1) Reduced stimulation and sensory input that the brain must consider.  Your brain is magnificent and some scientists have calculated that it takes in over 400 billion bits of information every second.  Even though you can't process or comprehend that much information, it is still there and your brain spends a great deal of energy sifting through it to find relevant input.  This is greatly reduced in the tank. When you float you don't experience light, sound, gravity, touch or taste.  This frees up a great deal of energy that your body can redirect toward other purposes like healing itself.  The tank is one of the best environments in which to be creative.  You don't have do deal with all the distractions.  The reduced stimulation also allows you to relax because you don't have to process or worry about all this information.  Stress is lifted and you feel great.  Decreasing stress will also eliminate the harmful effects it has on your body. While floating you will go into a deep sense of relaxation from suppressing the sympathetic nervous system which produces our "fight or flight" response. Your parasympathetic nervous system is activated, and you then are able to heal and replenish yourself.  Benefits include decreased muscle tension, decreased blood pressure, decreased stress hormones and increased dopamine and endorphins.  You have to try the tank to experience how great you can actually feel!

 

2) The neutralization of gravity occurs in the tank due to the 1000+ pounds of Epsom salt that are dissolved in the water.  You don't realize how much energy is required due to gravity until you finally leave it behind.  The sense of weightlessness will bring a smile to you face once you get in the tank.  Your joints will decompress and your blood pressure will decrease due to your heart not having to pump against gravity.  Your muscles will get to completely relax for perhaps the first time in your life.  The neutralization of gravity and the magnesium sulfate are why many athletes prefer to recover in a tank.  Also 80 percent of the energy used by your nervous system is freed up to concentrate on other matters.  Leaving gravity behind is reason enough to try floating.

 

3) Magnesium from Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) is involved in more than 300 biochemical reactions in our bodies, which is more than any other mineral including calcium.  Floating can help given that as many as 70 percent of Americans are affected by magnesium deficiency.    Many of the body’s functions and structures depend on magnesium: it helps maintain strong bones (50 percent of the body’s magnesium is present in bone tissue); it supports the nervous system function; and it keeps the immune system healthy, which is critical for disease prevention.  Magnesium also regulates blood sugar levels, guards against diabetes and cardiovascular disease, normalizes blood pressure and cholesterol, regulates metabolism, helps with asthma, controls neuromuscular activity of the heart ensuring a regular heartbeat, reduces the risk of angina, and reduces kidney stones.  Magnesium also helps fight insomnia and digestive disorders.  Magnesium absorption through the skin in the tank is reported to be superior to taking a magnesium supplement.  This is because magnesium is attracted to water and most of the magnesium taken orally will simply pass through your body, without being absorbed.  Moreover, Epsom salt is a common beauty treatment, as it is great for your skin and hair.