Health / back in action
Floating away from it all
I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t like the benefit of four hours extra sleep in a one-hour hit, while experiencing a meditative state and a sensation of complete weightlessness. Floating is a bit like being in space I imagine, minus the gear, but with only the sound of your own breating and heart reasuringly beating away, to accompany you.
I went into Back in Action on College Green, downstairs to their flotation centre, a little bit overly confident that I would be able to quickly reach relaxation. Little active baby in the house, need to ease whole body and create time – let’s go. But of course, I didn’t think about the journey to get there; shutting down all those thoughts, easing back and letting go completely to allow the Epsom salt water cocoon me in some sort of liberating extravaganza. It’s not so easy to shut off the whole world and be left with your senses, and it wasn’t until the lights went out that I stopped planning the intricacies of my life.
Suffice to say, I did let go and it I came out of my float cabin, marvelling at the restorative power of simply floating on water. But when do we ever just stop, let alone float?
Fiona of Back in Action/Floatation Centre, a lady who floats fortnightly and radiates positive energy, says that floating reduces blood pressure and the heart rate, as well as lowering levels of stress. Physically and mentally the body works to relax – for athletes, designers, CEOs, it works in exactly the same way.
The float, combined with the mobiliser, a massage bed that stimulates your muscles and joints to work together and combat back pain, meant I had an experience that left me standing taller and more attune with myself. Which can only be a very good thing.
Back in Action, College Green, BS1 4SH
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