Floating experience at Hydro-Ease
So recently I was gifted a floating session at Hydro-Ease in Dundonald. As I’d had a new tattoo at the time I had to wait for it to heal but the gift vouchers are valid for 6 months from the date of purchase so I had ample time to get my float experienced booked in.
Turns out this weekend was the perfect time to get a little “me” time as my personal health took a little dive, the head was melted with with work and the stresses of being a single mum were just a little at my limit.
I arrived 5 mins before my booked in time as required and when you walk in the door, the vibes are so chilled and relaxed you can’t help but be a little excited for what’s about to happen. The staff are so friendly and welcoming, and explain what the process is. There is a video to watch on the website, which Vivian, the owner, goes over everything, but if you haven’t watched it, you get all the info anyway.
When you are taken to your tank room, you pop your guddies off at the door and step inside to a full wet room. The enclosed tank is infront of you and the showers are to the other side of the room.
Vaseline sachets and earplugs are provided, sitting on top of the pump and a little bin to pop them into after use. The showers have everything provided for you. The shampoo, conditioner (which can’t be used before you enter the tank!) and shower gel are all created by the Handmade Soap Co and their products are 100% cruelty free and vegan friendly and smell of lemongrass and cedarwood - perfect for a little pre pampering. At the showers is a little bottle of white vinegar and water to help dissolve any salt crystals in your ears after the float if you didn’t use the ear plugs.
As I opened the tank doors, the heat was more than I expected for it being body temperature but it’s not unpleasant. So here’s the thing, I can’t swim, so when I got into the tank it was a little nerve wrecking to trust the water and epsom salts to ‘get ye’…. the only way I can describe it is like that trust exercise of standing with someone behind you and letting yourself fall, trusting they’ll catch and support you. I should never have doubted it, but it took a min or two to breathe and let my brain engage that I wasn’t going under.
So once your in and settled in the water, you can feel your body rise and the water supporting you. It’s a weird but fun sensation when you first experience it. It’s like you can feel the room move but then you realise it’s your body moving naturally in the water. Letting yourself inhale deeply and exhale slowly, your submerging into a peace that is a different level. For anyone who likes ASMR or the sound of heartbeats like me, this is perfect for us because all you hear is your heartbeat rhythm in your ears. Your breathing evens out and you’re engulfed by this zen atmosphere. Your phone is off, you’re shut away from the outside world. I wasn’t ‘mum’, ‘daughter’, ‘friend’, ‘work colleague’. I wasn’t needed for anything. All of a sudden, all those tabs in your brain close and you’re free. The light outside the tank is activated by motion so when you’re in the tank, the light turns off and you can either keep the light on in the tank or turn it off too to be totally submerged in the experience.
There’s a notification sound when you’re session is over but for anyone whose got a hearing impairment, the light will turn on if you’ve turned it off when inside the tank. This gives you time to get out of the tank before the pump turns on again.
I can’t get over how much just one float has helped me out. I feel amazing. All the built up stress I didn’t realise my body was carrying is gone. My head is clear. The pain level I’ve had recently has receded so much and I can’t wait to get back in that tank again! I’m even taking my mum who has fibromyalgia, my son who has autism and my daughter because running your own business is stressful as it is never mind the body fatigue from detailing and valeting cars!
After your float, you have the relaxation room to dry your hair with a hairdryer provided, there’s tea, coffee and water, Biscoff biscuits and comfy chairs and sofa to sit back and relax on. They also provide a book for you to leave your comments on about your experience and colouring in too! Perfect way to take it all in and think about your experience.
Here’s a little snippet from the Hydro-Ease website about Floatation and how it works……
Let’s explain a bit more about it.
Floatation involves nothing other than stepping into our spacious cabins filled with 25cms of body temperature water infused with half a tonne of Epsom salt and floating to the sound of your own heartbeat.
Zero-gravity conditions enable floatation with no external pressure or forces on the body.
This is where the magic begins allowing you to unwind in a safe and tranquil space that promotes deep healing and relaxation.
Otherwise known as Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy or REST, Floatation is all about taking pressure off the mind and body and allowing it to repair.
How does it work?
It works by restricting the stimulation received through our five sense – sight, hearing, feeling, smell and taste enabling the central nervous system to slow down and the brain to drift from its usual alpha and beta state into theta.
Free of commands, the logical left side of the brain slows down until it synchronises with the creative right leaving you in a dream like state similar to how it might feel before going to sleep.
In this state the brain will rapidly release endorphins, the body’s natural pain killer and mood enhancer.
Research shows the brain uses a lot of power to deal with the huge strain that gravity puts upon the body. In fact we use 80% of our daily energy source fighting its effects. Floatation removes that pressure allowing the body to feel supported and weightless in a ‘space or womb like’ condition.
With little else for your mind and body to compete with, soon every fibre of your body will begin to relax. Energy turns inwards activating blood flow, increasing circulation while at the same time stimulating both the lymphatic and digestive system.
This restricts the production of lactic acid and breaks down any already within the system placing the body into detox mode. With the peripheral nervous system gliding into a state of stable balance, the body is placed into a deep state of relaxation allowing it to rest and repair four times faster than resting in bed.
With the entire skeletal structure getting a chance to realign and decompress, floating is a fantastic intervention for sports injuries, fibromyalgia, arthritis and many other forms of physical pain or injury.
Recent research conducted by Dr Justin Feinstein at the Laureate Institute of brain research in Tulsa, Oklahoma also indicates the huge potential floatation has to relieve mental health symptoms such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder by reducing the activity of the amygdala better known as the fight or flight response mechanism in the brain.
When I was done and was sitting back in my car, all the weight of the world was off the shoulders. I can’t say thank you enough for being spoilt for such an experience, but I’m so grateful and will definitely be back… over and over and over again!
If you are wanting to know more please visit the Hydro-Ease Website or call them on 028 9521 5155 and book your session! Trust me, you’ll not regret it at all!
If you go, let me know how you found your experience!
Jx