Can't sleep? Floating can help you drift away...
Floating provides profound rest and balances sleep patterns, helping you overcome insomniaFloating can help you drift away
Risks of missing sleep
Good quality sleep is a vital component of a healthy lifestyle. If you can’t sleep, it can have wide ranging implications for all areas of your life.
A chronic lack of sleep can lead to a wide range of problems, from affecting your abilities such as concentration, judgement and memory, through to affecting your mood. What’s more, in the longer term a chronic lack of sleep can lead to serious health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, depression and heart disease.
Pressures of modern life
So it should be obvious to all of us that we need to allow plenty of time to sleep, and to create the most conducive setting for it.
On the other hand, modern life has many pressures which can lead to us working long hours, going to bed late and getting up early, and retiring to bed in a mental state not best suited to relaxation. Ultimately we may find that when we need rest the most, actually we can’t sleep.
Sound familiar?
Disrupted sleep patterns
With disrupted sleep over a long period, many people’s sleep patterns get out of kilter, meaning you can’t sleep. Maybe you are working night shift, or travelling and suffering with jetlag. These lifestyles may be unavoidable, but some simple steps can help improve your quality of life.
Give yourself the best chance of sleep
There are some general steps that we can all take to improve our chances of better sleep, such as exercising regularly (but not too close to bedtime).
Likewise avoiding the use of caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and screen time before bed.
Floating can improve your sleep patterns
However you may not realise that floatation can also help improve your sleep patterns.
Floating has benefits which align with the benefits of sleep because it is profoundly relaxing, provides natural pain relief, and relieves stress.
In addition, floating can increase your chances of getting good quality sleep, which many people find can be elusive even when the conditions seem to be right.
With properties such as relief from pain, relaxation, and reduced anxiety, floating brings you to the ideal state for a good night’s sleep.
Float research in Sweden
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence from people who float regularly and report significant sleep improvements as a result. There is also a growing body of research on the topic.
In 2014 a study was carried out at Karlstad University in Swede. The researchers found that “stress, depression, anxiety, and worst pain were significantly decreased whereas optimism and sleep quality significantly increased” for the group who took part in a series of 12 floatation sessions over 7 weeks . You can read more about this study here.
More float research in the USA
A study by Gary S. Stern, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Colorado, found that “the significant effect of floating . . . indicates that individuals who had floated in the isolation tank for one hour significantly raised their theta level.”
You can read more about theta waves on our meditation page.
Insights from the inventor of floatation
John C. Lilly was the first developer of the floatation tank. He said:
“When I broke several bones in a bicycle accident, I went for five days without sleep before finally resorting to the tank in desperation. There, I was free from the pain, without drugs, for the first time since I had the accident. That’s because a tank frees up all the pain due to gravity.”
Still can’t sleep?
The reasons for insomnia can be wide-ranging and highly individual. Thankfully the floatation tank can provide help and respite for many people, for many reasons.
We all owe it to ourselves to give our bodies and minds a chance to properly rest, and floatation provides the ideal environment.
You may even find you fall asleep during your float, and that’s fine too.
Floating times:
Wed - Sun 10am-8pm
By appointment
Mon - Tue closed
