Trends: Floating Away Stress and Pain

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The pressures of hectic schedules and the wear-n-tear on our bodies can be hard to escape. But the growing trend of floatation therapy is allowing people to literally take the pressure off.

Floatation therapy simulates zero gravity in a chamber with shallow water. Typically 800 to 1000 lbs. of Epsom salt is dissolved into about 200 gallons of water.

"You are floating in 10 inches of heavily diluted Epsom salt water," says Lucas Harger with Just Relax Floatation. "It (the chamber) is about four feet wide, eight feet long and ten inches deep with water."

People spend the hour simply floating in the water.

"Your weightless, so it's like anti-gravity," says Harger. "After you get relaxed in there it's going to feel like you are floating in space."

Harger says the floating helps relieve stress and pain because floaters don't feel much physically because there is no gravity pulling at your body.

Stephanie Phelps spent years with severe back pain. "We found out that I had a pinched disk in my back and it would radiate pain into other areas of my body," says Phelps.

She was searching for alternative ways to manage the pain instead of medications.

"The floating has been a huge help because it completely relaxes my body," says Phelps. "Then it just feels like I can heal in different areas that it usually doesn't have time or energy to do."

Some people who are chlostrophobic are concerned about the closed chamber.

Harger says there are ways to ease into it.

"We start with leaving the door open," says Harger. "But I find most of them once they get adjusted and start to relax, they want to close the door."

Phelps says she even falls asleep while floating.

"If you fall asleep in there it just feels amazing," says Phelps. "Even not falling asleep, you still feel rested like you did sleep. You feel like you took a really good nap."

Similar chambers have been used for several years to treat patients with different medical conditions.

The floating therapy became very popular in Europe in recent years. Now it is a growing trend in the U.S.

The one hour sessions typically cost about $60.

Several spas are offering the service. According to floatation therapy web sites we found two locations in Jacksonville. They are:

Casablanca Beauty Center4209 Saint Johns Ave.(904) 389-5533

Mindwaves in Jacksonville Beach13799 Beach Blvd Ste 8.(904) 821-4845