By Sara Karnish | Photo by Holly Leitner
For those looking to relieve general aches and pains, anxiety and depression, or simply boost their overall wellness, the new trend is float therapy. But what is float therapy? Water has long been known to have restorative properties and float therapy takes those restorative properties a step further. In the Lake Geneva area, Sweet Zen Spa and Coffee in the Town of Delavan offers float therapy as one of many wellness services available.
Debbie Lynn, owner of Sweet Zen, has been a massage therapy practitioner for over 11 years and wanted to open a business that was more than massage. She tried various modalities for herself and added the ones she loved to Sweet Zen’s menu of services. “This is where the float rooms and infrared saunas came from,” says Hailey Sawtelle, Lynn’s daughter and manager of Sweet Zen. “These treatments feel really good — sometimes they are viewed as luxury services, but both have tremendous health benefits. People see the most benefit when they use them as part of their regular health regimen.”
At Sweet Zen, float therapy occurs in a float room — “a chamber of highly concentrated Epsom salt water that allows the body to float effortlessly,” Sawtelle explains. “It’s big enough to stand up in, but it’s only about 10 to 12 inches deep. You don’t have to be able to swim to try float therapy. The water is so dense, the body is buoyant — you won’t sink.”
Sweet Zen has offered float therapy for approximately one year. Sessions are typically limited to 60 minutes. Because Sweet Zen is a relatively new business offering services never before offered in the Lake Geneva area, Sawtelle has spent much of her first year as manager getting to know clients and educating them about the benefits of their services. Now a year in, Sawtelle says the community has been welcoming. “My favorite part of this year has been meeting so many people from different walks of life,” she says.
Sawtelle says float therapy is great for mental and physical relaxation; specifically, it can help to alleviate sleeplessness, elevate mood and boost creativity through magnesium restoration and detoxification. “Because of the weightless environment of the float room, blood is able to course through the body in a completely unobstructed way,” Sawtelle explains. “People tend to feel much better when they get out.”
