Blissful Waters Float Center celebrated its first year of offering flotation and sensory deprivation therapy at its Timberloch Drive location Dec. 8.

Owners Melody and David Fraser said clients ages 12 to 87 have come to the center seeking to relieve physical pain symptoms, such as sports injuries, chronic back pain and rheumatoid arthritis. Patrons also look to sensory deprivation therapy to deal with anxiety, depression, insomnia and other mental and emotional stress symptoms, they said.

Float rooms not only remove the sensory pressures of processing sound, light and gravity from the brain and body, but each chamber also contains 10-12 inches of water filled with 1,600 pounds of epsom salt, which the Frasers said is used for its therapeutic properties.

David Fraser said the sensory deprivation experienced while using the center’s float rooms can aid in pain reduction and mood enhancement for clients.

“One of our clients had rotator cuff surgery, and floating made range of motion easier,” David Fraser said. “A lot of athletes use it to promote performance and muscle recovery, but it has also helped people with chronic pain from rheumatoid arthritis to fibromyalgia because stress alone causes a lot of pain and disease.”

Melody Fraser, who said she was introduced to flotation therapy by her husband to help her cope with her high anxiety levels as a working mother, said the therapy made her “feel like a kid again.”

“It calms you and puts you in a natural state—free from anxiety—instead of the anxiety-ridden life that we are not supposed to be living, but so many of us do,” Melody Fraser said. “This even helps kids, who have so much on their plate between sports and school and just need to relax.”

The process begins with a tour and 15-minute massage before clients shower and enter a tank. The audio and lights in the tank fade out, leaving the room in total darkness and silence. The audio then fades back in when the session is complete. Lights and sounds can be configured to the user’s preference, the Frasers said.

After an additional chance to shower off, patrons can relax in the post-float room with tea or water.

The owners said they view their business as a place of healing. They also hope to increase the number of veterans they can help recover from post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, as well as public servants, who have chronically high stress levels from their everyday work lives.