Urban Wellness Float, the only purpose-built float room in Scotland has opening at the Urban Wellness Hub (UWH), in Bridge of Don.
The float room aims to provide a new way for people to proactively focus on their health and wellbeing.
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Air and water inside the float room is heated to skin temperature and despite only 260mm of water it’s saturated with Epsom salts to provide buoyancy, akin to the Dead Sea which allows people to float weightlessly.
The family run business installed the float room to provide businesses and the North East community with a place to relax, reset and restore their mind and body, much needed in today’s frantic, fast-paced world.
The idea stemmed from local therapist and UWH co-owner, Emma Ross’s personal experience after trying a float more than ten years ago, to help with chronic knee pain after a sporting injury.
Emma commented: “We’re thrilled to launch the float room and to have had such a fantastic response from the public already. It will allow many people who work in a stressful job to be completely free from distractions in a world where we have so many things preoccupying our minds, and a chance to take real ’time out’. Many sports personalities already use floating to improve performance, and business leaders for ideas-generation or providing greater focus and clarity. We wanted to offer people a chance to experience the benefits of floating without having to travel.”
The UWH has partnered with local energy specialist communications agency Aspectus Group, as part of Aspectus’ wellness culture. Employees are using the floats as a time to de-stress from the busy working environment and take the time to relax, recharge and even enhance creative ideas.
Louise Douglas, Account Manager at Aspectus describes her experience: “Floating is a very unique experience but one that lets your mind unravel and body completely relax. It’s important to take a step back from your work-load and come back feeling refreshed and full of new ideas. At Aspectus wellness and mental health is very important to us and we believe in supporting everyone in the team in whatever way possible. I think this is becoming more of a focus in businesses around the world and its brilliant to have the opportunity to try this unique experience.”
Floating originally started in the US and used by N.A.S.A. for astronauts’ zero gravity acclimatisation and has been increasingly popular in the UK. In the last three years the medical community has published scientific research papers on the health-related benefits of floating.
Experts recommend taking at least three floats to ensure the body derives the full benefits, and gives the mind a chance to completely relax, with evidence suggesting that one hour of floating equals four hours of REM sleep.
Emma commented: “You train your body and brain to compete in a sport, or to take on a new role, it is exactly the same with floating, you need to be able to ‘let go’ and that’s why it sometimes takes a few sessions for some people to truly experience floating.”
