PEORIA MAGAZINE January 2023

S P O T L I G H T

FLOAT YOUR CARES AWAY Morton business offers all the benefits of a seaside soak

BY LAURIE PILLMAN

R elaxation can be difficult in a world full of stress, sensory overload and sleep deprivation. Luckily, Stress BustersMassage and Float Suite inMorton offers visitors a chance to block out the world and drift in a sea of serenity. "The float room is based on something called sensory deprivation," said owner Mike Bell. "If you take away all your sensory inputs, your sight, sound, taste, smell, then your brain turns internally to find things that need to be fixed, adjusted or changed." It's a process that happens naturally when the body goes into REM sleep, in which humans dream, process emotion, consolidate memory and improve brain function. "They claim that an hour f loat is equivalent to four hours of sleep,” said Bell. “And so that wasmy draw to it. None of us get enough sleep." A ROLLER COASTER HISTORY Float therapy was pioneered in 1954 by neuroscientist John C. Lilly, who was

interested in what sensory deprivation did to the brain. GlennPerry, a computer programmer following Lilly's work, helped Lilly modify the initial tank design and introduced Epsom salts instead of sea water. By 1979, the first public float center opened in Beverly Hills, California. ‘THEY CLAIM THAT AN HOUR FLOAT IS EQUIVALENT TO FOUR HOURS OF SLEEP’ — Mike Bell Floating declined drastically in the 1980s and ‘90s, but since 2010 the float industry has been rapidly growing. People who watch science fiction may have seen scary, coffin-like versions of float tanks in movies or on television, but the industry has made great strides in making the experience more approachable. Floats can happen in tanks, pods, open baths or cabin units. Modern tanks and pods are still based on Lilly's rectangular model. They now have more space, and some offer lighting. Bathers bend through a

hatch to enter the water or pull a domed lid over themselves as the structure isn't large enough to stand in. The float happens in an enclosed chamber. An operator knocks on the top of the tank to signal the session is complete. While Bell was intrigued by the potential benefits of floats, he thought the knocking would be intrusive. Concerns about claustrophobia, heavy lids onpodunits, andcompletedarkness made him wait until the industry created a more suitable option. It took Bell more than five years to settle on the cabin-style float experience offered in his Wave Float Room. A glass shower door allows entry into cabin-style units, so nothing closes over the bather. The ceiling is more than six feet tall and slopes downward, ensuring condensation doesn't drip into the bather's eyes. Bell opted to get the deluxe float room, which offers underwater lighting and piped-inmusic for meditation. The air and water inside the Stress Busters Float Room are kept at body temperature, giving the brain a feeling of free-floating in space. A thousand

40 JANUARY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE