Float pod for stress is good news. According to the Mayo Clinic, you can be over stressed even without realizing it. Look for one or more of these common signs:
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- headache
- muscle tension or pain
- chest pain
- fatigue
- change in sex drive
- stomach upset
- insomnia.
Stress Affects Mood and Behavior
Stress can also affect your mood. It can promote lack of motivation or focus, anxiety, restlessness, anger, depression, or feelings of being overwhelmed. Furthermore, stress can ultimately affect your behavior: overeating, drinking alcohol to excess, abusing drugs, smoking, withdrawing from others, exercising less often, or making angry outbursts.
In other words, stress can seriously disrupt your life. But that’s not all. It can shorten it, too. Excess stress over the long-term can give you high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, or even diabetes.
You Can Manage Your Stress
Don’t gamble with your health. Manage your stress. Exercise. Learn relaxation techniques or meditation. Spend time with loved ones. Spend time in nature. Give your sense of humor a more active role in your life. But you already knew all those techniques, didn’t you?
If your stress management techniques are getting a little stale, consider the float pod. A float pod session is a 45-minute interval devoid of stress. You begin by stripping down, getting a shower, and putting soft, pliable plugs in your ears. You decide whether you want music and lights, but if you’re after true stress management, you forgo both. You step into the pod, sit down, and pull the lid closed. You lie back and discover you are so buoyant in the salt water that it’s impossible to sink. You’re floating, so you don’t have the stress of gravity. The water is heated to body temperature, so you don’t have the stress of heat or cold. You’re by yourself, so you don’t have the stress of traffic, demanding people, world news, or personal responsibilities.
Any little aches and pains you brought in the pod with you begin to fade. Time slows to a crawl. You are secure and protected. Your incessant vigilance begins to subside. Your boundaries dissipate. You don’t know where you end and the rest of the world begins. Your thoughts begin to focus on your own internal processes: your breathing, the beating of your heart, the unwinding of your muscle tension. Within minutes, you are more relaxed than you’ve ever been.
Long-Lasting Effects
Recent research shows that the way sensory deprivation reduces stress is by reducing the activity of the amygdala. The amygdala is a small part of the brain that governs the “fight-or-flight” response. You have no fight-or-flight response in the float pod. Living without it for 45 minutes is a liberating experience.
And a study at the Float Clinic and Research Center at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Oklahoma found that the reduced activity of the amygdala persists after the float session is over, meaning once you’ve floated, life continues to be less stressful even after you’ve showered away the epson salts. For at least a week afterward, you find that you sleep better, you have less anxiety, your blood pressure declines, your back pain subsides, and your muscle tension fades, taking a lot of little aches and pains with it.
If you want to live longer and feel better, manage your stress. Start booking your float pod sessions at Peak Recovery & Health Center today.
