What is magnesium?
Magnesium is a nutrient that the body needs to stay healthy. Magnesium is important for many processes in the body. It regulates muscle growth and functioning, nerve function, blood sugar levels, blood pressure, protein levels, and can even affect our DNA.

How does magnesium affect me?
Sleep - It can help you to get a better night sleep. When magnesium levels drop, the sleep regulating hormone melatonin is disturbed, causing your sleeping patterns to become irregular.
Stress and tension are often reasons why people suffer from insomnia and lack of sleep. Magnesium can help to bring balance and control stress hormones which can create a calming affect. It also increases serotonin levels in the brain, which relaxes the nervous system and creates a better mood.

Muscle Density - Magnesium is a major player in gaining bigger, stronger muscles. It allows the body to produce more insulin-like growth factor. It also plays an important role in loosening of tight muscles and flexibility (this is why salt baths are suggested for muscle aches). Low Magnesium results in the build up of lactic acid (which is partly responsible for post-exercise pain) causing pain and tightness and when muscles do not relax properly, cramps can occur.

Bone Health - There are about eighteen essential nutrients that contribute to bone health; Magnesium is definitely one of the most important, because it suppresses the hormone that breaks down bone, while stimulating a particular hormone called calcitonin which strengthens bones and encourages growth. 

Overall General Health - Magnesium helps restore the body’s pH balance. It is also a necessary electrolyte essential for proper hydration and can be used to cleanse the bowels of toxins.

There are many other benefits of magnesium: It helps prevent stroke, diabetes, heart disease, period pain, and more.

Symptoms of poor magnesium intake can include muscle cramps, facial tics, poor sleep, and chronic pain. It pays to ensure that you get adequate magnesium before signs of deficiency occur.    
                   

But how can you know whether you’re getting enough? 
One method of assessing your magnesium status is to simply contact your doctor and request magnesium testing. A magnesium test is generally done by testing blood serum, however these tests can be misleading. Only 1% of magnesium in the body is actually found in blood, making this test unreliable.

Here are a few tips to ensure you are not stripping your body from magnesium:

Keep Soft Drinks and Caffeine to a minimum
A lot dark coloured soft drinks contain substances that absorb magnesium inside the digestive tract, meaning that its full potential cannot be used by the body. So even if you are eating a balanced diet, by drinking soft drinks with your meals you are flushing magnesium out of your system. If you drink caffeinated beverages such as coffee, tea and soda regularly, your risk for magnesium deficiency is increased.

Eat less sugary foods
Refined sugar is not only a zero magnesium product but it also causes the body to excrete magnesium through the kidneys. The process of producing refined sugar from sugar cane removes molasses, stripping the magnesium content entirely.

Physical and Emotional Stress
Because stressful conditions require more magnesium use by the body, all such conditions may lead to deficiency (ever wonder why your tears taste salty?). Both psychological and physical forms of stress to the body such as surgeries, burns, and chronic disease can impact magnesium levels

Certain Medications can cause Magnesium deficiency
The effects of some medications have been shown to reduce magnesium levels in the body by encouraging kidney function, ridding the body of magnesium.

How does floatation tank therapy help with magnesium deficiency?
When you're laying in the float tank, the magnesium and sulphate that is in the water will pass through the skin, raising the levels detected in the blood. This is the quickest possible way to increase your levels of magnesium. Unlike taking a supplement or eating foods high in magnesium the body does not have to digest or breakdown anything, it is absorbed straight away.

Both magnesium and sulphates are best, and most easily absorbed through the skin—rather than the digestive tract—making a float the ideal place to receive them.

Bathing in magnesium sulphate (our float tanks) is an easy, safe and efficient way to correct deficiency. If you are worried about overcompensating for your deficiency by floating regularly, your body is more than capable of getting rid of any excess magnesium that you don't need.

Call us now on 9440 9453 to book in for your Floatation Therapy session or book online.


All information sourced from:
http://www.ancient-minerals.com/magnesium-deficiency/need-more/
http://www.floataway.com/index.php/floating/epsom-salt-magnesium-sulphate
http://www.hopefloatsusa.com/en/flotation-therapy/about

This is a great post for existing as well as new float clients. We have listened to all the feedback you have given us and we have come up with some solution for any problems that may arise while you're in the tank. 

This is well worth giving a read even if you haven't encountered any problems as you may learn some tricks to help make your next float an even better experience.

You can read all about potential problems and solutions here. 

So you’ve just finished your Floatation Therapy session, and you feel super relaxed, very calm and in a happy place… so what do you do now? How can you prolong that beautiful post-float feeling? Of course, the answer to this will be different for everyone. And, depending on the day and how you're feeling post-float, your needs may be different each time!

We have 10 recommendations that we feel can help you to get the most out of your float.

1.     Free up some time after your float so you don’t need to rush

At least if you feel the need to just spend some time chilling out, the option is there. You may feel quite alert and ready to get back into your daily life. However, having to rush somewhere after a Floatation Tank session will certainly break you out of your relaxed state! Give yourself plenty of time to get wherever you need to be after your float, so you don’t have to deal with the stress of rushing, or being stuck in traffic. Being so relaxed, you probably won't even care about the unimportant little things that may have stressed you pre-float!

2.     Have a cup of tea/sit and relax at reception

Even though you have just spent an hour or more relaxing, sometimes it is really nice to be able to gently come back to reality, which may take longer for some than others. It's really nice to give yourself permission to just sit and BE! No reading, just close your eyes and rest. You are welcome to stay as long as you need to. We are always happy to make you a cuppa, so you can gently bring yourself back from your dream-like state.

3.     Put off using your phone / computer / electronics

Put off texting, talking on your phone or using a computer after your float.
Unless you absolutely HAVE to, avoid using your phone or any other electronic devices for as long as possible if you want to prolong the deeper state you are in. After a blissful hour (or more) in the float tank, with no external stimulation, when you come out of the float room and sit in reception, you are in a deep state. As soon as you use your phone, you will break this state, bringing you back into a more alert frame of mind.

4.     Minimise stimulants

Put off consuming caffeine and cigarettes as long as you can. The endorphin release you have just experienced can really help break free of addictions, if you want to. Enjoy feeling relaxed, and if you are too relaxed to drive, allow yourself the time to gently come back into your body. Have something to eat if you need to ground yourself and re-energise. Make sure you drink plenty of water after you float too!

5.     Minimise exposure to stress/stimulation

If you can, avoid stressful situations immediately after your float. Also, avoid high levels of stimulation, as this can create stress after a float. You may feel fine, or you may feel sensitive to stimulation as noise may appear louder, lights brighter etc. You may wish to have no music as you drive home, or gentle music that is not overly stimulating. How you respond to stress/stimulation is very subjective, so check in with how you are feeling and listen to your body’s responses.

6.     Enjoy a healthy meal/snack

After a Floatation Therapy session, you may notice that you are quite hungry! This is a normal response to your body being in a relaxed state, or “Rest and Digest” mode. If you are starving, we have healthy and delicious raw vegan naked treaties at reception, which are all organic and super satisfying as a snack. We are also quite close to Ivanhoe, which has numerous café’s around.

7.     Be in nature/go for a walk

We are located right near Darebin Creek, bike paths and parks, so you can easily enjoy a stroll amongst nature, or sit and meditate in nature. This is a wonderful way to ground and "earth" yourself and gently re-connect with your environment.

9.     Surround yourself with positive people

When you feel ready to re-connect with others, make sure that you connect with friends who are positive and supportive. Try not to share too much of your personal experience if they have not floated before, so that if they wish to try Floatation Therapy, their experience will be free of expectations.

We would be interested in hearing how you enjoy YOUR post float state, as someone else may find your suggestions helpful. We want to create an in-depth list for our clients to refer to, so we are open to hearing your feedback and suggestions about ways to enjoy the post-float state. Feel free to share them as a comment below!

Floatation Therapy is such a wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable experience… however there are a few things which are best avoided prior to floating to ensure that you CAN relax and enjoy all that the Floatation Tank has to offer you.

1.  Avoid Stimulants such as Caffeine or Nicotine

Whilst it may be difficult to skip the morning coffee, or to avoid smoking cigarettes, if you can it is best to avoid any stimulants before you float, as this will interfere with your ability to go into a deep relaxation. People who have stimulants such as caffeine before they have a session in the float tank, struggle to mentally relax and experience the deeper states of relaxation that Floatation Therapy offers. Caffeine has a half-life of 2.5-4.5 hours, but depending on how much you have, caffeine metabolism can vary so could be longer in some people.

2.  Avoid Shaving before your Floatation Therapy session

If you must, make sure you allow plenty of time between when you shave and when you float, otherwise you will have to deal with the sting of the super-salty water which can be irritating and distracting  to any open skin for up to around 20 minutes of your float! When shaving your face – wait 6 hours or longer, and when shaving any other part of your body – wait 12 hours or longer. 

3.     Avoid Colouring your Hair

We love coloured hair – it looks great! Just not so great when it’s in the water inside our Floatation Tanks… In fact, you MUST NOT FLOAT with hair colour that is still washing out when you have a shower. It is a very expensive exercise to clean up the tank and the water inside it if hair colour leaches into the Floatation Tank! If you choose to float with coloured hair, you are responsible for any extra costs associated with cleaning or repairing damage, so it is best avoided! When you have NO colour washing out of your hair, it is safe for you to float.

4. Avoid Eating Large/Heavy Meals or Skipping Meals

If you eat a heavy/large meal, or if you don’t eat at all, you will be spending a good part of your float listening to the sounds of your digestive system… which can be kind of funny and interesting… but can also be annoying if that’s all you can focus on. It is suggested that you eat a light, easily digestible meal 1.5-2 hours before your float session to satiate your hunger and allow time for digestion.

5. Avoid Drugs and Alcohol

Whilst you may have come across information about other people deciding to get high before floating, we do NOT condone the use of alcohol or drugs at inner outer health (Floatation Tank Melbourne) – before or during your session! This is for both your and our safety. When you come in for your first float, you will sign a statement that includes your agreement to adhere to this for every session at inner outer health (Floatation Tank Melbourne). If we suspect that you are under the influence of either alcohol or drugs, you may be asked to leave, which would be disappointing for us both. On a lighter note, there is really NO NEED to consume any consciousness-altering substances, because one of the benefits of floating is an all-natural high from those wonderful brain chemicals called ENDORPHINS! These wonderful pain-relieving and feel-good neurotransmitters can leave you with a feeling of increased wellbeing both physically and mentally.

Following the above "5 things to avoid before you float" will help you to have an enjoyable and trouble-free float! If you have floated, and feel that we have missed something from this list, please comment below to share your suggestions!

Before I begin this week’s blog, I would like to make it clear that we generally recommend that your first 3-5 floats. Its best if you just allow the experience to be whatever it needs to be, without any specific goals or intentions, so that you can start to learn what floating is all about! 

This series of blogs for “ways to enhance your float”, are a suggestion for those who wish to explore specific areas, needs, goals and would like some guidance on how to go about it. None of these are necessary tools, however some people love incorporating a new experience into their session, so if you are one of those people, read on!

Utilising the tool of creative visualisation during your float can give you the opportunity to explore the things you wish to create in your life. It can be very powerful when used in the setting of the floatation tank, as this space can help you connect deeply with levels of your being.

It can be helpful to have a basic framework to follow if you have never used visualisation techniques before. This is just an idea, so feel free to play with this.


1.    Set an intention

Setting an intention is to have a focus. Decide on what you wish to focus on, whether it is something that you wish to create, have, do, become, work towards, a situation you want to attract or create. Create a general idea for yourself first, stating it in the positive. Some examples of intentions:

·      I wish to create a new garden for my backyard

·      I want to have a better relationship with my mum

·      I want to become fit and healthy

·      I want to find a solution to… (current problem)

·      I wish to attract more abundance

Tips for setting an intention:

To begin with, create an intention that is believable and achievable! This ensures less negative resistance as well as maximising feelings of success.


2.    Create a clear idea or image

Next, get specific and imagine the details! Open up your mind to the possibilities of how you want to create this intention. Create a mental image of the situation, place, person, situation etc. exactly as you wish to experience it. Imagine yourself in the situation – how does it feel? What are you saying to yourself? What are you saying to others? What are they saying to you? What actions are you choosing to take? What are you now believing about yourself? What will it give you to have this intention?

Notice all the details. Be as specific as you can.

3.    Focus on it and let go

Focus on the feelings, images, sounds and other sensory information to add weight, depth, colour and belief in your intention. Focus on the feeling, images, thoughts, sounds and smells that you are creating as a result of achieving this intention.

Focus clearly, yet in a relaxed way. Allow the focus to be easy and effortless. Don’t try too hard. If you are having trouble with being clear, it’s ok! Allow it to be whatever it is. Relax, and just let go. Allow the water to take you wherever you need to go, and trust the process.


4.    Keep it positive

Whenever you create any intention, be sure to keep your thoughts positive and think about what you wish to create in an encouraging and optimistic way. By creating strong positive statements, and using language as if it has already happened, you start to shift your state into one of gratitude for the outcome you have achieved!

If you struggle to be positive about your intention, ask yourself “how can I turn this around?” or “what do I need to believe about myself or situation in order for it to be true and feel right?” By reframing a negative statement into a positive one, you can ensure that you are not blocking your success of achieving the outcome you desire. Our mind requires focused attention to our intentions in a positive way for it to become a reality.

Firstly, it is important to note that not everyone is dominantly visually oriented. Whilst we all use our imagination, some people will be more naturally geared to “see”, “hear”, “feel” or “think” . Everyone processes information in his or her own way – visual, auditory, kinaesthetic or auditory digital.

With this in mind, please be aware that if you don’t “see” a mental picture when you visualise, that this is ok! Allow the experience to be whatever it is for you, knowing that perhaps your way of imagining is not visual at all!

Visualisation as a tool for creativity

Visualisation is a fantastic way of stimulating right hemisphere brain activity – the creative, intuitive, symbolic and visual side of the brain. Since many people tend to work dominantly in the left hemisphere – the logical, rational, mathematical side of the brain - this part of the brain tends to be well developed. Much like we use both our left and right hands to do things, our dominant side will be stronger, so it is important to pay attention to the less dominant side in order to achieve greater balance in our mind. Creative visualisation is a technique that draws upon our imagination side to create what we want in life.

How to visualise using mental imagery

The following 3 exercises are techniques to allow you to see how your mind recalls information.

Close your eyes and relax deeply. Think of a familiar room in your home, such as your bedroom.
Notice the details – where the furniture is placed, the colour of the carpet, etc. Imagine you walking into the room and making yourself comfortable on a chair, the bed or couch. Notice how it feels to sit or lie there.

Next, recall a pleasant experience that you have had in the past week, particularly one involving positive physical sensations such as eating a delicious meal, receiving a massage, being in a spa or swimming pool, walking in the sunshine, embracing a loved one. Remember the experience as vividly as possible, enjoying the pleasurable sensations once again.

Now imagine that you are in nature, in a beautiful place. Perhaps you are lying on the grass under a huge leafy tree, or on a beach with gentle waves, walking through a tropical rainforest or being on a mountaintop overlooking a vast amount of land. This place can be somewhere you have been, or somewhere you would like to be. Imagine the details as vividly as possible, creating the experience however you would like it to be.

Whatever process, or “sense” you used to bring the above scenes and thoughts into your mind is your way of “visualising”.

In our next blog, we will further explore the use of visualisation to enhance the floatation experience!

References: Creative Visualisation  - Shakti Gawain

I hope you have been enjoying the techniques to enhance your float so far! This week we are going to start learning to move around the body.

This technique is adapted from Swami Rama, and Elmer and Alyce Green, and brings together breath awareness and breathing rhythm, as well as focused awareness of various areas of the body.

With each breath, count a number and direct your total attention to a particular spot in your body; feel as if your entire being is in that spot.

 With your first breath and on the count of one, place your attention in the centre of your forehead. With the second breath, count two and concentrate on your throat.

 With three, move to your right shoulder. Then, with succeeding counts, move down your right arm (elbow, wrist, each finger) and back up the arm to the throat. Do the same with your left arm.

 Next, move to your chest, abdomen, pelvis, then down your right leg (hip, knee, ankle, each toe), back up the leg, across the pelvis, and down your left leg. Return to your abdomen and move back upward, ending at the forehead again. Depending on your exact route, this should take about sixty breaths.

This exercise only takes a few minutes, and by the time you have returned to the centre of your forehead you will be deeply relaxed.  As your attention shifts its focus from place to place, you may notice particular feelings or body sensations. In your mind’s eye, or through another sense that you are well acquainted with, you may also notice particular colours, or imagery. For example, as you notice tension dissipate, you might feel or even “see” it dissolve, or notice a warm glow of white light or other images/feelings may accompany the release. 

HAPPY FLOATING!

Breath awareness is a highly effective method to free the body from the chatter of the conscious mind.

By focusing your attention on your breathing, the interference of thoughts, images, and words through the mind are quietened.

During the float, the senses of sight, sound and even feeling, have been restricted. Because your ears are submerged, your body’s internal sounds can take on new-found epic proportions: the rhythmic beat of your heart may sound, the awareness of your breath through your lungs, flowing in and out. Whilst these things may be distracting to some, tuning into the body itself and simply being aware of its inner workings can provide a way to lessen the flow of thoughts. Breath awareness can really enhance the relaxation aspect of the float, particularly as breath has the ability to control our nervous system.

Abdominal Breathing

Relaxing your abdominal muscles is vital to correctly breathing into your belly, allowing it to expand and rise. Many people maintain a constant tension in their abdominals, which restricts their ability to breathe fully. By allowing these muscles to relax, taking in deep expanding breaths, you are able to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which creates physiological changes that allow us to feel relaxed and at ease.

Instead of “chest breathing” (expand and contract the chest and ribcage), try and focus on expanding and contracting the diaphragm and belly. Imagine your stomach being a balloon that you need to fill with air, bringing the breath down deeply into your belly. Shallow “chest” breathing uses only the top part of the lungs, and can keep us in a state of arousal. The top part of our lungs contain receptors that correlate to the stress response of the sympathetic nervous system, and can create feelings of stress, including anxiety.

Nose Breathing

A very popular breathing practice among floaters, and a great practice outside the tank too, is to focus your attention on the breath as it passes in and out of the nose. Michael Hutchinson in his book of floating suggests the following technique: “Feel the air pass into your nostrils as you inhale; focus on the coolness it brings to the tip of your nose between your nostrils. As you exhale, notice the warmth at the same spot. If you wish, count your inhalations, numbering each from one to ten; when you reach ten begin with one again. Should thoughts come into your awareness, don’t resist them but allow them to pass, and then return all your attention to your breathing”.

So the next time you come in for your float try using the abdominal and nose breathing method and let us know how it felt for you after your session.

Once you have made it past your first 5 floats, you will probably have a reference point for deep relaxation, as well as having a pretty good idea of what floating is about.  

I would like to share with you to some techniques and ideas to help get you into that deep place a little more quickly so that you can get the most out of your floatation sessions!

Before I introduce you to these techniques for floating, I would like to share with you an interesting finding of a study of floaters compared with other people using deep relaxation and behaviour modification techniques. In this study, “all methods of mental or physical self-regulation or self-control work more powerfully and effectively in the floatation tank than in any other environment”. This includes techniques such as meditation, autogenics, progressive relaxation, autosuggestion, guided imagery, self-hypnosis, visualisation, self-healing, prayer as well as free-flowing imagery.

So, over the next few weeks, we will be sharing with you some different ways of enhancing your floatation experience through methods other experienced floaters have used to great effect.

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Have you ever tried to go to sleep, knowing you had to be well rested for the next day, only to have a sleepless night?

Or how about when you have a word on the tip of your tongue, and can’t quite seem to access it, only to forget about trying, so you remember it later almost by accident?

How about those times when you try really hard to lose weight, only to find that you have either gained or stayed the same, only to give up focusing on the weight, and then it almost magically drops off you?

Let me introduce you to Aldous Huxley’s Law of Reversed Effort.

“There is a Law of Reversed Effort. The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed.

Proficiency and the results of proficiency come only to those who have learned the paradoxical art of doing and not doing, or combining relaxation with activity, of letting go as a person in order that the immanent and transcendent Unknown Quantity may take hold.

We cannot make ourselves understand; the most we can do is to foster a state of mind, in which understanding may come to us.

- Aldous Huxley -

So how might this relate to floatation therapy you might ask?

Well, imagine you are lying in the warm tank and it’s your first float. You don’t know what to expect. You don’t even know what you’re “meant” to be doing, or thinking about for that matter. So you start thinking about that. You try and focus on your breath, but your mind is still active. You try and meditate, but still you seem to be more focused on your thoughts than before. You try and think about how you WANT to be feeling, and try and elicit relaxation that way, but its not working. You may even start to feel a little frustrated at the fact that the things you are trying you don’t seem to be relaxing you, and you are still in dialogue with your mind. You start to accept the fact that you are simply not relaxing, and just think “Oh well, forget it. I’m just going to lie here.” And in that moment, something almost magic happens. You chose to let go of having any particular experience, and without actually trying, you seem to find yourself in the place you were trying to get to all along!

Michael Hutchinson mentions this phenomenon in his “Book of Floating” where he compares a first-time floaters experience as being similar to being hooked up to a biofeedback machine for the first time: “The harder they try to achieve the desired state, the more it escapes them, until they finally learn – almost by accident – to let go, and the state just happens”.

First-time floaters are encouraged to enter their floatation session with no goals, no strategies, no expectation of any particular outcome and to simply allow themselves to “just be”. According to John Turner, a neuroendocrinologist who has conducted research into floatation therapy on hundreds of subjects “We’ve found that novice floaters usually need to float four or five times before they really begin to get in touch”.

So, if its your first, second or even fifth session in the tank… just lie back, relax and allow your mind and subconscious to drift to wherever it wants to go, finding its own path into a deep relaxation.

Stay tuned for our upcoming series of tips and ideas for enhancing your floatation experience!