Indulge does: Floating on a dream

Dawn Picken in the Zen flotation spa. Photo/Dawn Picken

Sensory deprivation a relaxing experience for Dawn Picken

If you're feeling heavier after the holidays, a Mount Maunganui spa can make you weightless. Zen Float Spa's pods, filled with water and more than 500 kilograms of magnesium (Epsom) salts allow users to escape gravity - and everything else. It's sensory deprivation: no lights, no noise while encased inside a large body-temperature bath.

I booked over the phone. Owner Nicole Neale reviewed flotation guidelines: Clients must have not used hair dye one week prior; women must not be on their periods (for hygiene reasons); no deodorant, perfume or makeup allowed. The last part is taken care of shortly after arrival, as Float rooms include a shower stocked with body wash, shampoo, conditioner and fluffy towels. Washing before the float ensures you're super clean.

Showering post-float removes salt residue.

You can leave togs at home - the room is totally private and fabric might be distracting. Earplugs are provided to keep salt out of ears, as is a spray bottle with fresh water in case of salt in the eyes. You may, like me, also need petroleum jelly (provided) to smear on tiny cuts; otherwise, as anyone who has scraped herself before an ocean swim knows, salt water stings broken skin. That also means no shaving hours before a float.

The large white capsule is equipped with an inside button for light control. If you're not ready to float in blackness with the lid closed, lie in semi-darkness with soft lighting and the lid ajar. Music plays the first 10 minutes, then it's totally quiet, save for the (barely perceptible) traffic along Girven Rd. For a newbie, faint noise is reassuring.

I opt to try lid closed, lights off during my 60-minute session. I figured I'd see how I felt after 10 minutes. Would I go nuts? Feel claustrophobic? What if the door locks and I become trapped like what happened in an episode of Charlie's Angels when Kris gets locked in a sauna? I test the pod door. It easily opens with a finger nudge. Reassured, I start relaxing after about 20 minutes. I gently bump the side of the pod, which I stop noticing after a while, lost in daydreams and half asleep. Inexplicably, those trial 10 minutes tick into the full hour. The answer to the question of whether I could handle that much nothing was yes. I could've floated even longer.

You don't have to be an elite meditator to float (I'm not). Neale says some clients use their time to problem solve, or for creative thought. She said users report pain relief, some for the first time in years. Athletes such as members of the Bay of Plenty Steamers and Rugby Sevens have visited Zen Float Spa for muscle relaxation and stress relief.

Flotation tanks have been used for decades by new-age devotees. They were developed in the 1950s to explore and experiment with consciousness. The cult 1980 film Altered States involved a scientist experimenting on himself in a tank using hallucinatory drugs.

Things get really weird. While some health claims made by flotation pod businesses have yet to be scientifically proven, studies using MRI scans have shown floating seems to quiet activity in the brain's centre of fear and anxiety. Research also shows floating can lower blood pressure for more than 24 hours.

Head resting on a foam disc, I would've fallen asleep if not for the warmth inside the closed pod which caused sweat to bead across my face. With the door open, the room was air conditioned and cool. I showered and dressed, feeling relaxed, slightly sleepy and very clean.

There are cheaper ways to relax than spending $95 for a 60-minute float. But I'd recommend the experience for anyone curious about a weightless hour of sweet nothing.

the details
Zen Float Spa
Where: Suite 1/43 Girven Rd, Mount Maunganui
Hours: Monday -Sunday by appointment only
Cost: $75/45-minute float; $95/60-minute single float; $150/2x 90-minute sessions with a friend; $190/Intro float buy 2 get one free
Phone: 07 562 0833/027 696 8589
Online: www.zenfloatspa.co.nz