What is Floatation Therapy? Floatation Therapy is a form of alternate medicine and is essentially a method of sensory isolation. The technique was developed by Dr. John C. Lilly, an American psychoanalyst and neuro-physiologist, who developed this technique and subsequently the sensory isolation tank (1954) based on his research on the reaction of human beings to sensory deprivation. What he found, contrary to his expectations that the brain would go into deep sleep, was that it became more active and its problem solving abilities and imaginative power increased.
Floating and swimming are age old practices. The process of floatation therapy essentially places the body into a state of deep relaxation. Dr. Lilly found that his subjects reached a level of relaxation that would take years to attain using the known classical meditation practices. The process of floatation therapy has an aura of mystery surrounding it. The sight of people floating in tanks of water may look like a scene in a science fiction film.
The process of bringing a person into a deep state of relaxation in floatation therapy usually takes place in a specially manufactured tank of water dissolved with minerals and salts so as to make the body float. Usually we experience conflict and stress in our daily routines and habitual activity. These patterns of habitual activity become one with our energy and neurotic depriving actions. Some people resort to smoking, alcohol and drugs to relieve themselves of these everyday tensions only to find themselves in another bind.
But how exactly does Floatation Therapy work? This, unfortunately, is not clearly known. The way it reduces stress is what is known. When a person lies in a tank for nearly two hours doing nothing, without any physical stimulation at all, then the body has nothing to react to. As such, the levels of stress hormones such as adrenaline or epinephrine as well as cortisol drops, providing deep relaxation.
In the case of muscle pain reduction, the deep relaxation releases endorphins that arrest the pain from reaching the conscious, there is a relaxation of the muscles and healing is much more faster. People suffering from arthritis have found their suffering alleviated.
Floatation Therapy also aids people suffering from psychological problems. Specifically those suffering from addictive and obsessive behavior. This is because most of these problems are stress related and once the stress is removed the psychological problems disappear. One of the developments related to psychotherapy is aptly named REST (Restricted Environmental Stimulation Technique).This form of therapy was developed in the late 1970s. There are two different methods to this therapy. One is known as the Wet Therapy and the other the Dry Therapy. Obviously, in the second method, the floater is separated from the water by a 15 mm polymer membrane.
One exciting aspect of this therapy is the prospect it holds for increasing skills and performance. There is evidence to show that this technique enhances scientific creativity, sports and artistic performance.
Certain precautions have to be taken while undergoing Floatation Therapy. The most important one is that Floatation Therapy should not be undergone without the direct supervision of a trained practitioner. People with psychosis and those suffering from claustrophobia (the fear of confined spaces) should avoid this therapy.
Floatation Therapy is a powerful inducer of relaxation. Some of the disorders that have been alleviated include chronic pain, anxiety disorders, headache, muscle tension, hypertension, psycho-physiological and even premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
Oliver S. Daniel is a Freelance Writer of a variety of articles and can be reached at jayasingh.daniel@yahoo.co.in. His website, which is under development, is [http://www.oddjams.com] and he blogs at [http://www.frenchdrainsandodds.blogspot.com].
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