30/04/2024
Neue Studie uni Freiburg- danke marc wittmann !!
One of the most underappreciated aspects of floatation therapy is the tight calibration of temperature. When the air temperature and water temperature are both calibrated to match the temperature at the surface of the skin (~94-95°F), a very unique altered state of consciousness can occur. The boundary between air, body, and water disappears, and suddenly the person floating can no longer discern where their body begins and where it ends.
In a fascinating new study out of his brand new floatation laboratory in Freiburg, Marc Wittmann and his graduate student Helena Hruby examined the link between body dissolution, altered states of consciousness, and the anti-anxiety effects of float therapy. Using a highly active control condition where participants were lying on a warm waterbed in a dark and quiet room, the study found that the float condition induced a significantly higher level of body dissolution than the control condition. The float condition also led to a larger reduction in anxiety. Quite strikingly, the loss of body boundaries mediated the loss of anxiety, revealing a novel mechanism by which floatation therapy exerts its anxiolytic effect.
A big congratulations to Dr. Wittmann and his laboratory for this great discovery! It was an honor for the FRC to have contributed. The study is freely available to view online and share using this link:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-59642-y
