Still Waters
“Are my eyes open or shut?”
Floating in complete darkness and silence, the buoyant water and the air in the chamber are perfect body temperature. After I’ve adjusted to the utter quiet, I really am not sure where the water begins and my body ends. It’s as if I have escaped gravity; there are no distractions. My lines have been erased and my mind and body bleed into the vastness of the universe for a while.
My mind is racing at the start. Is there enough oxygen in here? How much time has elapsed? Am I doing this right? After what seems like infinity, I realize that I am peace and everything is going to be okay.
I’ve been informed it takes some time for a novice to figure out how to quiet the body and mind chatter. #sotrue
I bump gently into the wall and am surprised.
“There is my little toe!” I muse, fascinated such a tiny touch would catch my attention so markedly.
I wonder to myself, “When was the last time I came before the Lord in complete stillness and silence?”
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Welcome to Still Waters, the brand new Float Center in Quincy, IL created by Beth Lane and her son, Russ. They offer 90-minute floats in one of three chambers at 900 Broadway. With such gracious hosts, it’s a lovely experience from when you enter the Center until you exit.
A creative twist on the spa atmosphere, Float Centers are making their mark in the Midwest. Also known as Short-Term Sensory Deprivation, it’s a way to pause our over-stimulated, hyper-saturated world and enter a state of deep physical and mental relaxation. According to Beth, there was only one float center in the St. Louis, MO region in 2015; there are now eleven.
With a kind, quiet welcome, you remove your shoes and turn cell phones to Airplane Mode. (They want no electronic distractions to hinder your relaxation experience!) After signing paperwork, you pass through a beautiful set of reclaimed, carved oak saloon doors into what Beth describes as the Bardo Room, or, “The In-Between Place”, where you transition and unwind under dimmed lights on comfortable chairs. Russ explains the nuts and bolts of floating and asks if you have any questions. He is so chill and patient, I wonder what they’ve put in the water…
(To answer that question: Magnesium Sulfate – they have put Epsom salts in the water. Used therapeutically as a home remedy for hundreds of years to soothe muscles, reduce swelling, and treat sunburns, insect, or plant itches, its benefits even extend to cosmetic beauty and bountiful gardening. Click HERE for more virtues from the Epsom Salt Council.)
As Beth leads you downstairs to the tanks, there are three separate beautifully-appointed anterooms with gorgeous waterfall showers, delightful natural hair and body products from Santa Fe, NM, tiled walls, teak floors, and luxurious towels. I was so impressed (that I secretly began to covet such a bathroom and will need to go to the steps at church this weekend to repent).
Another explanation and I was off to the races…well, not really, just off to shower.
The twinkle lights and color-changing therapy lights were soothing once I got into the chamber and closed the door. I’ll admit I was nervous, but also excited for the experience my friend Beth had created.
Once I settled down, I turned off all the lights and begin to float in earnest. After more than sixty minutes, I admit, this Church Girl did not have any amazing God-revelations or epiphanies except this overwhelming feeling of peace and quiet. But as I sat thoughtfully sipping my tea back in the Bardo, this memory came back to me from the chamber:
“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
If you need to get out of your brain for a little bit or perhaps you just need to have some quiet healing time for your body, you’ll get both at Still Waters or at a Float Center near you. If you’re in our area, though, you can book your floats online at www.stillwatersquincy.com starting in July.
(TCGW was not paid or otherwise reimbursed for writing this article.)
Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
