News

When Finding Your Bliss Means Floating, Naked. The Wall Street Journal

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 15:11:24 GMT

Online article in The Wall Street Journal written by Elizabeth Bernstein.

Appeared in the June 15, 2023, print edition as 'Finding Your Bliss by Floating'.

Our shot at the stars: Launching the Float Research Collective

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 14:11:47 GMT

The Float Conference 2022 :

In the summer of 2022, the Float Research Collective (FRC) was officially formed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Its mission is to establish worldwide acceptance for Floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy) as a treatment to naturally relieve pain, stress, anxiety and other related conditions. In this 2022 Float Conference presentation, the FRC President and Director, Dr. Justin Feinstein, unveils how the FRC will achieve this moonshot mission of getting floating accepted as a medical treatment, including a groundbreaking set of studies directly comparing Floatation-REST to the gold standard medical treatments for the rapid reduction of anxiety and pain, namely benzodiazepines and opioids.

Highly addictive drugs like Xanax (a benzo) and OxyContin (an opioid) have killed over 1 million Americans since the turn of the millennium due to drug overdoses.

Millions more are physiologically addicted to these prescription medications and unable to stop taking them without severe and often life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. In essence, our medical system has tried to medicate away society’s most ubiquitous forms of suffering using what has proven to be the most addictive substances on Earth. The FRC is challenging this whole backwards mentality that the only way to quickly relieve suffering is by popping a pill. The scientific research documenting floating’s rapid relief of both anxiety and pain provides a strong initial evidence base for pursuing these head-to-head clinical trials.

Float Conference 2022

The Brain at REST, Dr. Justin Feinstein | 2020 Float Conference

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 11:11:40 GMT

Justin's Float Conference talk form 2020

Dr. Feinstein presents new float-fMRI analyses showing how floating alters resting state functional connectivity within the brain.

The data presented has been published in a peer-reviewed journal and can be found in the publications section of the site.

See more presentations here

Therapeutic Floating for Stress, Anxiety and Pain Management

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 14:07:59 GMT

True Health interview the Director of the Float Research Collective, Justin Feinstein, PhD , to learn about therapeutic floating as a modality for stress, anxiety and pain management.

Tom Rifai, MD, FACP - 20 July 2021

For this episode of NOTeD, we had the opportunity to interview the Director of the Float Research Collective, Justin Feinstein, PhD , to learn about therapeutic floating as a modality for stress, anxiety and pain management. A growing body of research shows therapeutic floating offers benefits in other areas as well, including metabolic health (e.g. blood pressure).

A neuropsychologist with years of clinical experience, Dr. Feinstein is able to put the unique power of therapeutic floating in perspective. He explains how and why it works, how often it is used in clinical protocols, its potential as an adjunct therapy for serious psychological trauma and so much more.

Benefits of Therapeutic Floating

“Base rates of stress and anxiety are off the charts,” Dr. Feinstein explains. “We’re living in a day and age where our nervous system is bombarded with stimulation. It’s a natural consequence of modern times and modern technology, 24-7 connectivity. Our nervous system is woefully unprepared for this stimulation.”

Dr. Feinstein became interested in Floatation REST – Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy – in response to the need for new therapies and technologies to respond to this new era in which the nervous system is inundated with stimulation.

The Floating Environment: What Is It?

Dr. Feinstein takes us on a tour of the therapeutic floating experience. He explains that they create a specialized environment devoid of external stimulation like traffic or human conversation.

The pool his team created at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research is a large 8-foot circular pool, conducive to people stretching out as they float. The pool contains only 1 foot of water. The key is that they saturate the water with 2000 pounds of Epsom salt. They remove the need for your body to thermo-regulate by setting the water temperature to 94-95 degrees.

The room is spacious, sound proof, light proof, and temperature and humidity controlled. The goal is to remove as much external stimulation as possible. “It’s a very serene relaxed environment, perfectly calibrated to minimize stimulation of the human nervous system,” says Dr. Feinstein.

He explains that most of us don’t realize how much stress we carry in our body. Therapeutic floating is a way to manage that stress.

We discuss whether the magnesium salts in which subjects serenely float are involved in any of the clinical outcomes. One of the consistent physiological results Dr. Feinstein has found is an average of a 5-point drop in the systolic blood pressure and a 10-15 point drop in diastolic, measured during the floating session.

As one who is challenged with Binge Eating Disorder , I questioned whether Dr. Feinstein would be interested in studying that potential area (specifically anxiety-related impulsive eating). Check out his response!

Therapeutic Floating in Athletics: A Testimonial

Elite athletes, including Tom Brady, Steph Curry and Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic are taking advantage of therapeutic floating for both mental and physical recovery post-workout or after competition. These athletes are finding that therapeutic floating is helping their concentration levels.

I must admit that my own recent floating experiences have been incredible.

And if you are interested in learning more about research efforts for clinical floating, as well as potentially finding a commercial floating center near you, please see clinicalfloatation.com

Disclaimer: Neither I, Dr. Feinstein nor the True Health Inititative are endorsing, nor have any financial relationship with, any of the floating centers found through the web link above. Please always do your own due diligence and discuss any health or medical related questions with your licensed healthcare provider.

Enjoy the interview! I believe you will learn a ton and a half about this fascinating stress management modality — one that is well aligned with the mission of THI. Click below to watch it now:

Dr Justin Feinstein talks to Art of the Float

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 11:05:15 GMT

Art of the Float hosted by Dylan Calm

Dr Justin Feinstein has some big changes to announce. In part one of his interview with Art of the Float he discusses his new Float Research Collective initiative and his new float centre in Maui. He is also looking for float centres to help him gather publishable data to help increase awareness and evidence for the benefits of floatation therapy. Click here to listen to part one of the interview, and see how you can get involved with Dr Feinstein!

In part two of his interview with Art of the Float, he talks more about his decision to leave LIBR, move to Maui, and start a Float Research Collective designed to advance the research on the benefits of floatation therapy using float centres all over the country! Click here to listen to Dr Feinstein discuss the incredible effects of floating on stress, anxiety and depression, as well as find out how you can get involved in his ongoing research.

If you would like to get involved, sign up for newsletter updates here .

Floating Toward Recovery - Eating Disorders

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 09:26:34 GMT

Floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy) is a novel, non-pharmacological intervention that is being investigated for those suffering with mental health disorders. Within the eating disorder treatment community, floating offers a unique opportunity for patients to experience greater attunement with their bodies, to habituate to programmed distressing triggers within the body, and to experience a serenity that can serve as a template for them as they learn to live with anxious temperaments. Recent eating-disorder-specific research supports Floatation-REST not only as a safe intervention, but also as one that might have a surprisingly positive effect on body image. By understanding the value of Floatation-REST as a supplement to mental health treatment, practitioners can offer it as a tool that may provide an opportunity to dig further into interventions while serving as a unique and powerful instrument to enhance well-being.....

By Rebecca Brumm, LPC, CEDS-S

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

CNN - Floating for stress and anxiety relief

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 11:00:17 GMT

Some "alone time" in a sensory-deprivation tank or float pool might be just the thing to buoy your well-being

Sahib Khalsa of LIBR talks to CNN about the positive effects of floating.

IMAGE - Have you tried sensory deprivation?

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 10:46:33 GMT

A curious cynic, Holly O' Neill is looking to separate the fads from the fascinating by trying out unconventional wellness practices....

"Once you get into the tank and have marvelled at your own buoyancy, flicked the lights on and off to see if you're scared (I am a bit, initially), and rolled around, everything relaxes. When your thumb has stopped involuntarily scrolling, and your brain stops telling you to refresh your emails, you relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw, move your neck around, straighten your back, release your tongue from the roof of your mouth, and loosen your hands.

Related: Thinking of joining a book club? It may improve your wellbeing

And when you've really settled in, and you're floating, naked and spread out like a starfish in a silent, black pod with a quiet mind, there comes a point when the temperature of the water, which is body temperature, becomes indecipherable from the air in the pod.

The lack of light and sound reduces your sense of touch, so when I reach that meditative state, it doesn't feel like I'm in a pod, in water, or in anything at all. It's like floating in nothingness or drifting in space.

If you have 15 tabs open in your brain at any one time, three to-do lists on your desk, and find you're doing everything and achieving nothing, flotation therapy is the one for you."

Vancouver Real - Neuropsychology and Floatation Therapy for Anxiety Disorders with Dr. Justin Feinstein and Flux

Thu, 10 Sep 2020 20:09:03 GMT

What is it about floating that makes it such a great therapy for anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other disorders?

HOW STUFF WORKS - Why You May Like Floating in a Sensory Deprivation Tank

Thu, 10 Sep 2020 19:57:39 GMT

Los Angeles resident Megan Holiday was looking for a little peace and quiet. As an on-air personality at KROQ radio station and host of her own podcast, 7 Words, the busy, media-savvy DJ found a potential source of respite through some of her favorite entertainment outlets.

"I first began hearing about deprivation tanks on podcasts — Joe Rogan, Duncan Trussell Family Hour — and it was in hearing them talk about the experience that my level of interest began to peak," she writes via email. "They talked about how it was the ultimate meditation experience, a place to fully disconnect from outside stimulus and go inward. As someone who deals with anxiety on a daily basis, I use meditation as a way to cope and felt that the deprivation tank could also be a new resource for me."

Holiday isn't alone: Since the 1950s, people have been dabbling in a practice known as restricted environmental stimulation therapy (REST), a type of intervention rooted in sensory deprivation (i.e., cutting off your senses of sight, smell, hearing, etc.), often through the use of a special chamber known as a deprivation tank.

Studies have found that REST may be a useful stress-management tool, a successful treatment of addictive behaviors and a potential adjunct therapy for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Not to mention, even "The Simpsons" partook in the experience in the 1999 episode, "Make Room for Lisa."

If you, like me, are wildly claustrophobic and the idea of a "deprivation tank" (also known as a "sensory deprivation tank," "flotation tank" or "isolation tank") terrifies you to your core, then perhaps you've written off the therapy altogether. But there's a lot more to the nontraditional method than you may know.......

read the full article here

Dr Justin Feinstein: Floating and it’s Impact on the Brain

Thu, 10 Sep 2020 19:10:44 GMT

Dr. Justin Feinstein - Podcast AUGUST 27, 2019

Commonly referred to as floating, floatation therapy or sensory deprivation has taken the world by storm, praised by celebrities and clinical professionals alike for its relaxing effects on both mind and body.

Dr. Justin Feinstein is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Director of the Float Clinic and Research Centre at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research.

His laboratory investigates the effects of floatation therapy on both the body and the brain, while also exploring its potential as a treatment for promoting mental health and healing in patients who suffer from anxiety and stress-related disorders.

Justin’s research has been published in a number of top scientific journals and has been featured in press around the world, including the New York Times, TIME magazine, and Australia’s Sunday Night.

The Amazing Thing That Happens When You Disconnect | Dr. Justin Feinstein | TEDxSalem

Fri, 29 May 2020 16:28:28 GMT

Dr. Justin Feinstein shares how float therapy can help disconnect the nervous system from life's constant stream of stimulation, and in the process help individuals reconnect to themselves, especially those who suffer from stress and anxiety. Dr. Justin Feinstein is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Director of the Float Clinic and Research Center at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research. His laboratory investigates the effects of Floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy) on both the body and the brain, while also exploring its potential as a therapeutic treatment for promoting mental health and healing in patients who suffer from anxiety and stress-related disorders. Dr. Feinstein joined the faculty of the Laureate Institute for Brain Research and the Oxley College of Health Sciences at the University of Tulsa in 2013, after completing his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa, and his postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology. He earned his undergraduate degree in cognitive neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego, and completed his clinical internship at the San Diego VA hospital with a focus on the treatment of veterans with PTSD.

WOMANS HEALTH : 'I Tried Float Therapy And Forgot What It Felt Like To Be Stressed Out'

Tue, 11 Feb 2020 14:23:23 GMT

Pod life, please.

Extract from the article:

Full article here : WOMAN'S HEALTH

My ears tingled as I leaned my head back into the water. I was in a giant man-made egg filled with salty liquid, with only artificial purple light and quiet surrounding me. The woman who gave my orientation recommended that everyone spend “their first float in silence”—so I figured I'd follow directions. Closing my eyes, I relaxed, letting my body succumb to its watery fate.

This was the beginning of my experience trying out sensory deprivation therapy, otherwise known as float therapy.

Before I ended up in that purple-hued pod (I was at Float Seattle!), I had stumbled across an article about this whole concept online that talked about how the admittedly strange-sounding activity could be a great tool for sports recovery . And being an avid runner, I was immediately intrigued and wanted to learn more......

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

WOMANS HEALTH

BY LIA LEWINE

FEB 10, 2020

BBC news reporting on floatation therapy helping anxiety and the Police

Mon, 14 Oct 2019 11:23:42 GMT

BBC South Today report with Justin Feinstein on floating to help anxiety & police officers in the UK

BBC South Today news desk reporting on floatation therapy helping anxiety sufferers and how the Police have been helping their officers with their mental health. broadcast on 3rd Oct 2019

John Dickerson CBS tries floating

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMT

John Dickerson tries "floating" technique to help disconnect

As a part of the "CBS This Morning" series "Pay Attention," co-host John Dickerson tried out a "floating" technique to enhance mental clarity. He joins CBSN to discuss the experience of sensory deprivation therapy.

John Dickerson on the Late Show

Tue, 17 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Recorded just after his time at LIBR, John chats about his experience of floating

John Dickerson discusses with Stephen Colbert how good it felt relaxing in a floatation pool at LIBR, jump to 6min into the video.

National News Coverage on Floatation by CBS This Morning

Mon, 16 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMT

How sensory deprivation and floating impacts the brain

An interview with Dr. Justin Feinstein and visit to the LIBR Float Clinic and Research Center was featured on CBS This Morning with co-host John Dickerson. He spoke with Dr. Feinstein about the floatation process and detailed his own personal experience.

As part of CBS This Morning's “Pay Attention” series, the goal was to look at how to retrain our focus and recapture our attention under the bombardment of technology and information that distract us. They looked at ways people are trying to short-circuit the noise, help with mental focus and learn about the impact of floating on mental health disorders.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Self -Centering in Round Float Pools

Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Why use round pools for clinical floatation?

When a floater is properly relaxed, there is no movement apart from breathing.

Breathing inflates the lungs, of course, and this increases buoyancy a little so the chest rises a little in the solution when breathing in and falls a little when breathing out.

This regular movement sends tiny waves or ripples out from the body and the waves bounce off the sides.

The returning waves cause a gentle self-centring effect. This happens in any pool but in square shapes there is a lot of interference. In a round Open Float Pool or Floataround, the waves tend to return focussed toward the center and the effect is maximised.

This is one reason to choose a circular pool. This is why Dr Justin Feinstein chose both an Open Floataround and an enclosed Floataround designs.

If the floater moves even a little the swimming effect takes over, self centering is a subtle force. But when relaxed a floater is completely motionless and the effect is useful to keep away from touching the sides.

Tulsa World Press

Sun, 04 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Tulsa research lab is floating new ideas for treating anxiety disorders

Tulsa World talks to Justin Feinstein about the Float Clinic at LIBR

Read more here

MENS HEALTH - floating changed my life

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

I Tried Floating in a Giant Sensory Deprivation Tank, and It Changed My Life

Sensory deprivation tanks look cool, and celebrities like Steph Curry and Joe Rogan swear by flotation therapy. But does it actually work?

As someone who writes about health, I thought I had tried every wellness fad under the sun, most of which had little long-term effect on my health or well-being. But when I heard about flotation therapy, which involves being immersed in a tiny, dark sensory deprivation tank, I was skeptical yet intrigued....

DEANNA DEBARA

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Oklahoma News Report (OETA)

Wed, 10 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Groundbreaking research on the effects on the brain while floating is being done at Tulsa’s Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR).

This story aired on the ONR on OETA-The Oklahoma Network. For more information, go to the ONR web site http://www.oeta.tv/programs/onr . For more about OETA-The Oklahoma Network, visit www.oeta.tv .

Floating to help Fibromyalgia END PAIN

Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

In this short-documentary, of people who feel trapped by their physical experience of chronic pain caused by fibromyalgia

What would it be like to exist without a body? Sensory deprivation technology allows us the opportunity to find out. Sensory deprivation tanks or “floating tanks” are designed to eliminate everyday sensory stimuli in a peaceful, controlled environment, giving us a much needed break from the constant physical sensations that often contribute to stressful brain states.

In this short-documentary, we explore how sensory deprivation tanks benefit two individuals who feel frequently feel trapped by their physical experience of chronic pain caused by fibromyalgia, and we speak with experts in the field of float technology about the benefits and science behind sensory deprivation.

WATCH THE FULL FILM HERE

INTEROCEPTION

Fri, 01 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT

I want to explain my take on it without using long words.....

I want to explain my take on it without using long words. The Wiki article derives from the soon to be published peer reviewed paper, which was the result of that conference. I am writing this because I believe that we all should know more about what is likely to be the basis of our consciousness and personality.

At last this important word has a thorough explanation at Wikipedia .

In November 2016, I attended the first LIBR Interoception Summit in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

I want to explain my take on it without using long words. The Wiki article derives from the soon to be published peer reviewed paper, which was the result of that conference. I am writing this because I believe that we all should know more about what is likely to be the basis of our consciousness and personality.

We are talking brains here, and while the idea of a model running in the brain is quite old, it is the amazing power of fMRI scanners in the last decade that has set this field alight.

The brain is a bunch of nerve cells and those are all it has to work out the world in what we know as consciousness. We tend to forget that it’s a neuron engine, neuron signals in, neuron signals out. So the idea of a model of the world running in real time that enables us to understand input from our eyes and ears, is easy to grasp even though the way it works is fiendishly hard to understand.

But there is another model, and it starts first in the womb, but for now I will start with birth. We can see that a baby has very little control of arms and legs and peeing and all that stuff. So imagine the brain's job.

The brain uses those nerve cells called neurons. Every neuron is like a telephone exchange with thousand of inputs and thousands of outputs. But each neuron cannot send complex information. When enough of its inputs reach a certain level, it kicks out a pulse to all its outputs. We say it fires. Somehow the brain combines all its connections to make sense, how could it do that?

For a start it has a lot of neurons, maybe a hundred billion, so if you consider all possible connection maps with thousands per neuron you get a number too big to really conceive. Even each synapse can be a complex set of decision-taking processes. Suffice to know that the connections are variable, the technical term is plastic. They change all the time although some circuits are reinforced by long experience.

Going back to the new born baby, her brain is trying to make sense and it has signals coming from all internal organs. Most arrive through the largest nerve, the vagus nerve, which means the wandering nerve. It wanders past every organ, heart, lungs, stomach, guts, kidneys and all those vital bits and pieces, sending and receiving signals.

Now here is an engineering problem. Each nerve cell works pretty fast but not crazy fast. It takes appreciable time for a nerve signal to get from brain to kidney and the same the other way. Somehow the brain wants to keep control in a survival way. It wants to optimise survival chances but it experiences literally millions of nerve signals every second. The answer to this conundrum is prediction. The brain is a prediction machine designed to maximise the baby's chances of survival.

This may not be as obvious as reacting to a fear inducing external threat, but consider an adult task like catching a ball. Let's assume a surprise catch, something heading toward you fast. The exterior model is easy to see, you perceive the moving object but if limited to a simple muscle moving response, your nerves would not be fast enough, nor your arm muscles. What actually happens is the brain predicts the path of the ball, but also predicts the path your hand must take and sets the signals in motion, to make the catch and that happens below your consciousness. In a baby you can watch as the brain begins to master the internal model of arms and legs, but mastery of the organs must be very early.

The brain also speeds up your heart, knowing that action requires more blood pumped round.

In fact the heart is one of the most studied organs in this new Science of the internal model. It holds many clues about our unconscious states. There are CO2 detectors in our arteries and the brain uses that information to control breathing. Again this is a predictive model at work.

Back to the infant.

Clearly the infant control of heart beat is more urgent than control of arms or bladder. It's essential to life every second so the infant brain must work that out. I guess there is some connection going right back to when the heart starts in the womb, but now it's performance must be regulated. Baby must provide blood to the gut to help digest milk, just arrived. The swallow reflex must come under control to mix breathing with eating. We take these abilities for granted but how does the brain do it?

The thinking is like this. The brain makes or has in its circuits of nerve connections, a starting prediction and it receives signals back which it can compare to that start point. The brain can detect an error between prediction and feedback, so it corrects its prediction.

This is not just instantaneous, the brain lays down memories so that experience of say heartbeat, is accumulated. This makes for better prediction. We can call that a model, or if you like, a program. But using a computer metaphor can be misleading. Computers generally work in serial, one step at a time, albeit phenomenally fast.

The brain however, is massively parallel, it is all happening at once with cross connections all the time.

When the brain senses danger for example, it sets changes in motion that it predicts will maximise survival, so heart races and drastic things can happen in your gut! You are primed for fight or flight as the saying goes. But is that system perfect? Consider the infant brain again but now with different life experiences, one is calm and comforted but another experiences shocks and maybe isolation. Clearly the brain interior models will turn out different and maybe that is exactly why psychologists place emphasis on early life trauma and its effect on later life.

In other words that complex inner model that the brain uses to predict what should happen next, is going to be different in different people, and indeed it might be a poor model, leading to anxiety in its many forms.

We often use the idea of feelings and confuse feelings with emotions. Emotions like fear and surprise are part of the interior model. Feelings are conscious interpretations in the thinking part of the brain, the cortex, or modern brain in humans.

It is hard to assess feelings in animals but they surely have emotions based on their internal model. The human example means we can judge by thinking but in extremis, the inner model will take over.

Scientists are teasing apart the way signals appear in the brain, and the way brain chemicals work. The scanners are the tools, plus all the psychological ideas build up during the previous decades.

What we now realise is that this interior model, build by inner experience, is vitally important to both health and disease. It may also be the scaffold on which consciousness is built. Maybe the survival value of consciousness is to override our ancient behaviours but conflict between consciousness and the internal model may also be the root of mental disease. This interpretation rewrites some of the earlier theories of mental health.

Consider pain for example. We are aware of pain, we don’t just have pain. Awareness means we can form a model of cause and effect. This is a big step towards consciousness as well as being useful in making predictions so we can deliberately avoid pain in the future.

Where does the float tank fit in? We can see in scans, that the exterior sensing parts of the brain, big areas involved in sight, hearing, touch, temperature, posture, are closed down in the floating experience, but the inner system, the interoceptive system, is enhanced. Ideal conditions for research . And we hope, ideal conditions for clinical treatments of the future. The internal model is based on brain experience, comparing feedback with prediction, not at all on verbal reasoning. You cannot talk in words to your amygdala, the brain area associated with fear and assessing fear in others. But we can hope you can retrain an over-active amygdala by relaxing experiences like floating. Actually floating provides real relaxation, not just diversion, so there are good grounds for hope.

The LIBR summit was the first of its kind in this area of brain research and brought together researchers from Europe and the USA, to report and discuss. In my view as an outsider learning about the inner model, this is the frontier of full blooded consciousness research with many implications for mental health and early development of children, to give them the best chance in life.

My hope is that the float open pool, as used in the LIBR float research will become an important clinical tool and a treatment for various forms of anxiety, helping to reduce the overuse of opioids.

When Dr Feinstein talked about his results with clinically anxious people at the float conference in 2017, we learned that all the subjects reported important benefits from their first float. These were typically more significant to them than we see in the float experiences of healthy people. This is great news.

We already know from Swedish research that the same happens with pain. The worse the pain, the more relief is reported. These wonderful results show that floating has enormous potential in clinical settings.

Written by Colin Stanwell-Smith
Chairman and Technical Director
Floataway Floatation Tanks

approved for publication by Sahib Khalsa

Mindfulness

Wed, 15 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Two books : “The Science of Meditation, How to Change your Brain, Mind and Body” by Daniel Goleman and Richard Davison, and “Mindlessness, The Corruption of Mindfulness in a Culture of Narcissism” by Thomas Joiner.

There was an interesting review in New Scientist on 16 September 2017. It is about two books, “The Science of Meditation, How to Change your Brain, Mind and Body” by Daniel Goleman and Richard Davison, and “Mindlessness, The Corruption of Mindfulness in a Culture of Narcissism” by Thomas Joiner.

You can tell from the titles this is a debate potentially about whether the pursuit of mindfulness is a good or bad thing. The good side is represented by the claims that meditation can encourage “highly positive altered traits” - I like that allusion to the oft cited “altered states of consciousness”.

The bad side is the claim that it has gone too far, corrupted into solipsism, loosely the idea that the individual is all that matters. The reviewer feels that the case against mindfulness practices, (and floatation is somewhere in that spectrum), is not made while the real case is just against narcissism in society.

However, the debate is a worthwhile subject to ponder. In floating, we claim a brain reset, or more fully we see an increase in attention to the interoceptive system and a big decrease in the exteroceptive system with many parts of the cortex relaxing, as explained by Dr Justin Feinstein.

Is this part of a healing modality or an expression of self interest? Or can it be both?

We know floating is a short-cut to meditation, a physiological, no training required, path to profound relaxation. We learned this year that anxious people get more apparent relief than so called normal people, and the worse their anxiety, the more benefit they report. That surely is the good side.

The question to ask then is whether floating also encourages the narcissism that many commentators see growing in society. Maybe John Lilly was a narcissist? Jay Shurely was the scientist, and maybe those two pioneers represent the dichotomy rather well.

We think the evolution of the float tank so far has been on the good side, a healing modality, a simple alternative technique, and a tool that still has huge untapped potential in society as well as for the individual. But it’s good sometimes to be forced to think about the other possibilities.

TIME magazine talk to Justin Feinstein at his Float Clinic

Tue, 17 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

“Essentially what we found in the preliminary data is that the amygdala is shutting off post-float”

TIME magazine talk to Justin Feinstein at his Float Clinic at LIBR about PTSD and his research.

You can’t see anything while you float. But what Feinstein can see going on in your brain is astounding.

“Essentially what we found in the preliminary data is that the amygdala is shutting off post-float,” Feinstein says. “It’s nice to see that that can be done in a way that doesn’t require medication.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

National Public Radio (NPR) Floating Away Your Anxiety And Stress

Mon, 16 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Floating Away Your Anxiety And Stress

When I mentioned to a friend that my baseline neurosis has evolved from daily stress into anxiety, her response was – "Go for a float!"

A float?

Yes — spend an hour in a dark, soundproof room floating in a body-temperature warm pool. "The heavy salt concentration does the work for you," my friend told me. "You just lie there and meditate."......

JOHN HENNING SCHUMANN

LISTEN / READ HERE

VICE - People With Anxiety Find Relief in Sensory Deprivation Tanks

Thu, 31 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Some have even gotten off their meds.

VICE reporter Darragh O'Carroll, MD, is an emergency physician in Hawaii, discusses with Justin Feinstein LIBR the use of floatation therapy to help with anxiety and depression, he

The proportion of people like Nakagawa, especially young adults and teenagers, experiencing depression and anxiety is increasing at alarming rates. According to a November 2016 study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the prevalence of 12 to 20 year olds who experience a major depressive episode in one year has increased from 8.7 percent in 2005 to 11.3 percent in 2014. The evidence presented in an NIH funded 2012 Depression Review suggests modern humans may indeed be in the midst of a depression epidemic. Anxiety is the most common mental disorder; nearly 40 million Americans suffer from anxiety, yet only a third of them receive treatment. Justin Feinstein, a neuroscientist at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is pioneering the use of the float tank as a novel non-prescription and non-invasive treatment for the mental issues dragging so many of us down.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Public Radio Tulsa - A Chat with Dr. Justin Feinstein, Director of the "Float Clinic" at LIBR

Wed, 30 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMT

How floating can aid those who suffer from acute stress, high-level anxiety, PTSD, and similar afflictions

On this installment of ST Medical Monday, an interesting conversation with Dr. Justin Feinstein, who's a clinical neuropsychologist at Tulsa's Laureate Institute for Brain Research (or LIBR) as well as an assistant professor of psychology in TU's Oxley College of Health Sciences. Dr. Feinstein also directors the "Float Clinic" at LIBR, which studies how and why floating in a foot or so of water -- to which has been added more than a ton of Epsom Salt -- can aid those who suffer from acute stress, high-level anxiety, PTSD, and similar afflictions. As noted of this interesting research at the LIBR website, Dr. Feinstein "uses floatation to help patients disconnect from the outside world and reconnect to signals coming from the inside of their body. Waterproof and wireless physiological equipment [measures] blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, movement, and EEG. Functional neuroimaging [is] used to determine where these changes take place inside the brain."

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW HERE

THE GLOBE AND MAIL - Float spas: the next frontier of mental health or a splashy placebo?

Tue, 06 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMT

This is a subtitle for your new post

Float spas are surging in popularity, and devotees claim they relieve everything from pain to PTSD. Wency Leung reports on whether this is a breakthrough in restorative therapy or simply an empty fad

Wency Leung of THE GLOBE AND MAIL talks Brent Giroux about his motorbike injury, mental health and recovery using a floatation tank, including discussions with Justin Feinstein of LIBR

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

BBC NEWS : Why do people use flotation tanks?

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT

BBC NEWS UK magazine article

Flotation tanks are dark, soundproof pods in which people float in warm water for hours at a time. They have been a niche interest of various new-age and hippy communities for decades, but in recent years the number of people using them in the UK has grown, writes Tom Ireland.

"The sensation is one of no sensation - your mind becomes untethered from your body. There's nowhere like it on the planet."....

See the article here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35521560

Psychology Today

Thu, 27 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Gaining Happiness by Losing Yourself - How altered states of consciousness make you happy

A dissolution of body boundaries during meditation leads to greater happiness, says a new study. The results provide evidence that techniques that foster the loss of sense of body boundary can help in the treatment of mood disorders....

....One mechanism for its effectiveness might lie in the reduction of self-centeredness and the consequent increased mood state. These findings also have implications for another approach currently investigated in psychiatry using the so-called floating tank or sensory deprivation tank. You float in a lightless and soundproof water tank with high salt concentration at skin temperature. One cannot see and hardly hear anything, except your own breathing in and breathing out. Because you float in the water at skin temperature you lose your sense of body boundary and after a while feel relaxed and in a good mood....

....could this also be a future intervention technique for mental disorders? Losing the sense of your bodily boundary would be a way to induce the feeling of selflessness, timelessness, and happiness. Justin Feinstein is the director of the LIBR Float Clinic & Research Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has now started testing the efficacy of repeated floating exposure on individuals with and without mental disorders. Individuals may feel that they lose some of their self-centeredness, their immediate anxieties, and gain happiness.

Marc Wittmann Ph.D.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

U.S.NEWS - Should You Try Flotation Therapy?

Fri, 16 Sep 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Relaxing in darkness, silence and weightlessness is said to produce wide-ranging health benefits. Will it work for you?

Anna Medaris Miller of U.S.NEWS is a Health & Wellness editor at U.S. News, where she writes consumer advice stories on fitness, nutrition, reproductive health, medical conditions, mental health and more. In her article she looks at Floatation Therapy claims of relaxation and its benefit for mental health.

IF MITCH JORDAN'S NEW BMW had suffered a hit-and-run accident eight months ago, the venture capitalist owner near Pasadena, California, would have fumed. "I would have felt such resentment and anger toward whoever this person was," imagines Jordan, 48, whose last name has been changed to protect his privacy.

But when that very scenario happened recently, he only felt one emotion: appreciation for the couple who witnessed the event, captured it on camera and offered to act as witnesses for insurance claims. "There are some good people out there that cover your back," Jordan says he realized. "And so rather than being upset, I found myself only focusing on gratitude."

What accounts for Jordan's newfound sense of calm in the face of chaos? He chalks it up to his near-weekly floats, or hour-long sessions which involve floating, naked, in an Epsom-salt infused tub in silence and darkness. While Jordan mainly uses the practice to de-stress and clear his mind, others float to spur creativity, accelerate meditation, enhance athletic performance and treat a wide range of physical and mental health conditions.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

LIVE HAPPY magazine talk to Justin Feinstein

Sat, 30 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Isolation therapy may be just the boost your brain is looking for.

When Trey Hearn’s brother, Chris, told him about floating, it sounded like a great way to offset back pain. But the brothers, both Air Force veterans, soon discovered there were many other benefits.

“I had never been in a place where I had no outside stimuli to distract me,” Trey says. “Floating isn’t just about what it does to your body, it’s what it does to your brain."

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Health.com talks to Justin Feinstein

Thu, 28 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMT

The Crazy Thing That Happened When I Tried Floating in a Soundproof, Lightproof Tank

"Initially terrifying but ultimately profound, it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. " - CATHERINE DIBENEDETTO

It is pitch black, and eerily quiet. I am floating in a foot of salt water, inside a light-proof, sound-proof tank. The air and the water are about the same temperature as my skin, and I realize I’m not sure where my body ends and my surroundings begin......

Health.com talk to Justin Feinstein about floatation therapy

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

ABC : Good Morning America

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Project Wellness: Can Flotation Therapy Cure You?

ABC's Kayna Whitworth explores flotation, which proponents say can aid in the treatment of stress, PTSD and joint issues.

WATCH THE SHOW HERE

The Guardian : Suffer from anxiety? Try a sensory deprivation tank

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Developed in the 1950s by a psychologist interested in hallucinogenic drugs, sensory deprivation tanks are now back in vogue

With a resurgence in flotation, it’s possible that one day people will float regularly to reduce stress at the suggestion of their doctor. For now, it remains a somewhat pricey, somewhat brief retreat from reality.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

THIS LAND - ISOLATION IS THE GIFT

Tue, 15 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Mitch Gilliam writes of his experience at the LIBR float clinic

A blue-green aurora shone in the distance. I felt my body rotating upright and facing a deep invisible hallway. My heart beat at a calm and healthy clip, steadily increasing in its intensity. I could feel the oxygen and blood pumping to my extremities, and my heartbeat grew louder until I became little more than its massive reverberation. I couldn’t differentiate between my skin, the water, and the room: all the same temperature. Suddenly, the sound of warm synthesizer swells filled the room, signaling the session’s end. I thought I had been in the float tank for maybe 20 minutes. Certainly less than an hour. In actuality, 90 minutes had passed.

“People think of these as sensory deprivation tanks, and that’s kind of wrong,” said Dr. Justin Feinstien. “They’re more like sensory enhancement tanks.”.....

....Awash in the absence of time, I felt myself slip in and out of a dream state. My breath and heartbeat achieved a fluid harmony and quieted the torrent of thoughts. I felt myself go over the edge of a cliff and I opened my eyes to an endless void with a deep gasp.

After showering off the salt, I exited to the lounge where I saw Feinstein’s lab technician. My endless five-hour journey had barely broken two hours, she told me. Still, I had achieved a level of calm I’d always thought unreachable, and the serenity hung around for hours.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

TIME - Can Float Therapy Really Treat Stress?

Thu, 16 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMT

A strange new treatment method is put to the test

Mandy Oaklander looks at the question : Can Float Therapy Really Treat Stress?

In recent years, float therapy–once dismissed as a psychedelic thrill for LSD poppers–has emerged as a potential treatment for stress-
based mental conditions. Proponents in the scientific community view it as a shortcut to meditation, a way for people to reach deeply relaxed states without even trying. “Instead of sensory deprivation, float therapy is a form of sensory enhancement,” says clinical neuropsychologist Justin Feinstein, director of the Float Clinic and Research Center at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Okla.....

Original link here TIME

PDF of article HERE as TIME link seems to be not working correctly