Midweek mugging: The Floatation Centre

Lindsay MacPhee, founder of The Floatation Centre, is the recipient of HalifaxToday.ca’s first midweek mugging.

Located at 2631 King St. in Halifax’s north end, The Floatation Centre provides a unique relaxation experience.

“When you float, there’s no sight, sound or smells,” MacPhee said. “And since the temperature of the water is the same as your skin surface, you eventually lose the sense of touch as well. So it actually induces you into a relaxed state.”

She said floating is often used by clients to help relieve physical and mental ailments, such as chronic pain, anxiety or depression.

MacPhee tried floating for the first time while living in British Columbia as a way to amplify her meditation process. When she moved to Halifax and wanted to go floating, she realized the closest location offering the service was in Montreal. That’s when she decided to open The Floatation Centre.

The centre has three different float tanks. According to MacPhee, 950 pounds of Epsom salt is dissolved into about eleven inches of water, which is what allows people to float.

Each float session is 75 minutes long. Memberships are offered monthly, but MacPhee said some clients come in as often as once a week.

“Our goal, something that we take really seriously, is making sure that whoever comes in the first time floating [is] empowered, that they know that we care and that they’re feeling super comfortable before they even step foot into the tank,” she said.

Along with floating, the centre also offers massages, naturopathic medicine, dietetics and women’s health and fertility services.

“We always say to people that floating is a practice,” MacPhee said. “You don’t just float once and suddenly you have the meaning of life.”

However, MacPhee acknowledges there are some people who want to try floating but don’t have the financial means to do so. As a result, the centre offers the compassion float program once a month.

“One of the challenges that I never anticipated about running a business was how weird it feels to take money for a service that you really believe in,” MacPhee said.

The compassion float programs provides an applicant who may not be able to afford a float session with three free floats, and offers a fifty per cent discount on all additional sessions.

Overall, she said floating is an experience everyone can benefit from.

“Sometimes people just want a vacation, to get away from their kids and their family, to do something for themselves, to get away from their phone for 75 minutes,” MacPhee said. “So even just that is nice for folks.”