When Jeff Delaney talks about float therapy, the tone and volume of his voice, as well as the smile on his face, are immediate clues to how he feels about it. The vice president and co-founder of NUVIVA Medical Weight Loss Clinic, in Naples, has been doing float therapy once a week for a year and feels that the affects of the modality are amplified when he follows it with a massage that incorporates the active release technique (ART). This type of soft tissue therapy helps relieve tight muscles and nerve trigger points.

Jeff Delaney

Therapy For Tight Muscles and Athletic Injuries

“The first time I floated two years ago, I knew when I exited the tank that I needed a second experience to truly evaluate the benefits. After the second session, in which I fell asleep for 45 minutes, I felt as refreshed as if I’d slept for hours,” says Delaney, a fitness coach and body builder who trains hard six days a week. “Floating before a massage releases the tension in my muscles, makes them more pliable and allows the massage therapist to more easily break up any adhesions,” says Delaney, who also schedules a weekly chiropractor appointment as part of his self-care regimen.

Melissa Wells

Defying Gravity

Another exuberant floater who uses floatation therapy to defy gravity once a week is Melissa Wells. “I have a standing appointment at Naples Neuromuscular every Wednesday at 10 a.m. When I get out of the floatation tank, I feel so Zen,” quips the owner of MW A Pilates Studio, in Naples. “Initially, it takes about three float sessions to get into the relaxation groove. I’m a pretty peaceful person, and I’ve noticed that floating intensifies my inner sense of peace.”

Mind Exploration

Scott Campbell, a Naples resident, floats regularly for a different purpose than defying gravity or releasing muscle tension. “The float tank is the best environment for meditation, mind exploration and expanding consciousness. It’s secluded, dark and quiet. The sensory deprivation helps the mind to slow down its activity,” says Campbell, who also appreciates the physiological benefits.

Campbell first learned about sensory deprivation tanks when he began reading about astral projection and lucid dreaming. Although he has never seen the 1980 film Altered States, which was based on John C. Lilly’s sensory deprivation research conducted in isolation tanks under the influence of psychoactive drugs, he jokes that he has seen an episode of The Simpsons in which the character Homer expands his horizons by visiting a Karma-ceuticals Shop where he floats. “The results of floating are compounded. The more I have floated, the better my dream recall, mental clarity, sleep and meditation. If I spend too much time away from the tank, I definitely notice.”

Tabatha Petersen

Releases Stress

“Releasing hormones, undoing the effects of stress and increasing your blood flow are just some of the benefits that floatation therapy provides,” says Tabatha Petersen, owner of Naples Massage & Neuromuscular, where Delaney, Wells and Campbell float. “If I’m having a stressful week, I float every day. I encourage clients to float to relax, reduce pain, ease anxiety, reset muscles, open up joint space and release feel-good hormones that continue circulating in the body as many as five days after floating. The float tank helps your body to remember its state of balance, something we all need,” says Peterson.

Naples Massage & Neuromuscular is located at 5926 Premier Way, Ste. 134, in Naples. For more information, call 239-325-9410 or visit NaplesMassage.net.