Ep. 82: Benefits of Float Therapy

On today’s show, my friend Sloane Wendell, owner of the San Antonio, TX isolation float therapy center, iSofloat, joins us to talk about the incredible benefits of float therapy.

We’re back with our 82nd episode of the Fed+Fit Podcast! Remember to check back every Monday for a new episode and be sure to subscribe on iTunes!

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Episode 82 Links

• Check out Aaptiv HERE and be sure to use the code “fedandfit” at checkout for a FREE 30-days!
• Learn more about float therapy and book an appointment at IsoFloat HERE!
• Be sure to sue the code “Fed & Fit” for a discount.

Episode 82 Transcription

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Cassy Joy: Welcome back to another episode of the Fed and Fit podcast. Today is a very special episode, because we’re going to get a little geeky, a little science-y. I know there are some listeners here who have told me they love those kinds of episodes, and we’re going to do it today in the vein of the important piece of all health and wellness, lifestyle and healthy pursuits. A huge part of that is rest and recovery, and that’s what we’re going to focus on today. Specifically one method. So to join us on today’s call is Sloane Wendell. She’s an expert and the owner, actually, of the first float therapy spa in San Antonio, Texas, which is actually where I’m from. But the things we’re going to talk about today definitely apply in a worldly perspective.

The name of her float therapy spa is called iSofloat. iSofloat is a specialized float therapy center that focuses on restrictive environmental stimuli therapy; REST; also known as floating! You’ve probably heard; maybe some of you have heard of this before. Floating is a tool for pain relief, wellness, and relaxation and it comes with a lot of different benefits. Float therapy allows our body to better equip themselves to deal with the stress and tension of living in today’s fast-paced world. And to tell us all about the science, all about the whys and some of her personal experiences, is my friend, Sloane. Thank you so much for joining us today, Sloane.

Sloane Wendell: Well thank you, Cassy. It’s wonderful to be here. Thank you so much.

Cassy Joy: Of course! This is going to be great. I’m so excited. Sloane was gracious enough; she invited me to come out and try a float, and I actually tried it last night, so this is less than 24 hours later, so I can give some personal experience. But I’m really; was really blown away. What got you first turned on to this whole idea of floating? Because you were the first one to tell me about it several years ago when you were talking about wanting to start this business here. But what got you turned on to it; what were some of your reasons why, and then what ultimately made you want to invest in it as a business owner?

Sloane Wendell: Sure. So, I would say about 3 or 4 years ago I bulged some disks in my back. I was actually doing some back squats. I remember the day very well; I was in my home gym, doing it by myself, and I was afraid I was going to not be able to stand up. So I found out that had bulged some disks; I was in an immense amount of pain trying to deal; I didn’t know for a while that I had actually bulged them. But trying to deal with it. Finally went to the doctor, had an MRI; lo and behold I had bulged some disks.

And so, I couldn’t do any type of competitions, I could barely walk; I hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt; right? So I was listening to Jim Laird one day, and he came; he was talking about how he goes to; he went to Lexington, Kentucky, and he would go to a float therapy center; or he would go float. And so I thought this was extremely interesting. He had been in a bad car wreck, and it was one of the only ways he got relief for his back pain. So I was like; ok, well if Jim Laird is doing it, I thought a lot of him, he trains a lot of women in weight lifting. I thought; ok, if Jim is doing it, this is something I need to do.

So what do you do when you’re trying to find something? You go Google it. So I started Googling floating, float therapy, sensory deprivation, isolation therapy, things of that nature. And I couldn’t find anything in San Antonio. I did a lot of research, found out about it; it was wonderful. Lots of positive things. I had to take it, put it away for a while because I couldn’t find a place. There was one in Houston, and it was in somebody’s basement, and that kind of frightened me to be perfectly honest.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Sloane Wendell: I was like, I’m not going to go float naked in somebody’s basement that I don’t know. {laughs} So about 6 months later, I Googled it again and there was a place that had opened in Austin. So my husband Jim, who also has, he has some degenerative issues in his back, as well. So he has some spinal issues, if you will. And we drove to Austin, and had our first float, and it was wonderful. It was magical. I mean, it was great. We were both pain free, so it kind of became a regular habit for us. We would drive to Austin and drive back. Even though it’s 90 miles from Austin to San Antonio, it can feel like the drive from San Antonio to Dallas, with traffic, and everything else that’s going on; construction.

One day we were driving home, and we were having a really hard time staying awake {laughs}. I just looked over at him, and I said, “You know, Jim, this is something we need to bring to San Antonio.” And the seed was planted, and it took us a couple of years, a lot of hard work, a lot of pounding the ground to try to find financing, people to support it, but here we are and we’re finally open. And I could not be happier. It’s a manifestation of a dream, that’s for sure.

Cassy Joy: It’s just incredible. I’m so incredibly proud of you. I mean the facilities are beautiful; it’s relaxing as soon as you walk in the door, but just knowing; having heard you talk about this for years and seeing it come to fruition is just awesome. And the good it’s going to do for people.

And for people who are not from Texas, the drive from San Antonio to Austin feels; and there are some states in the country where I feel like you could cross a few state lines {laughs} in that amount of drive. But us Texans, we drive everywhere. And then to Dallas is a good, what, 5.5-hour drive.

Sloane Wendell: Easily. Easily on a good day.

Cassy Joy: Easily! You would need some isolation floating after a drive like that. {laughs} But that’s really interesting. So can you tell listeners here a little bit more about; I guess we can talk first about the logistics of floating. How many pounds of Epsom salts are dissolved in the water; you have a covered tank. Just kind of walk people through that part of it, and then I’d love to jump into the benefits on a molecular level, according to the research you’ve done.

Sloane Wendell: Sure, yeah. We’ll talk about the equipment we use, and how to get salty, if you will.

Cassy Joy: Yeah! {laughs}

Sloane Wendell: {laughs} So, there’s a couple of different type of equipment used for floating. There are float pods; that have some more that are called Samadhi tanks. We went with float rooms. The equipment we have here at iSofloat is about the size of a queen sized mattress. So it’s 6 x 8 feet, 7 feet tall, so the average person, unless you’re a Spurs player, can stand up in it, and has plenty of room within it. Pods tend to be a lot smaller. I personally am claustrophobic, and I don’t have any problems in the float rooms, and that’s one reason. They’re a tad more expensive, to say the least, but we went the extra mile and went with float rooms.

Cassy Joy: They’re massive. I can definitely attest to that. It was huge. When I walked in, I expected a bathtub. {laughs} I was like, oh my gosh, it’s the size of my first apartment! {laughs}

Sloane Wendell: You know, that’s probably a true statement. It is probably bigger than some people’s apartments in New York City. {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Yeah.

Sloane Wendell: So within that float room we have about 10 inches of water; it’s about 200 gallons, and within that have 1100 pounds of Epsom salt dissolved in it.

Cassy Joy: That’s incredible.

Sloane Wendell: Yes. When we were filling the tanks up, it was literally, probably a 4 foot tall pile of Epsom salt.

Cassy Joy: Oh my gosh.

Sloane Wendell: And it all dissolved within the 200 gallons of water that’s in there. Then the water is heated to 93.5 degrees Fahrenheit, which is ambient temperature of your skin for the average person. We all run a little bit different, but for the most part it’s all 93.5. And what that does is that’s a temperature your body can’t sense the water; sense it’s ambient temperature. So once you get into the tank, there is light music playing. You sit down, lay back, and you literally pop up like a cork. It’s a very cool experience. Once you lie down in there, the light and the music fade, and you’re left in an environment that has no stimuli on your body. It’s dark, it’s sound proof, and you can’t feel the water.

So that’s kind of how the tanks are set up. There is obviously a shower in each room; you shower before you get in and shower when you get out. But that’s kind of the; I guess the non-science piece of what the float rooms are like.

Cassy Joy: Yeah, and you have the option to leave the lights on or off, but overall, that pretty much sums it up. I didn’t really know what I was getting into; I mean, I did my research, but I didn’t expect… I don’t know. I didn’t expect it to be so big, and so roomy, and I thought I would bump a wall but I didn’t. {laughs} Just, you do, you pop up like a cork, and you sit there.

Sloane Wendell: Yes. Most people haven’t experienced anything like this since literally they were probably in their mother’s womb. So nobody remembers experiencing anything like this. Yes, you do have the ability to turn the light off or on, if you would like while you’re in there. You still get great benefits even if you turn the light on. Because your body can’t sense the water, you feel like you’re in a zero gravity environment. When you turn the light off, you literally feel like you’re floating through space. So you get to be an astronaut without ever leaving the planet.

Cassy Joy: It’s so true. I told Sloane after I got out last night; I turned the light off. And I’ll tell you guys more a little bit about my first experience in a minute. But I told her that I had tried to keep an eye on the outline of the door; just there was the faintest glow coming from it. And it looked like it was miles away. It really did! {laughs} And when the lights came back on, it was right there by my side. It was so interesting. You really do; it’s an out of body experience.

Sloane Wendell: Yes. Yes it is. So, if we want to get geeky for a minute.

Cassy Joy: Yeah!

Sloane Wendell: We can kind of go into; I know you’re listeners have a tendency to like the science behind it.

Cassy Joy: Yeah, let’s talk about.

Sloane Wendell: So let’s go into a little bit about the science. So floating seems a little counter intuitive for something literally so simple, right? But in today’s world, we just can’t get to something so simple, right? We’ve got our cell phones, we’ve got our ear buds. We’re just constantly, constantly bombarded by all this stimuli. And scientists estimate that 90% of the brain’s normal workload is caused by the effects of the routine environment, which we live in. right? So gravity, temperature, touch, light, sounds. All those things.

So the float room screens out all that external stimuli, creating a pure state of sensory relaxation. And under these unique conditions, our body has a chance to restore its natural powers of self regulation while we simply lie back, relax; some people fall asleep. And we get to rediscover the latent abilities of deeply relaxed mind. And you might not necessarily realize all that’s going on while you’re lying there, because our bodies are actually such complicated machines.

The sudden lack of stimulation in these large areas of the nervous system trigger a spontaneous chain reaction through the body, which is known as the parasympathetic response. And, you know; muscle tension, blood pressure, our heart rate, our oxygen consumption; they all drop dramatically when we float. And the entire chemistry of our body changes while we float because these things are going on due to the parasympathetic response.

The parasympathetic response is our body’s natural mechanism for healing and regeneration. So that’s one great thing about floating; there are no chemicals, there are no drugs, nothing. It’s totally natural, and the benefits are so, so, so amazing, and powerful.

Floating is the fasted and easiest way and the most effective way of eliciting the response and enjoying the dramatic benefit to relaxation, pain free, muscle rejuvenation if you will. The floating just rests the body’s total chemical and it restores our chemical metabolic balance, and it strengthens our resistance to affect stress, injury, and illness, as well. So not only are you fixing what you have, but you’re also giving yourself a dose of prevention, if you will.

So first time floaters generally say it’s the most enjoyable experience of their lives. You know, to be perfectly honest; I’ve been floating for a number of years, and it really is, and it’s because the parasympathetic response really allows us to relax like we’ve never, ever been able to relax before. As part of that, the parasympathetic response, it reduced the stimulation on our nervous system, which has a direct effect on our hypothalamus. And our hypothalamus is the brain’s chemical control center. So our thoughts of emotion come from the hypothalamus. So when the nervous system is relaxed, the hypothalamus is relaxed, it translates into a measureable change in our body chemistry. We produce more endorphins; there is the removal of undesirable body chemistries that are going on, and it stimulates feeling of confidence, happiness, and wellbeing, which help us pursue goals in our lives.

So we get to achieve that level of relaxation, and we get to go into a deeper sleep. There are some studies that show that there’s a sharp drop in the level of electrical activity of the brain. So they’ve done some studies where we’ve got some floaters going into a tank, and they’re hooked up to EKGs. So the usual EKG range for a human is 20-25 hertz. And when we float it goes down to 4-8 hertz, which is amazing. So we have a real slow reduction in our rhythmic brain pattern, and we move into the theta state, if you will. So in the theta state, it’s also called the dream state. And in the theta state, most people, it’s almost impossible to fall asleep when you start to go in that theta state.

So when you think about the theta state is, you know when you’re kind of starting to feel like; you take a mid-afternoon nap, right? And I do this sometimes and you start to fall asleep and you think you’re awake but you’re actually kind of; you think you’re asleep and you’re in that ‘tween world, if you will. That’s your theta state. And you have some of the wildest things that happen in that. Because I feel like sometimes when I take, you know, my Sunday afternoon nap and I’m in that state, and I think somebody is trying to talk to me and I have these great imaginary conversations with my husband.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Sloane Wendell: They don’t happen. And sometimes when you do fall asleep, or you’re starting to wake up, but you’re not quite ready to wake up yet; that’s also your theta state. So floating allows you to get into that theta state and stay in it. And you know that theta state gives us a zone of inspirational thought process, and it gives hypercreativity when we’re in there.

Cassy Joy: It’s kind of the state; I’m sorry to interrupt. But I’m thinking that’s why some people keep notepads next to their bed.

Sloane Wendell: Yes!

Cassy Joy: Because they pop up and they’re like; oh!

Sloane Wendell: Yeah, when they go, “Oh my god!”

Cassy Joy: I’ve got to write that down! {laughs}

Sloane Wendell: Yes, exactly. Exactly. So when you’re in this theta state, and with the combination of the brain’s EKG levels coming down, our body is free from all external distractions during floating and we get to absorb a lot of information; right. Some people use it for meditation. You can do some guided meditation while you’re in there. But it’s also that theta state just increases our ability for our body’s to heal when we’re in that zone, as well.

So that’s kind of the geeky version. I would say the more; the way I explain it, probably to most of our clients is, you basically have zero stimuli when you’re in that float tank on your central nervous system. And so your body goes; “wow, this stuff is amazing!” Because you’re not dealing with light, and sound, and how to adjust for it, and what to see, and depth perception. Your body goes, “Oh wow, I can relax.” And your body and your nervous system literally take a deep breath while you’re in there. And in taking that deep breath, one of the things it’s allowed to do is it says; “Oh, you know what? I’ve got back pain. I need to send some endorphins to the back to help heal the back.” Or a pulled muscle in your shoulder, something like that. So your body, when it’s not dealing with all these extra sensory things that are going on; it says, “Oh, whoa, I actually have a problem. I need to go heal it.” And it actually sends more powerful, more; what’s the word I’m looking for. It sends more power.

Cassy Joy: Focused healing.

Sloane Wendell: Yeah; it concentrates on those areas. So when you have back pain or arthritis, that’s what it does. It really hones in on those areas. Or if you have an injury from a fall, or you tore a muscle, it really concentrates on healing the micro tears in the muscles. So that’s kind of the high level, easier way to maybe think about it. And the way for us, those of us that aren’t geeky and like all the science, it may be a different way to look at it.

Cassy Joy: Yeah, that’s great. I think that’s wonderful. And I really want people to know that it really is sort of a spa experience; just like a lot of therapeutic practices, you go and you get a therapeutic massage, for example, to help recover from an injury or maybe you’re like me and your shoulders are constantly in your ears {laughs} where you carry your stress.

Sloane Wendell: Mm-hmm.

Cassy Joy: You know, it’s relaxing and at the same therapeutic. So it really does have that; kind of strikes a very, very nice balance. I’d like to walk some folks through just the overall user experience. And I can kind of give it from my perspective; and Sloane, feel free to jump in and fill in the gaps if I miss anything. But you show up; would you say you tell folks to budget about an hour and a half to be there total?

Sloane Wendell: Yes. If you’re going to; we can do floats in any length amount of time, but generally the most common are 60 to 90 minutes, so if you’re at a 60 minute float, yes I would say budget about an hour and half for your time.

Cassy Joy: Ok. So yeah, budget about an hour and a half, and I recommend. Now that I’m a pro {laughs} I’ve got one under my belt. I have a couple of tips. I think that; I showed up after a full day, we filmed a couple of cooking segments for TV, so I had this gigantic hair and all this makeup {laughs}. So if you can, make things easier on yourself, try to show up with little of that on. But she walks you into your own dressing room, and you leave everything in a locker; of course, your phone, as well. So the idea is part of that isolation concept. Not isolation in a lonely sense, but isolation in the, we’re going to eliminate those external stimuli, like Sloane’s been saying this whole time. So everything stays in the locker, you put on this yummy robe, and then they lead you into the most amazing massage chair I’ve ever sat in in my life, and you sit in there for 10 minutes. I think it’s 10 minutes? It could have gone on forever.

Sloane Wendell: 10 to 15 minutes. It just depends.

Cassy Joy: Oh my gosh.

Sloane Wendell: We try to keep it in that 10 to 15 minute range.

Cassy Joy: I could have sat there for life {laughs}.

Sloane Wendell: {laughs} I’m glad to hear you enjoy them.

Cassy Joy: Oh my gosh it was incredible! It was one of those chairs that squeezes your hands, and your arms, and your feet. All of it. It was very, very neat. So they sit you in this chair, and then they walk you into your own suite, I guess for lack of a better word. It’s got this beautiful standup shower with the rainfall that comes down and these lovely lights, this lovely music. And like I said, this isolation tank that’s the size of my first apartment. And you walk in, and then like Sloane said, you shower, because the idea is to wash off any of the chemicals or things that you might have on your body from the day. You just kind of get a really clean set. So I washed off my makeup. I don’t know that you have to necessarily do that. But I did that, and I washed all the goop out of my hair from TV.

And then like she said, you go and you slip into this tank. And she has a squirt bottle of fresh water there, I guess in case you get any of the salt water in your eyes, and a towel. So put those on the inside, and I slid into the tank, and I was amazed. I sat down, and immediately floated right back up, and I laid my head back. I did put earplugs in just in case, and you just sit right on top of the water. It’s like those folks that go to the dead sea and you see these people floating right on top of the water. It’s definitely that same experience. So you sit there, and you float, and then all of a sudden the music fades, and the light fades, and it becomes very dark, and you’re in there for 60 minutes.

And this was my first experience in it, and Sloane told me after I got out. She was like, “What did you think?” Because she’s like, some people their first time kind of freak out a little bit {laughs} for the first part of it. And I don’t think I told you this last night, but I was thinking, while I was floating in that tank in the pitch black, that I listened to too many crime podcasts. {laughs}

Sloane Wendell: {laughing} Yep that’ll do it Cassy!

Cassy Joy: I listen to too many of those, and I also just watched that Stranger Things show on Netflix. I was like;

Sloane Wendell: Yes; will 11.

Cassy Joy: Exactly, with 11. It’s like; this is all, so all that was swimming in my head while my brain was trying to get to that relaxed state. And eventually I did. Maybe it was halfway through, but as soon as I did; time was moving very slowly until I really did relax, and I realized that nobody was going to come in there. Anyways, all those; the way your mind works in the pitch black. But yeah, it was lovely. And I did fall asleep a couple of times, and I didn’t think I would. And the only reason I knew I fell asleep because I jerk.

Sloane Wendell: Mm-hmm.

Cassy Joy: {laughs} And I splashed myself.

Sloane Wendell: Jerking woke you up.

Cassy Joy: It did! And then my mind went right back to the crime podcasts.

Sloane Wendell: {laughing}

Cassy Joy: {laughs} But it really was an out of body experience. You really do feel like you’re floating through space. And then all of a sudden, I thought 60 minutes would feel like it would crawl by, but it was over before I knew it. The lights came back on, and it was just very, very interesting. And you prep people that when they stand up after being in the float tank, their legs may feel a little wobbly so you kind of take it easy. So you go and rinse off the heavy, heavy concentrated salt water, and from my hair and from your body. And my skin; I’ve never felt it so soft. And I also read online in your FAQs; people asked, well don’t your fingers prune after being in, essentially, a bath for an hour. And they didn’t. And I’d love to hear your thoughts on why of that, but my skin felt super soft, and you really do feel like you just woke up.

You know when you have those afternoon naps; I hardly ever take naps but sometimes necessity demands it. And you wake up, and you just feel like you’re walking on air. It was one of the most relaxing, incredible naps of your life. And that’s exactly what you feel like when you walk out of this tank. As strung up as I was going into it, I really did walk out with that peace and then go back in, I had a cup of tea, got dressed, and went out and congratulated my friend Sloane on this awesome business. But it was incredible. So that’s kind of the full user experience.

I think if you are going to go, and you like to put lotions on your skin, I would bring a lotion in your purse, something like that to put on afterwards. But otherwise, it was dreamy. It was absolutely dreamy. And I called my husband on the way home, and he was in the car, and he said, “Wow, you just sound so happy!”

Sloane Wendell: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: I was like, really? I had no idea. And then I was cracking jokes. I was like, “Well it was probably because I defied death.” {laughs} because of these crime podcasts. But really, it’s no joke. I would not kid folks. It really does give you this crazy endorphin high. Kind of somewhat similar to what you get after a workout, but it’s relaxation based. It’s not intensity based. It was really, really interesting.

Sloane Wendell: Yes. Yes. And, kind of along those same lines with your experience; the bath products we use in the shower are all lavender scented; I don’t know if you noticed that Cassy, but it’s not overly lavender it’s just very subtle. They’re all natural, they don’t have any petroleum products in them. And we actually do; and I’m sorry you missed it, we also have some wonderful lavender lotions in the restrooms.

Cassy Joy: Oh.

Sloane Wendell: For that very reason. So we’ll have to point that out to you next time you come in.

Cassy Joy: Totally.

Sloane Wendell: And then our hot tea, herbal hot tea. I think right now we have an apple pie; I thought it was kind of cool for fall.

Cassy Joy: Oh my gosh, I loved it.

Sloane Wendell: So we give you guys herbal tea when you come out. We don’t want to pump you full of caffeine or anything; we want you to continue to stay in your, what I call post-float bliss zone, if you will. And you know, usually the feelings that you’re having, Cassy, will last for 3 to 4 days, and they actually get better on day 2 and 3. Because you absorb so much magnesium while you’re in there, right, which is one of those things that’s so great for muscle recovery, right, for competitions. It’s an Epsom salt bath on steroids, if you will, right? So magnesium is detoxifying for our bodies. It pushes out the lactic acid. And magnesium also sends us into our sleep cycles, so generally speaking for the next two to three nights, you should sleep like you probably haven’t slept in years. Or maybe even your entire life. The effects last for days. It’s not just…

Cassy Joy: Yeah, it’s not just the onetime thing. And that really; I really am blown away. I think it hits on a lot of things that are important in a balanced, health lifestyle. And we talk about; I talk about it in the Fed and Fit book, and listeners here are no stranger to the importance of rest, whether it’s rest at night; you know, every single day, or it’s rest on a weekly basis. Taking time off to allow our body to recover and to heal. This really is a concentrated source of that. Plus, we get the bonus of the magnesium, plus the bonus of all the yummy salt water.

I am curious; do you know why your fingers don’t prune?

Sloane Wendell: Epsom salt actually is super; it’s super concentrated, it’s not concentrated. It’s hydrated. Each Epsom salt with 7 water molecules around it. So it’s funny, you could actually have a little drip of water on the floor, and when it dries it’s 7 times bigger because of all that water. So that’s one reason; and our bodies don’t react the same way. Because our bodies naturally have a level of magnesium in them. The reason we prune when we take a bath or when we go swimming is our bodies through osmosis are trying to equalize the chemical levels outside of our bodies, which are usually lower. So we lose water from inside our body to the liquid we’re in. well it’s so much more concentrated in these rooms that the water inside our body does not go out, it stays within our skin structure, because there’s a balance there.

Cassy Joy: So fascinating. That’s so stinking cool! Man that’s so great. Like I said; I really am. I don’t really have words for it. I told Austin, my husband, as well. He said, well let’s just go get you a bunch of salt and put it in the bathtub. {laughs} and I was like, “1000 pounds of salt, are you kidding me?” There’s no way. There’s absolutely no way. You just need to go to the spa.

Sloane Wendell: Exactly, exactly.

Cassy Joy: And it’s incredibly clean. I know that’s a priority for you; you clean the tank after every time it goes; I heard the pumps going. It’s an incredible amount of infrastructure to have all of this going, so it really was an incredible experience. And I really encourage people. If you’re curious; if you’re in San Antonio, definitely look into it. And if you’re not, Google it, see if there’s a location near you.

Do you have a recommendation on how often folks could float and frequency between visits?

Sloane Wendell: Yes. And we’re all individualized, right? We all have different levels of stress and things that we’re dealing with. I find for myself, in addition to running this fabulous and owning this fabulous facility; I also have a career that I pursue, as well. So I work a lot; lots of stress. I find that floating once a week is ideal for me. It keeps me much more centered; it keeps my blood pressure down. It actually helps me; I’m a stress eater, I’m not going to lie. It also helps me deal with that piece that causes that stress and causes me to eat. So I actually have much better control of my appetite when I float as well.

I would say minimum; once a month for anybody to get the benefits of it. You know, and it generally takes three to five floats to really; you know, your first float you don’t know what to expect. You’re scared; what is it going to be like. So that first float, while you still get a ton of benefits, your second and third float you get into your float zone faster. So you know what to expect, you’re not all nervous, your heart isn’t racing so your heart doesn’t have to come down when you get in the tank. So after that third float, you’re almost like a pro. So you get in there, you lie down, you float. And doing it at least once a month, you still have fantastic benefits.

Cassy Joy: Man that’s wonderful. Really, really great. Again, I recommend people look into it. I thought about this; I’m glad I remembered before we closed here. But for people; for my yogis listening right now, people who do yoga. You know at the end of a yoga practice, you have a savasana, which is at the end of a nice long practice and you have essentially exerted yourself and you lie down, and the idea is to separate your arms and your legs and to enter sort of that theta state where you’re not sleeping necessarily but you try to quiet the mind as much as possible. And it’s an active position of actively trying to quiet yourself. And what a floating to me was, what I thought about when I was driving home last night. It was a direct; it is directly plugging you into that state of being. It’s really difficult; a true savasana is really, really difficult to achieve and it takes a lot of practice, and it’s a lot of work to turn off the external stimuli. To turn off your brain and to just be. And that’s exactly; it’s almost an involuntary; it involuntarily puts you into that state. So it’s a really intense, 60 minute savasana. {laughs} It really is. So anyways, I hope that’s relatable.

Sloane, I know you wanted to offer up something for San Antonio listeners, or if anybody is visiting San Antonio for the holidays, I’m sure this definitely still applies.

Sloane Wendell: Yes it does. So we have a Fed and Fit promotion, if you will for Cassy and all of her listeners. If you call in, book an appointment, just tell us you’re with Fed and Fit; and our usual hour floats are discounted significantly for you guys. We’re going to be offering you a 60-minute float for $50.

Cassy Joy: Amazing.

Sloane Wendell: And that’s the best $50 I can almost guarantee you you’ve probably spent in a really, really, really long time, and we’ll also be more than willing to offer; this is the most unique experience, for gift certificates, as well, for anybody that’s looking for the holidays, because they’re coming up to give your friends and family. So Fed and Fit is the promotional offer. Our phone number here is 210-437-3314. And I know Cassy I think will have it in the notes on the podcast.

Cassy Joy: Yep.

Sloane Wendell: As well as our website. The website is full of information; why float, the benefits, there’s a great Q&A section. I have a tendency to be very nerdy myself, and so I tend to overanalyze things, so I went through and kind of thought about; well, what would I do if I was in somebody else’s shoes? What did I feel the first time I floated? So we have a pretty good, detailed Q&A section on the website, as well.

Cassy Joy: It’s really great, I dug in with everything. {laughs} I really sunk my teeth into it before I went, I was so curious.

Sloane Wendell: I would not expect anything less from you, Cassy.

Cassy Joy: {laughs} Sloane and I spent many a nights up late just talking about all kinds of fun, geeky topics. She’s one of my favorite people to bounce ideas off of. Well Sloane, thank you so much for coming onto the show today. I hope you guys enjoyed this. Again, whether you’re actually in my neck of the woods, or anywhere else in the world, I highly recommend you look it up if something resonated with you. It could be a really great way to have a sort of intentional rest and recovery period. Fold it into either your week or your month. So I highly recommend you look into it.

Thanks again Sloane for coming on; it was great. And like she said, we will link up to everything in the show notes. We’ll have her website; I’ll provide the phone number, and also, gosh, the discount as well for people who are wanting to either treat themselves or treat someone else for the holidays.

Sloane Wendell: Awesome. Well, I sure do appreciate it Cassy, and all your listeners. And like you said, if you’re not in San Antonio, go find a place where you are; you won’t regret it.

Cassy Joy: You won’t regret it, for real. Just don’t listen to those true crime podcasts on the way over {laughs} and you’ll be in great shape.

Sloane Wendell: That’s right. {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Thanks again for joining us guys, we’ll be back again next week.