Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand August / September 2015 - Art & Education Issue | Page 35
Health & Wellness
W
hen I first learned about
the Theta State Float
Center, it sounded like a
place where the stressed and weary soaked in fancy, futuristic bathtubs and bravely faced the challenge of not using the Internet
for an entire hour. As a self-proclaimed Smartphone addict (and
not much of a swimmer) I figured
this was going to be a tough experience, but I did what I was told
and stripped down, showered, and
lowered myself into what I imagined was a pod of primordial goo
on a Hollywood movie set.
But it didn’t really go just
like that. First, I sat down with
the American owner, Annile,
who filled me in on the history
and health benefits of floating.
Sensory deprivation, he
explained, is the main idea behind
flotation therapy. The soundproof,
lightproof isolation tank is filled
water that contains a high level
of Epsom salt. (Don’t worry: the
water level is shallow, just high
enough to float comfortably, and
the high density makes it easy to
keep your head up.)
It seems like it might be a
relatively new invention, since
we have so much to escape and
“unplug” from these days, but it
was first invented in the 1950’s by
a neuropsychiatrist interested in
the effects of sensory deprivation
on the brain.
Modern isolation tanks, which
are definitely an upgrade from
the early tanks in the ‘50s, have
been growing in popularity over
the past decade. Today, flotation
therapy is sought for a number of
reasons including the reduc F