Turn on, Tune in, Float out…, no, not you personally, just your mind…

The first Flotarium has arrived in Andalucia, opened by Lola Raegon in Marbella, her floatation centre offers an alternative way to completely relax, de-stress and rejuvenate your body, mind and soul.

Some of you will recognise the headline above as a reference to the mantra of Timothy Leary’s cult movement in the late 1960s. Leary and his followers strove to achieve a heightened state of awareness and spiritual enlightenment through the abuse of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Although Leary was a qualified psychologist, time refuted his theories and experimentations, eventually leading most people to regard him as no more that a ‘quack’.

But the 1960s were a time of experimentation with new ideas, religions and sciences. The explorations of neurology and psychology had given doctors new insights into the workings of the mind and its connections to the body, whereas the emergence of new religions had forced people to re-evaluate the importance of their own personal spirit, their soul. Concurrent rapid developments in technology allowed engineers to create all sorts of machinery to help scientists on their quest of discovery.

It is out of this time that one doctor working quietly away in Maryland, U.S.A., made a discovery that would serve to become more beneficial than he ever imagined. That doctor was Dr. John C. Lilly. A qualified neurologist and psychoanalyst, he dedicated twenty years of his life to the study of the mind, in particular how the absence of certain stimulus affect our thought-processes, sensations and ideas. His experimentations led him to seek out ways he could eliminate every-day stimuli such as light, sound and smell from the immediate environment.

As Dr. Lilly was concerned with sensory deprivation, he needed to create a micro-environment, an isolated space, devoid of sunlight, noise, aromas, even gravity, in order to execute his experiment. The obvious environment of choice for Dr. Lilly was water and he began by completely submerging himself in a dark purpose-built chamber with an air supply, for an hour at a time. His discoveries surprised him. He found his mind to be free, his body to be totally relaxed and his awareness heightened. In one of his articles on the experience, Dr. Lilly proposes, “When we free our minds of external conversations and transactions, our ego subsides, allowing us to focus on internal sources of information.”

The scientific community at the time were dubious about Dr. Lilly’s claims, but he persevered nonetheless, fine-tuning his chamber, simplifying it and improving on its design. He realised that the best results could be achieved if the body was lying horizontally, as this was the most relaxing position. Finally he discovered that the easiest way to create the water density necessary to allow the body to simply float, was to saturate it with Epsom salt. Dr. Lilly called his creation a Floatation Tank. During the 1970s he was commissioned by friends to install floatation tanks in their homes, for their own personal use. But once movie and sports stars also started using them, the general public wanted access too. By the 1980s they had been installed in universities, hospitals, sports centres, commercial centres and beauty salons all across America.

So what are the real benefits of spending time in a floatation tank? We live in the era of information and consumerism, a time of rapid technological development, hi-speed communications, world-famous brands, saturated media market and international travel. Irrespective of where you live in the western world, our daily lives generally move at the speed of light, continuously bombarding us with mobile calls, emails, faxes, appointments, deadlines, advertisements, news flashes, shopping lists, car repairs, demanding bosses, crying kids and friends in need. Rarely do we give ourselves the time to sit, contemplate and reflect on our lives. The floatation tank is the perfect antidote as it provides a complete escape from the world around us.

An opportunity to totally “switch off” is the floatation tank’s primary purpose, but there are many more. Scientific investigation during the last decade has allowed doctors to discover other benefits. Doctors estimate that over 90 percent of the activities that affect our nervous systems are caused by gravity. Problems which can arise as a result include muscular tension, tendonitis, blood-clots, brittle bones and arthritis. With the tension comes pain, in the back, hip and brain, leading to cardiovascular problems, ulcers and asthma. Inside the floatation tank gravity is eliminated, allowing the nervous system and muscles to achieve a heightened state of relaxation, eliminating the tension, which can cause these problems. This weightless environment can also improve blood circulation, allowing blood to flow efficiently to those passages which may be damaged by tension or cholesterol, but without additional pressure on the heart.

The floatation tank is so proficient in tackling muscular problems, that many athletes choose to use them regularly to improve and maintain their fitness levels. Regular sessions will increase physical strength, speed and co-ordination, reduce muscular tensions and lesions, alleviate muscular pain, increase the body’s capacity to heal properly, eliminate depression associated with illness and improve posture, confidence and concentration. Frequent sessions also tackle stress-related problems such as high blood pressure, ulcers, asthma, tiredness and cardiac conditions as well as improve overall emotional and mental stability. When a person achieves the level of relaxation possible in a floatation tank, effectively the production of stress related hormones, such as cortisol, adrenalin and lactic-acid, decrease while levels of hormones related to well-being, such as endorphins, increase. Doctors in America have also discovered that as well as an overall improvement in health, regular sessions can also lead to a reduction in consumption of tobacco, alcohol and prescription drugs. All in all, there are no negative side-effects.

The floatation centre in Marbella has been open for six months now and Lola counts a wide mix of people amongst her clients including housewives, business people, athletes, even tourists. The centre is located in the heart of Marbella, about two minutes walk from the beach. Inside a relaxing atmosphere is created, so as that when you walk in through the door, you are immediately transported to another world. There are three ‘floating rooms’, each equipped with tank, shower, towels and hair dryers. One session lasts for one hour and costs €40. Even after one session, users can notice a dramatic difference in their mental and physical state, as one session is all it takes to feel all your worries float away…

Flotarium Marbella

Tel: +34 952 770 349

Email: info@flotarium-marbella.com