Buoyant business: Entrepreneur opens Atlantic Canada’s first Floatation Centre

If someone accused Lindsay Dee MacPhee of floating through life she would likely invite that person to give it a try themselves. This infectiously upbeat and determined entrepreneur is opening Atlantic Canada’s first floatation therapy centre.

MacPhee explains that floatation therapy is a form of sensory deprivation. She says that the majority of our brain’s function in daily life is filled with sensory processing such as seeing, touching, hearing and smelling, allowing little room to deal with anything else on our mind.

“When you take out those aspects, your brain starts to do different things and different parts start to get used. Your cortisol levels lower, which are your stress hormones, while neurotransmitters like your endorphins and dopamine increase. They are the happy transmitters. In turn that means that your stress levels, your anxiety levels, and depression decrease.”

A session takes about two hours in total, starting with a walkthrough to familiarize the client with the process and the tank so that they feel comfortable and in control. They rinse off, spend 75 minutes floating in the tank, have another shower, and then retire to the “chill-down lobby” to have some tea or water and reacclimatize to the outside world.

Each tank has 800 pounds of Epsom salts, which is magnesium sulphate, dissolved in ten inches of water. During a float, magnesium is absorbed into the body — something MacPhee says most of the population is deficient in, but which is beneficial for chronic pain management, as well as relieving stress, anxiety, and depression.

MacPhee explains that another benefit to spending time in one of the tanks is the ability to restore the body to a rested state.

“An hour in a float tank is the equivalent of four to six hours of deep, rested sleep. It’s great for folks who have insomnia or jet lag, and especially new moms.”

In fact, MacPhee highly recommends some time in a tank for pregnant women because of the extra magnesium needed during pregnancy, and the relief for pregnancy-weary bones and ligaments while floating.

The focus of the centre is floatation therapy but it also hosts other wellness services such as naturopathic medicine, massage therapy, and a dietician.

She laughingly admits that she has another “sneaky” motive for hoping people try out the floatation tank; it provides an opportunity to try meditation for those who are interested.

“In the tank, when your senses are deprived, after about 30 minutes your body goes into an induced state of relaxation because there are no external stimuli pinging your brain all the time. So it enhances that meditative state. I hope that if people can experience that in a tank and think ‘oh man, that felt really good’ they might want to go home and continue a daily meditation practice.”

MacPhee says the support she’s received from the community has been overwhelming. The Flotation Centre is slated to open on King Street in Halifax at the end of the first week of May but she’s been getting daily calls from people eager to make their first booking for weeks.

Knowing that people are excited for something that she truly believes in makes all the work getting there worthwhile, she says, “I feel like I’m floating on Cloud 9!”