Alone But Not Lonely
In many ways, our culture has fostered an unhealthy relationship with time spent alone. Even the words that we use to describe alone time are often steeped in some kind of negative connotation. Solitude. Seclusion. Withdrawal. Loneliness.
Loneliness is especially telling: the etymology of the word is simply in the act of being alone, but the modern meaning and most common definitions refer to it as an unpleasant emotional state in which you desire the company of others, but for one reason or another can’t satisfy that desire. When we’re thinking of things that we want to do next Friday night, being “lonely” rarely finds its way to the top of the list.
Fortunately, our relationship to loneliness is changing, and many of these terms and notions are being gradually replaced (or at least supplemented) with ideas that aren’t as negative: me-time, down-time, self-care, treating yourself, and decompressing. As our technology and culture have pushed us to be constantly connected to other people (along with their opinions and demands), we’ve seen an increase in research and general attention to the benefits that spending time alone can offer us…
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Fight, Flight...or Float?
You’ve probably heard of our fight or flight response – when we’re presented with stressful or threatening situations (like being chased by a hippopotamus), our body’s autonomic nervous system responds by preparing for action. Our heart rate increases, our breathing picks up, and blood flows from our core out to our limbs (along with a lot of other changes, all focused on helping us get ready to defend ourselves or to get out of there as swiftly as possible).
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Promising New Research into Floating for Anorexia Nervosa
From helping with anorexia nervosa, to regulating the immune system, to reducing general and acute anxiety, new findings on floatation continue to flow out from researchers around the world. While much of the science news these days is taken up by stories and discoveries about covid, countless labs around the world carry on with their studies, many of which began years before the pandemic, and the world of floatation is no exception.
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Floating Up from the Depths
There is a growing base of research coming out on the benefits of floating, especially on the increased impact that floating consistently over time can offer us. Many of the early studies on floatation therapy involved just a single float, but increased funding and larger float research labs in recent years have allowed for tracking improvements over much longer periods. This month’s blog shares the personal stories behind the data – learn about how a practice of floating has helped people through issues from physical trauma, to compulsive behavior, to eating disorders in this new post!
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Where Did Float Tanks Come From?
Hopping into a soundproof, light-proof box filled with saltwater may be a popular relaxation therapy today, but those just discovering it are likely asking themselves: “who came up with this strange device, and when were float tanks developed?” In order to answer those questions, we first have to ask “why did they want to make them in the first place?”
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The Possible Secret Behind Sustainable Anxiety Treatment
Generalized Anxiety is a psychological phenomenon that’s essentially written in our genes. From our humble origins, anxiety has served as a protective mechanism that alerted us to potential dangers lurking behind the bush.
Today we often refer to its effects as a vestigial feature, not yet erased by the forward march of evolution. However, anxiety does not affect us all equally. In fact, its occurrence rates can differ greatly by country, region, race, age, and gender. As a result, effective treatment measures can be hard to determine and implement on a wide-scale level.
Anxiety is a feature of the human psyche and not a “bug.” But given prolonged states of anxiety, people can suffer many awful side effects, such as depression and autoimmune malfunction. The modern world subjects us to anxiety at every turn. Think - making rent, getting that promotion, the effects of mistakenly thinking that everyone you know is doing better than you based on constantly watching social media, etc.
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How Floating Helped Me Accept I was Trans
This Pride Month, we thought we’d share a personal story from within the float community from someone who used floating to help her find herself.
Juliet Mylan is a trans woman who lives in Portland, Oregon and she has been gracious enough to share her experiences with floating and how it helped her understand her identity as a trans woman. This is her story…
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Make Floating a Part of Your Everyday Fun
2020 is unique in being the only year in living memory that has consisted of an entire decade. Needless to say, we’ve all got a lot riding on the next few months. Floating is one of the best ways to enhance just about any experience, so it’s a natural fit for any big outings you may have planned.
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