55 Pregnancy and Float Spa Therapy at True Rest: Safety and Relaxation Rated

I sit down with Dr. Alex Montgomery, CNM and Brook Craft, NP, and the owner of True Rest Float Spa in Charlotte, NC Doug Centola.

We talk about the safety of floating (in our professional opinions) and the research behind this amazing relaxation venue.

Pregnant and interested in being weightless? Of course, you are! All 3 of us were unanimous DO IT after experiencing it ourselves.

While we represent a midwife, a nurse practitioner, and a doula, we are not YOUR care providers. If you have questions or concerns about float therapy, please consult your own provider.

If you are a POC or unable to wash your hair immediately after floating, please consult with the float spa in advance as to the best way to protect your hair from getting salty! We recommend TWO coverings.

To read Dr. Alex Montgomery’s book, click on the following link “NOBODY TOLD ME ABOUT THAT, the first six weeks.”

TRANSCRIPTION

What does a contraction feel like? How do I know if I'm in labor and what does the day of labor look like? Wait, is this normal? Hey, I'm Heidi. My best friends. Call me hides. I'm a certified birth doula host of this podcast and author of birth story and interactive pregnancy guidebook. I have supported hundreds of women through their labor and deliveries, and I believe every one of them.

And you deserves a microphone and a stage. So here we are listening each week to get answers to these tough questions, birth story, where we talk about pregnancy labor deliveries, where we tell our stories and share our feelings and of course, chat about our favorite baby products and motherhood. And because I'm passionate about burnout comes, you will hear from some of the top experts in labor and delivery, whether you are pregnant, trying desperately to get pregnant, or you just love a good birth story.

I hope you will stick around and be part of this birth story, family. You guys, my book is out. I mean, it is out in the world. I cannot believe it. I have been writing it for several years and it's just mindblowing. Birth story pregnancy, guidebook and journal is a one of a kind discovery into your pregnancy that provides you education through storytelling.

So what's it really about? And the 16 years that I have served a women with every personality type I noticed there was a huge disconnect between what my clients were craving for childbirth education and a book and the books that were actually available on the market. There seem to be unlimited resources.

If you are looking for an unmedicated birth or a natural birth or a home birth, but there just weren't a lot of resources for my clients who were part of the 92% of women birthing in a hospital and very much open to medical interventions, like an epidural, nitrous, oxide, and opioid medications. So. I wrote that book to fill the gap for you week by week throughout your pregnancy, you will engage with material meant to educate and empower you as you plan for your own birth story, hospital, medicated unmedicated, or something in between you are welcomed each week with those card from the womb, which is an adorable note from your baby about their miraculous development.

As well as the amazing changes occurring within you, then you are invited to use an uplifting birth affirmation and to respond to an introspective journaling, prompt to document your feelings, curiosities and wonders every single week with room to memorialize your own birth story. This book will become a memory keeper and a legacy gift for your baby.

You are encouraged to read one of my favorite birth stories each week filled with childbirth education, tidbits, and explanations of important medical terms and procedures. These are real life accounts shared with permission from the bird, this that I've attended during my career as a doula. And I gave you a great mix in the 42 week guide to your pregnancy and 42 birth stories.

Seven of them. And in Syrian section about half are unmedicated and the other half are medicated deliveries. This is a judgment free book. So take what you need from each element and leave the rest. Okay. Are you ready to buy? I would love for you to go to birth story.com and buy it directly from me, but I totally get it.

If you're an Amazon girl, you can head to amazon.com and just type in birth story pregnancy, and the book should pop up. I'll deliver it straight to your doorstep. And I would venture to say that you might be an audio book kind of woman, because you're listening to a podcast. So, if you would prefer to listen to this book than I have recorded it, and it is available for [email protected] or on your audible app.

Thank you for being part of the birth story community. I am so excited for you to have this book in your hand, once you've purchased it and it has arrived. I hope that you will give me your thoughts and feedback, and don't forget to take a selfie with your book and post it on Instagram and tag at birth story podcast.

Hi, I feel really good right now. I just want to tell all of our listeners that I am recording this podcast with three really cool people. Doug, who's the owner of true rest float spot in Charlotte, North Carolina, off of pecan Avenue. And I'm also with Alex Montgomery and she's like one of the best midwives here in Charlotte with the very popular Providence OB GYN.

I don't know if you know this, but they call your practice. The vagina whispers love that. So that's your practice. And then I have Brooke craft and she's one of my doula clients. Who's 36 weeks pregnant. And so. We're just jumping on right now because we just walked out of the float spa after an hour float and a little time at the oxygen bar and I made everyone not talk.

So this is the first time that we're like going to actually like speak words to each other about the incredible experience that we just had. So. Before we dig in, first of all, just how's everybody feeling great, relaxed. It was as good as you guys. Cause I didn't get up this morning. Well, how often do you float as the owner?

So you'd think that I'd felt probably every single day, but because we have so many great customers that are keeping us so busy, I've tried to get in there about twice a week. Okay. Do you charge yourself? Yeah. Cash on it. So I feel good. Everybody feels good. We're really rested. I was saying on the way in, I ran into one of my friends who was like, did you just finish hot yoga?

Because you look really good, relaxed. And it made me think, what do I normally look like? And now I know I, Doug sells memberships. To the float spa so that you can not just go one time. So people listening to this podcast are likely pregnant, trying to get pregnant on a fertility journey, maybe new moms.

And this is a relatively new fate is definitely new to our area in Charlotte, North Carolina. So, Doug, I first want to know, like, what is this thing we just did. So floating is the crazy thing about floating. It's actually been around for about 30 plus years. The problem there, wasn't a lot of social media and things to gain the attention notoriety that it has today.

So it's not a new technology or wellness. Therapy. It's something that's been around for a long time. And just recently it started becoming more popular because people are seeing that social media, they're seeing famous people floated, they're seeing professional athletes voting, and they're like, I gotta give that a try, starting to read things about it that are, you know, starting to be published by doctors.

People have been talking about for years that floating has made them feel relaxed. Stress-free, it's helped with injury recovery, but not until recently have doctors started putting scientific data and research behind it to prove all these things that people have been saying for so long. And then you have social media and word of mouth now pushing it out.

Like it never did before to get the attention out to the public. So it's been around for a while, but just in the last few years, it's starting to gain extreme popularity. But really like what is floating like at the core? So flotation therapy, we call it meditation on training wheels. You're essentially floating in 10 inches of water.

That's packed with a thousand pounds of magnesium sulfate, better known as Epsom salt. And so floating in that environment puts you in a zero gravity, sensory deprivation state being in that state gives you a whole host of both mental and physical relief. I'm so glad that you said like zero gravity, because I didn't really understand what that meant until I got in there.

And so I don't know, we're going to talk about a whole lot of things here, but like, I can imagine we're up like being pregnant and then feeling really that feeling weightless, you know, like there. That you're not carrying around what, you're, what we're carrying around for me. It's just extra weight for Brooke.

It's all full of extra weight. It's a human, it's a human beings. Yeah know. So Doug, just, we are going to talk about like our experiences, but I want to know how, why, what, okay. So. What did you do before this? I actually worked in finance for about 11 years. Last eight of them before I moved to Charlotte three years ago are in New York city.

So very stress inducing environment, very fast paced, always felt myself, you know, working towards the next deadline. And on top of it, I was still playing hockey and, you know, dealing with the physical elements that physical sports bring on. So did that for 11 years. And the whole time was trying to think of a way to get out of corporate America.

My business partner is very like-minded. He's also in corporate and we always, you know, after a couple of beers or talk about how can we get out of corporate America and do something where we're our own bosses and we're helping out other people. So after a long two or three year road that led us to flotation therapy.

Okay. Now, had you been into like mindfulness and meditation or yoga or like. Were you doing things in your life that were adjacent to this space? I'm just kind of like, how does one get introduced to float therapy? And then how does one go on to like buy a franchise short answer? The answer is not at all.

I've never met Ned, never meditated before in my life. I had never done yoga before. Never heard of floating until about three years ago. And it all started actually with a Steph Curry video, Steph Curry, one of our local Charlotte teens. He was floating in and we saw like a YouTube clip of it, myself and my business partner.

And we just started getting very intrigued by what this floating thing was all about. I assumed it was something that rich and wealthy people did or famous athletes could afford to do to improve their performance. But after a lot of research and a lot of getting down rabbit holes on YouTube, we decided to go try floats for ourselves.

And so I floated two or three times and absolutely did not enjoy it. If you would ask me, you know, now looking back on it, if I ever would have owned a flotation therapy spot, I have said. Absolutely not because I didn't believe in it after two floats it wasn't till my business partner, Mike convinced me that we had check out this corporate staff out in Arizona, or they're doing flotation therapy better than anyone in the country.

He convinced me to fly out there and check it out. And I actually floated at a true West out there, but it was probably the first place I floated where they only focused on floating. They weren't like a Jack of all trades type spa. It was, we do floating. We do floating well. And after that float, it was one of those days where.

I was living in New York still at the time I had just had a super stressful day. It was a Monday on top of everything and just, you know, had to be kind of forced into the pod. Cause I had a million emails to get to and everything. And when I got out of that, out of that float, it was just like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder and I was like, this is something we have to bring back to Charlotte.

So that kind of got us started down that road, the road of opening the spa out three years ago. Excellent. How long have you been open? We've been open about eight months. Okay. So our first a grand opening was, or I guess our grand opening was July 2nd. So I guess the second of this month was eight months.

So we're almost at a year. We're about to burn now. You've just been like really pregnant this whole time. And now like the birth of this spot is about to like, you know, it's about to come on. So, well, thank you for having us. To flow and to have this experience, the reason that we have like a diverse kind of group today is because it was really important if we're talking about pregnancy and, you know, you heard the claim at the beginning of this podcast, that this is not medical advice, but I really wanted the opinion of, you know, one of my favorite and I think most talented midwives.

In Charlotte. And so that's where Alex comes in. Alex, will you just give us a little bit of your background? Sure. I am a certified nurse midwife, um, doctorate prepared. So as advanced practice nurses, we can have usually a master's degree or a doctorate degree. I have been a midwife for going on eight years.

I have been with our current practice, which is Providence OB GYN for the last two years. My experience stems from birth center and hospital. Excellent. And so, and I know you're a mom too. Okay. I didn't know. No, I didn't forget. I was like, be very professional

sure. So I have been married to my husband, Jerry for, he always is the one that remembers, um, I'm the one who wakes up in the morning and runs to the gas station to get an anniversary card. But we have been married for 22 years. We have four children. He just retired from the military. Actually, I think it's been three years ago now.

And one of the signs when at the end of the spot, when I was in the oxygen bar was about veterans and then being able to flow and just that sensory deprivation, your sensor, your senses, I think is just something that I want him to experience given just having been to war three to six times. And I'm going to note on that too.

I've only floated twice now. But both times I was floating, I'm having an experience, but different people are coming into my mind that I was like, Oh, this is really cool. And I'm really thankful that I'm having this opportunity, but just different people kept popping into my mind and I'm like, Oh, I gotta call such and such.

And I really feel like this winter help them with their back pain that they've been feeling or like. You know, my partner, that's been struggling with some anxiety. You know, there are so many different people are popping into my mind. So it's interesting that your husband popped into your mind too. And I'll just add that Alex is also a contributing author to the book.

Nobody told me about that the first six weeks. And so I'll put a link to how to order your book. And the show notes too. So do you want to speak a little bit about what you're contributing pieces about? Sure. I wrote a chapter in the book that is for mostly women of color or friends of women of color. A lot of people know about the statistics that women of color.

They're more likely to die three times more likely, sorry to die from childbirth related issues than any other ethnicity. And I think that's just important just for. Paying attention to what your symptoms are paying attention to yourself, being an advocate for yourself or your friends or your family members being an advocate for that, just because families are diverse.

Yeah. Well, since you said that to you, I will put a little insert here. If anybody wants to flip back to the podcast, there's an earlier episode that I recorded specifically addressing for black maternal health awareness and addressing like this concept of like the disparity in our country. Between women of color, birthing and weight women birthing, and kind of what we could do differently.

And so there's a beautiful birth story that I recorded of, you know, one of my friends sharing her, unfortunately it was a tragic story, but so that's an earlier episode that would expound right upon what you wrote about in your book to be a nice compliment. So we also have we're up. My client. I'm so excited to be at your birth.

It could be tomorrow. It could have been today. It could have been today. The pod, we wouldn't have even known of your water, bro. Yes. So tell us a little bit about yourself. So I'm Brooke. I, um, am a charlatan, so I'm, um, one of the only ones left that am actually delivering at the hospital I was born in. So that's kind of interesting.

36 weeks pregnant with our first baby boy, I'm married to my awesome husband, Jason, and he was a captain on tow boat on the Mississippi river until about a couple of weeks ago until he decided to come home and be at home and not away when this little man gets here. So he's doing commercial plumbing now.

So we found a lot of life, Jane, you know what? I'm just thankful. I was thinking when you hired me, like. Ooh, might just be me in broken that birth. Yeah. You never know he was going to be here. So, yeah, and I work in as a family nurse practitioner in Morrisville, North Carolina as well, so I'm happy to be here.

All right. So what I want to do is. Kind of dive into what I think is on people's minds and I'm pulling, I've got, I received some feedback from some Instagram posts on like what people were curious about in the first thing that Rose to the top, of course, what safety. And so I just sort of noticed something, Doug, when I was getting into that, when I was getting into the pod to float.

There is the sign that says like the perfect float and that will be on my Instagram. But then there was also like a warning on the side of the floor, in the warning label. Like the fourth one is like while praying magnet and it kind of like, you know, addresses this. And so, you know, I want to make sure that we're not making medical claims and stuff here, but I do want to make sure that we say out loud, right.

That Doug is the owner. That we've got Alex here. Who's got her doctorate in nursing and you know, Brooke here and that we're all here saying. You know, we feel like we're gonna recommend the opportunity to float. And so we're just going to leave it at that, right? Like talk to your provider, like we're not your provider talk to your provider, but the reason we're hosting this podcast is because it's our recommendation.

That it's a really awesome experience and we want to share about it. So, Brooke, I really want to you to go first because you're, regnant. And I want you to walk someone through from the moment you like opened up that pod and then what was going through your mind. So I was first worried about if I was going to be able to shut the pod because I was like, okay, is this going to make me feel claustrophobic?

Or am I going to be okay, so stepping in, I was thinking like, am I going to stand on water? Like it's like the Messiah kind of stuff, or do I take down. But getting in, it was like warm and it felt comfortable. And so I got right in that bad boy and laid down and I mean, I actually tried to take a selfie first for you, Heidi, and had my arms kind of out of the pod and was like flailing my legs back and my legs floated out from under me.

So I was like, Oh, Whoa. Okay. So, so this is real. Yeah. So, but yeah, it was amazing. The feeling. Just slightly waitlists. Yes. Was fantastic. And then the technical term that Doug over here is using is zero gravity. Okay. We got it. People assume when they get in there based on their size or shape or whatever that they're not going to float on the water.

So the first time you sit down and actually lay back and float on that surface, it's pretty crazy. So we get that question a lot, like, you know, I'm six, five, 400 pounds. Am I going to float? And we actually have a picture of a bowling ball on our website to prove that. The bowling ball can float. I think float in that water.

Oh, that's really neat. That's neat. I will steal that for my instant again, you know? Okay. So I will say when I was first introduced to the concept, I was really scared and intimidated about, like you said, the claustrophobia of like. Closing the lid and the sensory deprivation, but I want you to speak Brooke, about how did you move through that, about closing the lid?

Like just the initial fear that you had? Like, what was it like to just gain a surrender to, okay. I'm doing this. I think I've gotten a lot better about surrendering here. And then past eight months is a lot about surrendering to things that you don't have necessarily control over. So once I was in, I was in once I realized that there was nothing bad going to happen with the floating I was in.

Yeah. So, yeah, I shut that bad boy. And so it instantly felt good. Yes. Yes. I left the light on. I was not ready to turn the light out. That's a good point. This is an option for everyone listening. You can keep the like beautiful lights that kind of like our dim and come in and out, or you can turn it off and have a complete sensory deprivation.

I would say like minus taste and smell are still kind of present with the salt. You know, but yeah. So you kept the lights on. Yes. Alex, did you keep the lights on? I did. Oh, okay. I did too. Doug. So do you float in the dark? Do I float in the dark? And we always recommend, especially the first experience. A lot of people will leave that light on just because it's a little comforting or they'll leave the potluck crack just to have a little sense of the outside, but.

Usually by the second flow of people are more comfortable in that complete sensory deprivation environment. And we do recommend being in complete darkness and silence as you get more advanced and floating, because that gets you a more benefits then when you do still have some distractions out there.

Okay. Has anyone panicked on you? We haven't had anyone hit the panic button yet. This is important. There is a panic button. If you're uncomfortable, you can just like, you know, walkie talkie into the front desk, which I think is pretty cool. Yeah. We haven't had anyone hit that in a panic mode yet the only incidents we've had, where that caused us a little bit of panic, where people falling into too deep of asleep and not hearing that music come out at the end and actually sleeping half an hour into the filter.

So that's, it's on the opposite of the spectrum. They've locked the door and you're like, hello? They're like, Oh, that was great. Am I late night? Well, this is a really important piece of this like education that we're giving though, because I feel like one of the things I experienced that I was, I was, you know, anything that you've never done before.

Like labor is intimidating, right? There's it can be fear-based until you are educated and empowered about it. And I feel like that's how the float experience everybody's nodding their heads. Like, I feel like that was how the float experience was. We were like, What is this, and you want me to go into this pot and like close the lid and then I'm shut in there.

And like, but then we're all on the other side saying, wow, this was such a magical experience that we're like, thinking of who else we can share this. You know, experience with. And so I asked you that question, like, did anyone panic because I assumed the answer was going to be no, because it is such a peaceful thing.

So if you're listening and you are like, Oh, I could never do that. Oh, you can do that. You should do that. It was really. Really special. And I can only imagine if I was like pregnant with it, like the hips and the back and how wonderful that must have felt. So, Brooke, I wanted to ask you about positioning, right?

Because an Alex, I really want you to chime in here. We're told from the moment we're pregnant, not to sleep on our back, not to lay on our back for extended periods of time. Floating is for one hour. So Brooke, what position were you in? So it was most comfortable to lay on my back. However, I was most excited about on my belly.

I was a belly sleeper before I was pregnant and I wrote it as long as I could sleeping on my belly until you get bigger and obviously can't lay on your belly anymore. So I was most excited about that. So I was. Able to lay on my belly and the float. So logistically though, how did you keep your head above the water?

So you weren't like eating and breathing saltwater. I did my hands under my chin and kind of my elbows out in a way, and just made sure not to get my mouth or my eyes, you know, too close to the water, which wasn't terribly comfortable. A float would be great for that head or a chin rest or something.

Cause I could have stayed like that longer, but. And so that was nice being on my belly finally, safely, but. Being on my back was actually my favorite. It was my most preferred position. Wonderful. So, Alex, how do you feel about that? Like you floated on your back, I'm assuming too, so you experienced it, but like then you knew Burke was in the next room and.

You know, is pregnant. And would you be comfortable recommending your patients float on their back after having expenses? Yes, I actually would. I think that the zero gravity, even the positioning, you're not straight on your back. There's not your weight. Your body's weight is not on your back. And the uterus weight is not on your back, which is the reason.

For the recommendation of not laying on your back to optimize like profusion and scientific stuff, but in this situation, those things don't apply. So I would absolutely recommend floating for pregnant people on your back. Okay. Wonderful. I will say I tried to flip over on my side. And, you know, I don't where y'all come in different shapes and sizes.

So I don't know if this is just me. I was curious if anyone else tried, I tried to flip over and then it just flipped me right back. I tried and it rolled me back to it did. Okay. That makes me feel a little bit better. Cause I kept going. I can't get over here. It's trying to snuggle up on my left and then it just it's.

So zero gravity, it just brings you back over. And I was like, okay, my back it is. One of the things I noticed is how much tension we hold in our bodies, even when we're floating in zero gravity. And I wanted to ask you about that. Like, I was hearing him floating on top of the water, but I was like, still like, Ugh.

And I had to like, let go. And I like, so I went like body part by body part, like. Wiggling my toes and kind of like relaxing my calves and my thighs and my belly, and then just like opening up. So it was interesting to me that it was zero gravity, but it wasn't in my body's instant response. Wasn't deep relaxation.

I achieved it through breath, but I was one during, did you guys have a moment or talk about, like, were you noticing where the tension was at in your body? Yes. And my neck, I had to keep reminding myself to like, fan my chin back because you can kind of hyperextend your neck while you're in there. But your tendency is to kind of tense your shoulders up.

So I had to keep reminding myself like, Brooke, relax that. Yeah. And so yeah, through breath and practice. Yeah, it actually ended up working out a little bit better, but it. Yeah. Do you carry a lot of tension there? Yeah. Alex, where was your attention? Exactly. Same. So I was, had my head relaxed and I was able to figure that part out.

Once I realized the rest of my body floated, but then I'd be like Josie and gaze it. Doesn't and I shrug my shoulders to make sure I stayed floating. And then I had to, like, you did talk myself, body part by body part to relax.

It's Heidi. I'm interrupting the podcast to let you know about a free resource that I've created for [email protected]. All you have to do is go to birth story.com and then click the tab that says the workbook. Once you put your email address in an entire resource library, of all of my secret sauces are available to you for free.

As my thank you for listening to the birth story podcast and being part of this [email protected] under the workbook, you will find a birth plan template articles on circumcision, delayed cord clamping, flipping a breech baby packing your hospital bag, acupressure points, placenta, encapsulation, and so much more.

There are over 20 free articles ready for you to [email protected]. Now let's get back to this amazing episode.

Well, this is a really good place to interject Alex that like I'm was wondering, like your hair is so beautifully braid. Ed. Thank you. And you know, I know this was a concern upfront of saying like, okay, I don't want to get my hair wet. Can get my hair wet. So tell me, like, what strategies did you like deploy for this float as like a woman of color to protect your hair and then how did that go for you?

So that's great. So now thinking back, I wish I would have also maybe put oil of some type on it, but then I didn't know how that would affect the pool or the spa. I'm sorry. But I had three grocery bags and two bonnets and I layered them grocery bag bought at grocery bags. Okay. Just in case of what someone wants to know the exact, but I also wear glasses.

And I have to take them off at the very last moment, just because of the way my vision is. And so putting my glasses okay. Or my ears then left a little tiny yeah. Gap between my glasses and the plastic bag, which was fine because my head was above that point. But then at one point, once you really begin to relax in the water seeped in, and, but it was only at 40 minutes in and it wasn't bad.

Okay. Okay. So you didn't achieve. Your full goal of not getting your hair right. Did not. Okay. Okay. So maybe we could, well, you know, maybe we'll think about that. And when I post the show notes, I may post some strategies. If you are not wanting to get your hair wet, how you could like achieve that. One of the things that I would like to pass on, if you're going to do this, as I wear contacts, And I would tell myself if I had to do it again, I would say like wear your glasses.

So that's, I could take them off because my contacts got a little bit of saltwater and them, and then was a little bit dry. So if anyone's listening in, you're like, Oh, Like, we're going to get you totally prepared for your first float, hopefully during your pregnancy so that we can make your body feel really good and prepared, you know, for your birth.

And so our eight, well, it was a 60 minute float. So tell me about like where your Headspace was. Brooke, were you thinking about like the, your grocery list or are you thinking about labor delivery at all? I did have a hard time, like. Getting my mind to stop thinking about other things. I think we live in a society where we're always thinking about the next thing coming in or what we have to do or labor as a pregnant woman or so.

Yeah, I did have to like continue, draw my mind back into focus on my breathing and relaxation. And so that was a struggle. But once you get it, I think Alex said. About 40 minutes in, she started to relax and that was about the same for me. Cause I was about to fall asleep when the music came on. And that was at what?

When, when does the music come on? 55 minutes. Okay. Okay. So I was like on the verge of being completely out. So. I think that that's are really, like, if you think about it in the grand scheme, it only took 40 minutes to fall into like complete deep relaxation and like achieve that. You know, for me, it was about 20 minutes.

Like I spent the fur on both floods. I spent the first 20 minutes just kind of with a little intention and anxiety and my own things before I deliberately surrendered. When I was floating though, I had the first time and this time, like all of my doula clients are just in there and I'm thinking like, this is, this floating is such like a great representation of birth, right?

Like number one, for me, it felt like the womb. Did anyone else kind of feel like this might be what it could have been like to be in our mother's womb? Yes, I did just being pregnant maybe at like 20, 25 weeks when he had a little more room to float around and the walls. Now there's not as much room, but yeah.

Yeah. It's interesting that you say that because we've actually had both male and female customers come out of the pod and say, it's coming out of there. It was like childbirth. Again. It's interesting to hear males talk about that too, but also a lot of our pregnant voters will say. They got, they get really deep into the folk because the pot is like a womb and they have a baby floating and inside of them.

So it's a real deep experience for a lot of our pregnant floaters. I can imagine that connection. So we did have a little moment where like he was kicking and I was floating and relaxing and it was kind of, you know, and I would run into a wall every. Now, and again, and it was kind of like, okay buddy, I, I kind of feel your pain, you know, and that apparently there's actually a term for it.

And I didn't coin this term. I was researching about it cause we do have a lot of pregnant floaters and it's called the mirror effect. So by mirroring the baby's experience, floating allows you to deepen your connection with the child. And a lot of times in the pod, you can feel your heartbeat more intensely.

I was interested to hear if you could actually feel your baby's movements or heartbeat more intensely. As well as your own, you know, that's funny that you say that because cause when I laid on my belly, when I floated on my belly, the heart. B I could hear, or I could feel it so much stronger than when I was on my back.

And you would think it was the opposite, Alex, because we worry about compression of the vena cava and that kind of thing on your back. But on my belly is when I felt it even more. So it was, there was this definite connection just coming into play that I not don't normally recognize day to day while I was in there.

So it was convenient. Yeah. Yeah, Alex, what were you thinking about or not thinking about? So a little bit, I was thinking about raising four children. It's been 15 years or it's either been a nightlight or somebody touching me or so it's been a very long time just to be in complete quiet. And so just like understanding what quiet was was initially like, do I hear anything?

Was my first like processing part. And then I just really just started to relax. And I did hear my heartbeat in my ears, which was weird. But then, because I'm like an instruction person, the video that, so you want, when you come in, you watch a video, like an instruction video. And the video said, if you start thinking too much about too many different things to breathe.

And so then that's what I began to do. I began counting my breaths and that was how that helps me relax a lot. Yeah, I was going to say, let's spend a little moment on breath because I feel like it's so applicable to this experience that we had, but it's also, people are listening to this podcast because they're training in a sense like they're preparing and they're training for their upcoming birth.

And what that process is going to look like in breath is such an important part of it. And so. I was wondering if we could like, just share a little bit, like literally share our breathing and kind of like what that looks like. And so, cause I was playing around with breath while I was in there to move through my anxiety.

Quiet makes me anxious. I think Alex, I'm hearing you talk and I'm like, yes, I have two little ones at home and, and I'm an entrepreneur and I'm a doula and I'm always busy and there's never quiet. I mean, I have a dog though, you know, to me when I'm trying to sleep too. So like I was playing, you know, with breath in a way that I haven't done that before.

And so like, let's start with Alex, Alex, like when you say you're counting your breaths, like, what do you mean by that? Like belly out? Yeah. So I would actually belly out five breaths in like, Hey, Oh, five breaths. And I would count them in my head quietly and then exhale five breaths at a count of five. So breathing in two, three, four, five, exhale, two, three, four or five.

And then I see what my body's response to that was, you know, do I feel my diaphragm inflating? Do I feel it. You know, deflating. So it helps me kind of focus on where I was and be present. I was going to say one of the things that I really noticed with the sensory deprivation is that whatever you do is your primary focus in that pod.

So. All right now, Brooke, your birth is upcoming and you know, I didn't teach you a Lamaze class as you're a doula. We just did like some generic childbirth education. So tell me about like your intuitive, like what bro that came forward for you. So I'm a big Yogi. So I've been doing tons of yoga, especially now coming up down to the wire.

But yeah, so a lot in yoga, it's inhaling through the nose, out through the mouth and a mantra that I like to stick to is in, with a good out with the bad or in, with peace out with fear, that kind of thing. So I would like kind of have those mantras to myself and breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth while I was in there.

So peace. And with peace. I love that you connected breath with a thought. Yeah, I think that was really beautiful. Yeah. And then, so Doug, you own the spa and you've been doing this a lot. So what does breath like look like for you? If you were someone who wasn't Yogi and wasn't into mindfulness and all these things beforehand.

And now I would say you're probably a master of your craft. So, what does breath look like for you? Yeah, it's kind of nailed on the two biggest things, but one is, if your mind starts getting distracted or you start struggling with some anxious thoughts, especially the first flow you guys have hit on a lot of the first float, common symptoms, caring, like finding tension in your body, finding stress in your body, or feeling a little bit anxious when you're alone with your thoughts for the first time and that sensory deprivation environment.

But that's why the breathing is so important because one, it kind of distracts the mind and helps you focus on something like. Breathing in peace and the good thoughts and breathing out the negativity and the, and the bad things. So I always recommend to people, and I think the video does a nice job touching on it before the float, you know, count to a hundred and focused on some really deep breaths in, through the nose, some really strong breaths out and releasing all that tension through your breath.

And a lot of times, for me personally, and I think a few of our clients share the same, same thoughts, but after like 20 breaths of me really focusing on counting. I find that I'm either sleeping or I found something that I really want to think about and plan out or strategize in the pot. And I find myself going there as opposed to like having any worried thoughts or anxious thoughts.

So I think focusing on your breathing is one, a good way to distract, but also a lot of times it leads you to falling asleep or, you know, getting into that place of mind that you want to be in, in the pod hearing you talk. It made me really think about birth partners also because I'm like, we're focused here on like the pregnancy aspect of it, but like, Going into your birding time.

Often there may be a birth partner present with you or a birth partner. That's helping you to prepare for your labor and delivery. And I was thinking, this is a beautiful opportunity for connection. There is a process of going deep inside of yourself and surrendering in a float spa. And also that is mirrored.

In the birthing process. And so if I could go back in time, I really wish I had an opportunity for my husband to I've done something like this with me to have experienced being naked, being vulnerable, kind of doing something that maybe feels uncomfortable upfront, but then kind of releasing following breath.

So that then when we came together into birding time, we were a stronger team. So I really feel like there's an opportunity with true rest and with the float spa to like engage all of our pregnant women, but also I'd really encourage you to go with your partner. And on that note, you don't float in the same pod.

It's great to hear you say that. Especially coming after Valentine's day, when we had a lot of couples buying Valentine's gifts for each other and floats. They'd say, so where's the double pod. And we say, you know, we want you to do this by yourself. But to your point, it is an amazing experience that you're actually sharing together.

Like you're floating at the same time in separate rooms, but the connection you find afterwards, and just talking about your varying experiences is it's pretty amazing to hear people sometimes talk about it in the Oasis room and bringing us into it and sharing their thoughts. It's amazing to see how they still find that connection, even when they weren't physically with each other.

So how soon after, like I would say I had like a good amount of back pain going into it. Did anyone else go into this with a specific area of pain or tension prior to your float? That was bothering you? Swelling to my ankles. Okay. 36 weeks and three days. Okay. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I have to swelling goes away.

I will say my ankles looked smaller in that shower on the way out. So yeah. That's pretty amazing. Yeah. Yeah. That's not even something I thought about like what effect that may have on prenatal swelling. So that was nice. I don't know if it was the zero gravity or circulation, but yeah, it definitely did something Alex, where you holding tension.

Yeah. So I just generally hold tension. I'm always thinking about something. And so part of it is just not holding that tension for an hour. Yeah. It felt really relaxing afterwards. One of the things I was worried about was is this water going? And it didn't. And so I was like, okay, this is great temperature held, which was just very, it was, it was a great, great experience.

And I was felt really relaxed afterwards. Shoulder tension. And then I only started getting shoulder tension once we came into the studio. So that was fine.

I was going to say my back still feels pretty good. I mean, I'm sitting in an uncomfortable chair, so there's almost like a newness to the pain, but the reason I'm kind of bringing this up, I'm going somewhere with this is Doug is data. I'm just kind of curious, like. What data is there? Is this all anecdotal, like, Hey, I did this thing and this is how I feel.

Or like, if someone's really research minded, And not just for pregnancy, but like for overall wellbeing, like, are there current clinical trials going on? Have they been concluded? I guess I would just like to hear a little bit from you on the difference between like, you know, how we feel or perceive the experience to be versus actual data.

So I'll start by just kind of, it's interesting to hear you all say that in the pod, once you're in that environment, you did feel a special tension or stress in certain areas. It's very common to actually, so say you go on with some back pain. It's common that when you get in there, it actually feels a little bit more intense and that's because your brain has nothing else to be distracted by.

So it goes right to whatever's triggering it, whether that's pain or stress or whatever. So the pod usually does a good job of telling you what's troubling you, whether it's physical or mental. And you'll, you will notice it does get more intense when you're in that environment. So I'll be interested to hear in the coming days and weeks, how you kind of feel that the effects of the float carry on and reduce that pain and swelling and, and, you know, the mental anxiety, stress and stuff going forward.

But it is common to hear that it does feel a little bit more intense while you're actually in flow. If you get swelling again, Brooke, I would love to know if you go back. If it like took it away again, you know, so, but is there actual, like, do you know of any clinical trials or like, you know, research studies?

Yeah. So I think that might be something that I could post in the podcast. I'm not sure how exactly that works afterwards, but yeah, there are so are true as corporate works with a few different doctors that have published some of the leading studies in, you know, the effects of flotation therapy. So I could maybe post a few out.

I'll see if there's some that target specifically pregnant women, but. Just to have that scientific data behind it, and people can click through and get down the rabbit hole of, of, you know, the different studies that are been done and kind of how I started off saying that a lot of it started with word of mouth with floating and that didn't gain a ton of traction in the seventies, eighties, but now that these doctors are coming out in publishing studies that prove stress reduction in anxiety reduction.

Physical pain relief, faster recovery from injuries, better sleep, all that stuff. There's there's the data to prove it. Yeah. I'm one of those people that have been listening to the podcast for awhile, know a lot of things about me and one of them is in some instances I'm very data driven. And in other instances, I'm like, I don't really give a shit about the data.

Like I ate my placenta. I don't care if there was a research 70 enough women out there told me this makes you feel better. After you have a baby. And I was like, okay, give me that placenta then, because I need to feel better, you know, but then there are other things, like when I was looking at an induction and it was like, I really want to look at that data on like what specific week gestation is the most effective induction date.

So I really feel like. You know, it's good to look at the data, but like, I don't want anybody in this process to get caught up on the data, go float. If you feel better, keep floating, you know, be your own some things I feel like you should be your own clinical trial, you know, on. So how do you feel about that, Alex, as someone whose data-driven and also like Brooke, you're pregnant, but you're also a nurse practitioner.

So like, How do you feel about what I, the statement I agree with you 100%. I think that if it works for you and there's no harm, then do that. And plus this society we live in and hopefully, maybe this will get edited well, but with the society we live in, I'm not sure what the funding would look like to even make that science come out to me.

You know? So it's hard to say. It may work in a movie or great. And in Switzerland, the data is strong and people do it. And like, that's the first thing your doctor writes you a prescription for, but you know, in the U S it just, if it works for you do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So I'm going to go like a layer deep with this too.

And if you're not comfortable answering it's okay. You don't have to, but I would really like to know after you've experienced, says after you've heard Brooke, like we're all talking like. You're going to practice tomorrow as a midwife, and there's going to be a lot of women in their journey. Like this is just one day and one float.

Like, do you feel like you would recommend it if someone was having, if they were pregnant and they were in pain or do you feel you'd really still want this to be something that they find on their own? I, for sure I would recommend. Bloating to my pregnant patients. I think that it has lots of benefits, whether they're personal, whether they're evidence-based benefits in our practice, we really try to provide a holistic range of tools to pregnant people, just because Tylenol may not be what somebody wants to do for certain things.

So we try to provide a range and sometimes you have. A person who also know you really just need to do something for yourself. Right. And so I try to think about that, just that holistic, like, okay, you're dealing with your children, you're doing all these other things. I think you just need 60 minutes by yourself.

Right. And so the pain will also, you'll also have some relaxation, but just that time by themselves. So absolutely. I would recommend it. Okay. I think Brooke, what do you think if I added it on to my doula services? Like, Hey, when you hire your doula, it comes with a float. I think that'd be awesome. I love it.

All of my clients currently get two massages, one before and one after. And I like sort of joke because I'm like, well, you just have to tell your partner that this is what your doula costs, and then you don't have to have a separate conversation about like getting I'm getting a massage before or after.

So I'm like, it's a non negotiable. If you want to work with me, you got to get these two massages, you know? So I like build in the pampering. I think we're gonna figure out a build and all the doulas listening, figure out how to build and you know, some flute therapy, but honestly, no, let's talk about costs, right?

Because the reality is this is a luxury, right? This was wonderful. So the things logistically that I want to know specifically about, and we're talking about this is a franchise, so there are true rest throughout the country. But like you are the owner of this one, like kind of what are your prices? And, and please like with the thought that like we're talking to a global audience, so like, Maybe not just what's Charlotte's doing about what a general idea of cost might be.

Yeah, absolutely. So the price is actually are consistent across the country. And right now for your first float for anyone's first float, they can get our introductory rate of $65. We are a membership based business. However, because with floating, it's not something that you want to just try once and be done with it.

It's like going to the gym once and expecting to get the results. You might have to go for two years to get, but. It's like any mental or physical wellness therapy you want to keep working at it, keep getting better at it. Every float gets better and better and different and different, but the goal is to come back consistently and to never pay full price for a float.

So with our membership plans, we have some customers that float once a month for $65 a month, we have some customers that come on our unlimited plan for $367 a month and float every single day or every other day with all of our plans, we allowed customers to share with other people. So. We always recommend, you know, getting at least a couple of floats in a month, which we have plans for that.

And we have plans for coming once a week, which is really the sweet spot for a lot of people and keeping the effects of it throughout that week. So it's definitely a very cost affordable model that we run with the memberships. And we also do packages for people that may be, let me try five floats and see how I feel after five, or let me try three floats.

And so. We have a three, five and 10 packages as well. And then on a larger scale, we do a lot of health and wellness events to try to, okay. The wider public. So school fairs or the doctor's office is opening up a new practice and wants to bring in a bunch of health and wellness vendors. So we do corporate packages in memberships as well.

So in my mind that says equivalent to what we're paying for prenatal massages. Like, so for giving ourselves a pampering tool, I think that this is one opportunity where you could say like, well, I'm gonna get a massage. I may get a pedicure. I may get a flow. But like all of these things are like working towards achieving, you know, getting our body and our mind into like a really good rhythm, especially right before we're preparing for our birth.

You mentioned earlier, maybe not floating after 37 weeks. I didn't really see a reason not to flow. Okay. So everybody, all the girls in the room are like float till the end. In fact, I would probably I'm thinking like, well, Nobody has to know I'm an early lane bird being, but anyway, I know you have a company line, so I would like to know what, sorry, what's your company line on pregnancy?

So the 37 weeks is just because I think it's proven after that point that the there's a higher chance of water breaking. I've never been pregnant, but I've heard that that's the case. And so I think that that's just kind of the disclaimer level, because we wouldn't want someone to contaminate the pod and then drain it and.

And refill it. So I think that's just kind of like the cutoff as that the brand is comfortable with. Got it. So premature rupture of the membranes would be when your water breaks when you're not in labor. And my understanding, Alex, everybody right here is it's a, it's about like 10% of the time. So it's really not that high of a chance of it happening.

I'll just have to put that out there because it's an education podcast. So. The chances of your water rupturing when you're not in labor, if you were to go float, you know, are, are still very, very low. So, but I will, I will go stick with it. I think we've actually had some of that after 37 weeks that, you know, no, I think we've actually had somebody in that had their child within a week of their float.

So I see, I would really like to know, like, if you were, if you had a chance to float in early labor, really kind of like, we always say gravity, you know, like. So I'm wondering, like, would it work against you or would it work for you? I actually float. Yeah. I actually encourage a bath at home in early labor.

I'm like take a bath and go to sleep and then you can wake up and walk and sounds wonderful. Yeah. Brooke, are you ready for your bath and your walk and you're asleep? Cause I'm ready before we get into it. So my skin was so soft after. And I guess we already know about some of the properties of Epson salt, but I just had to point that out, that it felt right.

Yeah. And that's why we actually recommend for that second shower after you get out of the pod, not like deep scrubbing, all that Epsom salt out of your skin and hair, because it has proven to be really beneficial for both skin and hair. So I always leave feeling smooth. It's been like two hours and it still feels will last for a while.

It still feels really good. I had a question. Did you have, I feel like Alex, you had another thing, the anxiety part that the video talks about that is very real, so about. I think it was minute 50 or so. Cause I actually, I sat up and then I laid back down and then I sat up again and I'll look at my clock to see what time it was.

And I was like, Okay. You have 10 more minutes. You can get out. It's fine. And then, so I just wanted to point out, like, try to resist the urge to do that, which is what the video tells you to do. That's extremely common, especially in that first float, because like I said, you've never been in that alone with your thoughts and that sensor deprivation before.

So I would say just, you know, especially when you're giving this a try fight through that the first time, and I'm interested to hear your experience too, having now floated, once you kind of come in with that knowledge of the whole experience and. You know, what you're getting into and a lot of people will go into their second float and just feel so much more comfortable than they did going into the first float.

I absolutely had more courage was more comfortable. I just felt like, Oh, I got this. I see, I didn't even hesitate. I close the lid, turned off the lights for maybe five or 10 minutes, turned it back on, you know, my eyes were closed anyway. Or I, we didn't talk about that was everyone's eyes closed her open.

I had mine closed. Okay. Yeah. I closed mine for a good portion. Yeah. Yeah. Open them every now and again, just to like reach it. Yeah. It's cause when you're zero gravity, you're like where you feel like you're floating on a cloud. Like that's the closest I thought like this is the closest I could feel to like actually like floating way to heaven or something.

You know, I was like, this is such a beautiful know experience. So where I want it. And the S is like applicable. To the birth, right? So if anyone is open resources abound and you're like, Hey, I really want to add a tool into my childbirth education and my childbirth preparedness. One of the things that I can not like, it was just a resounding, like how loud can I say it?

Is that when you are in labor, It is the, for me, it was the most spiritual experience I've ever had. It was the most internal I've ever gone. It is sensory deprivation. When people are talking to you in labor, you're like, you don't even meet you're like you don't hear them. Or it sounds very irritating, but everything's like very cloudy, but then other senses are magnified, like taste and smell.

Sound is one of those ones that I think like, kind of goes, goes away or get foggy. But I really felt like, like when I was trying to be intentional in my thinking in the pod, I was thinking of somewhere could practice this. Stillness and this quiet and this breath with the sensory deprivation. So you're forced into it.

I really feel like it would be a very powerful tool if someone is interested in having a natural childbirth or if they're interested and going as long as they can naturally, you know, before adding in an epidural or nitrous or something else into that process. But like, Part of becoming a mom is surrendering not only to the birth process, but like surrendering forever that there is going to be loud noise.

That's beautiful and busy, but like preparing us to know how to step away. So even if we're in the middle of like, Multiple toddlers. And we've got another baby growing in our belly, like, and it's a really stressful day that practice of this float you can apply like later after you, you put the kids to bed, so is a practice and, and just mindfulness.

It's just a good tool that helps you get there faster. Like Brooke said, 40 minutes, Alex said 40 minutes. I was there in 20 minutes. And so, so that's what I wanted to leave that on to everyone listening is that. I think this is a really good tool that could help you with childbirth preparedness. Anything else you guys want to say?

I'm just really excited about the experience. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. It was amazing. Yeah, Doug, we really appreciate you inviting us into your space and teaching us all about float therapy. Thanks.

Thank you for listening to birth story. My goal is you'll walk away from each episode with a clear picture of how labor and delivery might go, and that you will feel empowered by the end of your pregnancy to speak up plan and prepare for the birth you want. No matter what that looks like.