By mjtmail (tiggy) from Gt. Manchester (blue drop 3), via Wikimedia Commons
You know how everything’s always coming at you? Blasts of overheated air, the static of somebody else’s music, junk emails, exhaust fumes, your unwalked dog, the IRS…
Starting February 24, you can escape. That’s the grand opening of St. Louis’ first flotation center. F.LO.A.T. is at 3027 Locust (near The Fountain, if you want a different kind of float afterward).
You’ll lie in 93.5-degree water—that temperature’s neutral for the human body; once you’re immersed, it feels neither hot nor cold. There’s no light. No vibration. It’s a quiet, still space, and you’re floating on about 10 inches of water, made superbuoyant by 800 to 1,000 pounds of Epsom salts. “You pop up to the surface like a cork,” says Kevin McCulloch, one of F.LO.A.T.’s three partners. “You are floating effortlessly. It’s impossible not to float, because the density of the water reduces the effect of gravity by about 80 percent.”
This used to be called a “sensory-deprivation tank,” which sounds ominous and is also inaccurate, McCulloch. “You’re not depriving your senses, you’re restricting what is stimulating you. Limiting what’s coming into your system.”
You can choose a cabin—a room within a room, like a home sauna, with a side entry door—or a pod, which looks a bit like a computer mouse.
“When I showed a picture of the pod to my parents, their reaction was, ‘Whoa. What is that?’ I’m not getting in there!” McCulloch says. “It’s futuristic-looking and unfamiliar, and it’s also a lot more confining. For me, that’s appealing. The smaller the space, the easier it is to maintain control over the water and air temperature. And that smaller space to me feels more cozy. It doesn’t frighten me.”
His parents chose the room, not the futuristic pod. I mention that it’d be better for people who are claustrophobic, and McCulloch says they usually report feeling at ease once they realize "they're in complete control of the experience, and floating feels expansive, not constraining.
“It’s completely lightproof in there, so your brain can’t reference the idea of space or limitation," he adds. "You no longer have any ability to perceive how big the cabin or pod is—it’s infinite, at that point.” Because the water temperature’s just-so, “your brain has a difficult time understanding where the water begins and ends and where your body begins and ends. You’re creating some space between your consciousness and your physical body.”
Which sounds almost spiritual.
“It is a completely spiritual experience,” McCulloch says. “That’s not something we lead with—we know individuals who will find that will find it. And there are so many other benefits”—lowering blood pressure, heart rate, stress hormones and inflammation; increasing endorphins and dopamine…
“The beautiful thing about floating,” he continues, “is that there is nothing, nothing set up to happen in there. It’s just water and salt and quiet. What happens is unique to each person—and it will be different every time.”
The minimum length for a float is 90 minutes, “because your brain starts to drop down into theta waves in about 35 minutes,” and why pull it back just 20 minutes later? An individual session is $65, but there are package discounts.
Call 314-833-3444 or visit the F.LO.A.T. website for details.
