Floating's more scientific name is R.E.S.T., which is an acronym for Restricted Environmental Stimulus Therapy. It is a form of therapy that involves removing as many stimuli for the person floating as possible. The float tanks are filled with over a thousand pounds of magnesium sulfate (epsom salt), filled with about ten inches of water and are set to the temperature of the surface area of your skin (93.5 degrees fahrenheit). The person floating is given ear plugs to cancel out any noise and once the light in the tank is turned off, the float tank is completely dark. The epsom salt allows the water to be so buoyant that the body need make no effort to float.

The temperature of the water matching your skins own temperature, makes it impossible to tell where your body ends and the water begins. There is nothing to look at and there is nothing to hear. Your experience of no external stimuli in this setting is where the healing begins.

Having no distraction from the external world, the floater's internal world begins to flourish. Your own body's natural ability to heal itself goes to work in this deeply relaxed state.

The greatest benefit of floating is that it teaches us to look within ourselves and not outside ourselves for true health and wellness. It is a massage for your mind and a vacation from your body.