If you follow this blog at all you know the last Dreampod I installed was in British Columbia. Needless to say, I was cold. So, when I found out the next pod would be in Florida, I was a bit excited. Instead of trying to figure out how to pack my parka for Canada, I was back to my flip flops and sandals. I got a few looks walking through the airport as I was leaving Utah- there was a foot and a half of snow on the ground- but it was worth it once I landed in Tampa.
This was to be the very first ever Dreampod in the beautiful state of Florida. I was installing it at Best Day Fitness in St. Petersburg. Best Day Fitness is owned and operated by Chris Tolisano. It’s an extremely nice little fitness studio where they provide better educated strength training, hence the B.E.S.T. Now they get the wonderful opportunity to offer floatation therapy to their clients. Chris was extremely nice and very excited about the Dreampod.
If you’re new to floating, the reality is it has a thousand and one benefits. One really big benefit is recovery from any sort of strenuous physical activity. So it kind of makes sense to put one inside a gym. It was a perfect fit. Literally, it fit perfectly inside the room at Best Day.
By the second day, the tank was done. Salt had been dumped, hoses had been connected, pump was running, and my favorite thing of all- no leaks! St. Petersburg is about 30 minutes outside of Tampa and very close to the Gulf of Mexico. Chris was extremely generous and put me up in a little motel in Treasure Island. That’s right, there’s a town called Treasure Island in Florida. Unfortunately, the streets were not lined with ship wrecked pirates singing drunkenly as they clanked tankards of overflowing rum together. However, I did manage to find a mermaid and my motel was across the street from the beach so I survived.
The first night I was there I didn’t make it back to my motel until after dark. I’ve lived in Utah the majority of my life. I love the mountains and the outdoors. Although I didn’t grow up along the coast of any ocean, my affinity and love for it runs deep. I’m fairly certain I have spent many past lives swimming beneath the waves and sailing across the world. Even though it was dark and I had been awake since 3 am, that first night I still walked down to the beach. I stood at the shore and listened to the waves roll in as the moonlight danced along the surface of the water.
The next morning I woke up and walked the beach again as the sun was rising. I love that spot on beaches where you can stroll peacefully as the waves lap at your ankles; every so often that bigger wave will come rolling in and splash water up to your knees. That’s the sweet spot for me. The water was warm on my feet and the view was spectacular. Each day when I was finished working on the Dreampod I would head back over to the beach and simply walk. I’m still a kid at heart so I collected shell after shell. Yes, some were for my wife and kids back home, but I was planning on keeping some as well. One evening, I was lucky enough to get there in time to watch the sun set. It was as amazing as you would imagine it to be and then some.
This is the part where I wax poetically about life and taking stock in the quiet, small, simple moments. The moments where you get the opportunity to watch the sunset on a sandy beach somewhere. Or the ones where you watch lightning dance between the clouds of a distant thunderstorm. Hint: I may have lucked out and got that one too. This is also the part where I draw parallels to the relaxing special moments in life and floating. I mentioned earlier how floating aids in recovery from strenuous physical activity. It really does. You absorb magnesium while in the tank and this helps relax your muscles and lubricate your joints. The reality is, floating aids in recovery from a strenuous life. Regardless of what you do or how you do it, getting into a float tank will make your life better. Until we all remember to sit on beaches and watch sunsets everyday, we need to float. Hell, put those two things together in the same day and you may just end up with the perfect life.
