use” is generally defined as “3 months or more,”, though there are many different views on this. We highly recommend that you discuss these concerns with your prescribing physician.
Regarding your question about how floating helps, I can tell you from experience that people fall asleep all the time at the center while floating. Depending on how wound up a person is, it can may take some time to decompress. There are techniques to achieve the “down shift” that comes with floating, which allows you to get the results you want, both inside of the tank and beyond. [1]
Floating is also called referred to as sensory deprivation because it is there is no light or sound present so recommended that there is no light or sound so that thee user can get to a point of not even noticing the his or her body. Upon entering the cabin, you will find that you float effortlessly in the solution, which consists of 1,000 pounds of pharmaceutical grade Epsom salts and 250 gallons of water. [2] Let me start with briefly explaining what happens in the mind and body while floating:. Upon entering the cabin, you will find that you float effortlessly in the solution, which consists of 1,000 pounds of pharmaceutical grade Epsom salts and 250 gallons of
[3] Let me briefly explain what happens to the mind and body during a float therapy session:
➢ There are no pressure points perceived in this environment and the temperature is also set at “skin-receptor neutral” so the brain can turn off vestibular and proprioceptive functions which may inform you to reposition because for example your arm is not getting adequate circulation, or your blankets need adjustment because you feel hot or cold). T(these brain processes occur when you sleep and are more vigilant when you are awake. Since there are no pressure points perceived while floating and the temperature is set at “skin-receptor neutral” those processes release their control while floating. This is the “reset” that occurs in the body and mind, which is akin to rebooting your home computer or restarting your phone. This is the unique anti-gravity experience and sense of overall calmness to help you sleep more soundly and have reduced anxiety symptoms.
A shut down of 15 minutes or more resets your inner frequency to a relaxed state so your body and mind begin to quiet. [5] Some people achieve this the first time they try, and others may take 3 to 5 sessions, depending on their level of anxiety. “wound up” a persMost people may shift in and out of this shut down several times.
➢ The longer a person can stay in the shutdown state, the more refreshed a person will feel afterwards and the longer the effects outside of the tank.
➢ Putting these functions “on standby” may take some practice to get the lasting benefits. With regular float practice you will teach yourself to calm naturally.
➢ The “turning back on” of the senses restores some of the default operations to reestablish functioning to a more manageable level. This will reset you to a more relaxed “normal” again.[6] that can last for days.
Simply go into the treatment as if you are about to take a bath. Once you are in the cabin:
These functions being put “on standby” create a unique anti-gravity experience that takes some practice to maintain for a session. The calm achieved with the of Some people get it the first time they try, and others achieve it after 3 to 5 sessions, again, depending on the level of how anxiety a person h
· #1,Ttake slow breaths. and #
· 2,Rrelease your conscious thoughts that may pop into your awareness.
· Then let the magic happen.
We advise to just you to “let everything go.” Dump anything out of your mind ” that does not assist in obtaining a relaxing state.
The reality is that we just don’t realize how jacked up we are until we get into a float chamber. We normalize this, as a level of an anxious state to do what we think we need to do every day. Floating is essentially a time to perform some maintenance on the mind and body similar to how we need to shut off the engine to refuel our car. If we don’t make time to care for our car needs or personal health needs, we will be forced to do so at perhaps a less convenient time with potentially more problems than if we had addressed it more regularly and proactively.
Floating truly is an amazing tool to improve overall health and inspire creativity. It is useful for chronic pain conditions, detoxifying, reducing inflammation and migraine relief. I know I can’t get into everything that floating does in this response but do feel free to check out our website for more information. There are some great videos to help you better understand floating at: www.floatdr.net. Find yourself at Float Doctor!
Do you have a question about floating at Float Doctor? Email us at doctorfloat@gmail.com, Message us on Facebook, write us at: Float Doctor Questions, 640 South Pier Drive, Sheboygan, WI 53081; or stop in!