'You float in a tank that has 10 inches of water with 1000 pounds of Epsom salt for 75 minutes, and during that time your bones decompress, your thoughts slow down. It's a beautiful space to connect with yourself.'
Businesses and non-profit organizations regularly open and move in Saskatoon. Today the StarPhoenix talks to Jesse Wiebe, part owner, and Melissa Thode, general manager, at float therapy service Float Love.
When Float Now, the business that Jesse Wiebe attended for float therapy sessions for many years, was forced to close due to problems brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, he felt strongly that their services needed to continue in Saskatoon. Jesse and his father Doyle and brother David bought the business and restructured and restarted it in December under the name Float Love on Idylwyld Drive. Former owner of Float Now, Christian Zrimiak, and former employee Melissa Thode continue to be involved in the new business.
Q: What is float therapy?
Melissa Thode: Float therapy is also known as REST: Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy. Essentially you float in a tank that has 10 inches of water with 1000 pounds of Epsom salt heated to the temperature of your skin. You float for 75 minutes and during that time your bones decompress, your thoughts slow down, and you experience nothing except your internal processes (heartbeat and breath). Regular float sessions retrain the “endorphin muscle,” rewiring the brain to secrete endorphins more frequently, resulting in a more consistent state of happiness and relaxation and sustained levels of positive energy. It’s a beautiful space to connect with yourself.
Jesse Wiebe: Lots of people are familiar with sensory-depravation tanks, or maybe they’ve watched (TV show) “Stranger Things” where you’ve got the character Eleven, and one of the reasons she’s able to hike her powers is getting into this tank.
In float therapy, you’re really able to focus on your mind because there’s no external distractions because It’s fully dampening all the other senses. There’s no sound coming in, there’s no light coming in, the tanks have all been set up to be vibration proof, so you’re not feeling that. Then because you’re in the water and if you can get really still — which is sort of the goal, you’re trying to get to that stillness point — you can really focus and meditate.
Q: What are the benefits of float therapy?
JW: A big part of it is the mental side, but there’s a lot of benefit on the physical side as well. Float therapy involves spending time in those tanks on a regular basis to help re-centre as well as recover physically. Pain management is a big benefit, including people with back issues as well as inflammation. A number of studies have demonstrated that this helps reduce chronic and acute pain through regular use of the float tanks. It helps with immune function and blood flow, and helps to drop your stress response, all that cortisol running through your system, and kind of balancing out your hormones. For athletes, it’s a really great way to enhance your recovery between training sessions. And you can combine it with massage, which we hope to add on to Float Love in the future. We’re working on bringing in a breathwork therapist, too.
On the mental side, this is probably one of the best places to meditate because you’re able to really focus and there are not any of those distractions happening. When I was first doing float therapy, I was able to really go through and process a lot of things that were going through my own head that I hadn’t been able to think through. I got in the tank and in an hour I came out and felt like a changed man.
Q: Why did you change the name from Float Now to Float Love?
MT: Float Love was birthed into being after the closure of Float Now. I worked at Float Now for a few years and have been floating for a decade because of its existence. Christian Zrimiak, the previous owner of Float Now, was the first person to bring floating to Saskatoon. When I found out that Float Now was struggling to keep their doors open, I knew I had to do something to make sure floating was still available to the community. I didn’t anticipate that I would be starting a whole new business and become the sole caregiver of this beautiful sanctuary. I named it Float Love because I absolutely love floating and the world needs as much love as we can give right now. I believe that floating is a tool to help guide us back to the truth of who we are.
Q: Do you have different kinds of float tanks?
MT: We have four different variations of tanks. We have an open tank for folks with claustrophobic concerns, a floataway cabin which is quite large, another cabin which is also large (you can stand up in it), and we have a float pod which is quite cozy and nice.
Q: What makes Float Love different than other wellness experiences?
JW: There’s only one other place in the city that you can do this and they only have a single tank, and they’re more of a spa so it’s a little different environment. As a wellness service, the difference is sensory deprivation versus doing yoga or other wellness therapies. We want to be on a journey with you. When you come in, there’s always going to be someone there that’s going to walk you through what’s going on. You’ll have a chance to talk with them. We want to build a relationship with you and help you achieve the goals that you’re there for, whether that’s pain management or just better mental health. Our float facilitators have hundreds of hours of floating under their belts, as well as research and attending conferences and workshops to really understand all the aspects of floating.
Q: What do you love most about running Float Love?
JW: Coming into the facility and seeing the clients either before or after the float. I was just there recently for a float myself and we had two clients that were brand new to it. We all went into the tanks at the same time and came out at the same time and were hanging out in the reception area. Just seeing how happy they were with their experiences, how they loved it and wanted to come again, and how it gave them a lot more positivity in their lives — that’s what I love about it. It’s helping people heal, helping them get to a better state of wellness.
MT: I feel so lucky to be able to guide people to themselves in a world where we are so distracted from what our hearts are speaking to us. It makes me really happy to talk to people about their experience and get to know them a little better. I feel even more overjoyed when I see people coming in regularly and we start building a relationship. Floating is such an important part of my life and I’m grateful that I have such an awesome team to keep the place afloat.
This interview has been edited and condensed
Float Love
Post a Comment