Los Gatos Floatation Center uses healing effects of water
By Shari Kaplan
From the outside, it resembles some sort of futuristic sarcophagus--only this one is spotless white, 8 feet long and has a door on the end rather than on top.
On the inside, however, things change dramatically, as it is a cross between a warm sauna, a comforting bathtub and a visit to the Dead Sea--only in silence and darkness.
This may sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it's actually just the floatation tank at the Los Gatos Floatation Center, a new business that uses warm, salty waters to wash away the cares of people in need of physical, mental or emotional relaxation--in other words, everyone!
That's how owner Vicky Venter sees it and why she found it propitious to be in the vicinity of Los Gatos and Monte Sereno, two of the more prominent bedroom communities of hectic Silicon Valley. She opened shop in a portion of Cloud 9, a beauty and health spa in downtown Los Gatos.
A certified reflexologist, a former social worker and a four-year veteran of floating, the soft-spoken Venter suspects good news travels fast, as her tank is already booked. A native of South Africa by way of London, England, Venter lived, studied for many years and first learned about floating in England.
"I was curious about a friend who looked so relaxed that she seemed like she'd been on vacation. But she told me no--she'd been floating!" Venter recalls.
And so it was that Venter learned all about floating, also known as a restricted environmental stimulation therapy/technique, or REST (an appropriate acronym), by the National Institute for Mental Health.
Floating requires a long rectangular tank of dimensions 8 by 4 by 4 feet, filled with 10 inches of water maintained at approximately 93.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The water contains 800 pounds of dissolved Epsom salts, a saturated solution of such strong buoyancy--similar to that of the fabled Dead Sea--that it is actually a major effort to move one's limbs beneath the surface.
When clients go for a float, they lie in these therapeutic waters for 90 minutes. Each 90-minute floatation costs $60. They can keep the chamber hatch open or closed and can choose to have an underwater light on or off. The only sound is the faint, almost mesmerizing hum of a vent that supplies fresh air to the chamber. Earplugs are available for those who don't like water in their ears.
"It's relaxing, rejuvenating and energizing, all at the same time," says Venter, who says she goes into a happy "whatever state" following every float.
She also explains that studies have proven that floating gently with virtually no sound or light enables the brain to enter a theta state in which it produces theta waves that normally are present right before the brain enters deep sleep. Creative thoughts and flashes of insight are common by-products of being in a waking theta state. Floating also increases the secretion of endorphins, the brain's natural mood-elevators and painkillers.
"My observation is that people look much more calm and relaxed afterwards--they're relaxed but alert. One person spoke about how the whole world looked brighter afterwards," she says, adding that she's even heard of people using floating as an aid to weight-loss programs, pain treatments and recoveries from depression or addiction. More information is documented in The Book of Floating: Exploring the Private Sea (William Morrow & Company), written by Michael Hutchison.
The Los Gatos Floatation Center is located at 501 N. Santa Cruz Ave. For more information, call 408.354.0710, ext. 3 or 408.892.6927.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
