Diagnosing cancer is a long, drawn-out process. What’s worse is that when your diagnosis finally comes back, it’s only the beginning of a much longer, much more stressful time. The constant flow of doctors, nurses, and worried thoughts work to make the situation even more difficult on your mind and body, right when it needs rest the most. That’s where floatation therapy comes in. We realize that from the initial diagnosis to chemotherapy or radiation therapy, cancer is an endless struggle and stressor. Perhaps, then, the best way to cope mentally is to shut those thoughts off—even if only for an hour.
Floating is a good example of an alternative medicine that can assist an individual in the various stages of cancer and remission. Floatation Therapy, otherwise known as floating, or R.E.S.T. (restricted environmental stimulus therapy), is showing incredible promise and popularity in the cancer arena.
Float Your Worries Away
The power of meditation is very well known and very real, and though it is not a cure-all, it does bring immense benefits for mind and body. Floatation therapy can be seen as fast-track meditation, offering what very few other therapies or treatments can: a solid hour of pure, unadulterated peace.
Our minds and bodies respond to stress together. The constant input from medical staff, plus the never-ending fears going on in our minds, can become overwhelming very quickly. The most consistent report from floaters is a sense of calm that persists long after the session ends. Even a single float session can equip you, for a time, with the peace of mind and emotional well-being to handle your medical challenges.
Flotation is an instant mind and muscle relaxer. It is like meditating without having practiced meditation, like receiving the effects of a full-body massage without being touched, and like getting the most restful sleep without actually sleeping—all in one hour. During floatation, parts of the brain are activated that help the body with restoration, rejuvenation, and inspiration.
Wash Away the Pain
One of the most popular uses of floatation therapy today is for pain management, particularly chronic pain. When we enter a float tank, our body seems to melt into the water. This loss of feeling—the origin of the term “sensory deprivation”—has major benefits for pain. Floating shuts off input, and the feeling of weightlessness means that physical and mental pain seem to disappear, if only temporarily, making floating a clear benefit for cancer patients. Treatments for many other conditions are notorious for pain, and we can find immense relief in the tank. Chronic pain from a medical condition need not hold us back, and with floating we can relieve it in much the same way as we do our mental worries.
Another surprising benefit from floating is the high concentration of magnesium in Epsom salts. Many chemotherapy drugs can sap the body of magnesium, an essential mineral for nutrition. Floating in a tank filled with magnesium/sulfite-rich salt is an easy way to replenish the body with this important element.
Before floating, it is always recommended to include your medical doctor or oncology specialists about your choice to try floating. Your doctor may suggest that floating should be avoided immediately after infusions, radiation, and/or any surgery that involves a healing process. Floatation therapy is not a substitute for other medical treatments, but it can offer serious relief to cancer patients struggling to find peace in their time of need.
Floating should be a consideration for anyone in the process of managing the various stages of cancer and remission, as it presents a unique and effective way to address the body and mind. Regardless of the way you chose to experience your float, it will minimize sensory stimuli (including gravity), which offers a chance for the mind to unplug and the body to heal.
Not sleeping well? Anxious? Pain? Relax and float for a healthier YOU at Cloud9 Float Spa & Wellness Center located at 13710 Metropolis Ave., Suite 104 in Fort Myers. Call 239.887.4161 or email: info@c9floatspa.com.