Center offers hands-free avenue to relaxation

For the past six years, Frisco resident Amanda Rupley has lived with lupus, an autoimmune disease that can cause chronic flare-ups. At one point, Rupley was taking 14 different medications to treat and manage her symptoms, she said. "It's so easy to fall into a depression and almost a state of giving up when you're in constant pain like that and you can't pick up your child," she said. Traditional massages were often too painful for Rupley, she said. A year and a half ago, she started visiting The Float Spot, a wellness center that uses floatation tanks and hydro massage. Because of The Float Spot's services, it has been almost a year since Rupley's last flare-up, she said. The Float Spot opened in 2010 after owner Ray Thoma left his career as a national sales manager to pursue the business. Thoma overheard two men in an Australian pub talk about how local athletes float to accelerate muscle recovery. When Thoma returned to the United States, he researched floatation tanks and realized they were not just for athletes. "Once you float, you realize it probably has more applications for normal, everyday people that are overstressed, sleep less [and have] high anxiety," he said. Neuroscientist John Lilly first observed the effects of floatation tanks in the 1950s while studying sensory deprivation. Thoma said depriving the senses can clear people's minds from the overstimulation experienced in today's world. The tanks are filled with 300 gallons of water and 1,100 pounds of Epsom salt heated to between 92 and 94 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature range of the skin's surface. The Epsom salt is denser than the human body, so individuals will float on the surface of the water. Thoma said the Epsom salts can also help remove toxins from the body. Individuals can listen to ambient sounds while in the tank, and the lights will automatically shut off after a few minutes. With the water temperature the same as the skin's surface, Thoma said people will feel weightless. "That's literally like putting your body on a liquid cloud and not feeling a single, solitary thing," he said. The center also uses dry hydro massage capsules, which are pods that shoot water from 28 jets. A plastic film separates the water from the person, so the person can remain clothed and not get wet. Rupley said she sometimes controls the water jets with a remote so they focus on the parts of her body where she feels the most pain. "For the pain, the hydro massage is really great as far as when I'm super stressed out and I feel my body kind of blocking up; it's a great way [to get] additional therapy," she said. Thoma said the tanks or capsules can help relax people with fibromyalgia, women who are pregnant or children with autism. He said it is difficult to describe the experience in the tank or capsule until someone has tried it. "We live in a world where we need instant gratification, and when it's instant, we want it faster," he said. "When you get into both these pieces of equipment, the gratification is that instant, and you feel it."

• 4040 Legacy Drive, Ste. 105
• 469-440-2877
• www.thefloatspot.com
• Hours: Tue.–Thu. 10 a.m.–9 p.m., Fri. 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sun. noon–6 p.m.