float therapy
A world-first open float room – with an open float pool the size of a double-bed filled with 1,000 lbs of Epsom salts – to heal the body, reduce stress and anxiety, and deeply relax the mind.
What is float therapy?
The Float Therapy experience involves lying in an open pool filled with 1,000 lb of Epsom salts for an hour, with water that is perfectly heated to your external body temperature. You will quickly be transported into a deep state of theta relaxation; A meditative state your body and mind progresses into for an optimal healing process. This state helps heal the body, reduces stress and anxiety, and immerses the body into deep relaxation.
Benefits of Float Therapy
Decreases Stress & Anxiety / Improves Mood
Floating can help relieve stress and boost your mood in two ways. Firstly, the magnesium levels in the open float pool help regulate cortisol production (your body’s primary stress hormone). Magnesium also enhances sleep quality, which will contribute to feeling less stressed overall. Second, the sensory deprivation component of floating aids in minimising stress. Floating also triggers the release of endorphins and dopamine in the brain, leaving you with all of those feel-good hormones!
Pain Management & Reduced Inflammation
Float therapy helps reduce muscle pain by increasing blood flow to the brain, organs and limbs. Floatation therapy's features make it an excellent choice for treating physical pain, as well as assisting the body's recovery from injury and pain-related disorders. Floating has proved to show relief of symptoms from pain disorders such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, tendinitis, bursitis and many more.
Float therapy can be the perfect complement to physical therapy, chiropractic or massage therapy as it helps reduce inflammation in joints and muscles. The zero-gravity environment has helped individuals with fibromyalgia by increasing energy and assisting their ease of movement.
Floating is also used to improve athletic recovery. Magnesium is a natural muscle relaxant that relieves tension in the body. Floating improves circulation allowing the muscles to repair whilst in a relaxed state.
Improves Sleep Quality / Decreases Chronic Fatigue
Float therapy is designed to be a powerful tool in sleep aid and reducing insomnia. By floating, your brain has the natural ability to drop into a theta state, making it easier to make the transition to delta waves that are necessary for REM sleep. Some doctors believe that 1 hour of sleep in a float therapy session is equivalent to 4-8 hours of deep sleep.
The natural calming effect of floating in combination with soaking in magnesium will allow you to fall asleep better come bedtime… or even in the float pool.
Boosts Creativity & Mindfulness
Floating provides an ideal setting for mindfulness and meditation. The float pool removes all physical and mental distractions, allowing you to focus much more deeply. It also induces a unique level of awareness that promotes communication between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. While you are floating, the brain can hold a theta state wave while the body is awake and calm, which is normally only achievable during sleep. This mindset, combined with fewer distractions, allows you to fully absorb new information and think more clearly.
Musicians, writers, and creative performers have reported a boost in creativity after their float. Floating increased artists' technical skills during jazz improvisation, according to a study published in the journal Music and Medicine.
Why open Float Therapy is fast becoming the number one natural treatment for stress and anxiety
Justin Feinstein, Ph.D.
Clinical Neuropsychologist
Dr Feinstein's research has laid the foundation for novel therapies that can naturally alleviate stress and anxiety without the use of drugs including Floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy) and the modulation of CO2 as a form of interoceptive exposure therapy. In 2021, Dr. Feinstein became President and Director of the Float Research Collective, a nonprofit organization that is playing a pivotal role in establishing Floatation-REST as an accepted medical treatment.
Dr. Feinstein has never worked for City Cave and has no financial interest or investment in the company
Why Float with City Cave?
Contrary to popular belief, float therapy is not a new phenomenon. The very first flotation device was invented in 1954 by Dr John C. Lilly. He was a neuropsychiatrist interested in the effects of sensory deprivation and how this impacted the conscious state of the brain.
While float therapy has grown in popularity in recent years, City Cave provides an entirely different experience than traditional float therapy pods. Utilising a serene, wide-open float room rather than a closed-in float pod has established a distinct point of difference in the float therapy experience. Our open float pools are the size of a double-bed, allowing users to navigate the float experience on their terms (and allowing plenty of space for two!). You can opt to have the lights on or music playing, or you can feel the full effects of sensory deprivation by turning off the lights and lying in stillness.