Viñamarino Entrepreneurship Offers Floating Therapies with Virtual Reality and Oxygen Therapy
Two young Chilean entrepreneurs are the only ones who combine flotation therapies with visors, for those who suffer from claustrophobia.
Floatation Therapy is a practice that has multiple benefits for mental and physical health, as it relieves chronic stress; pain such as back and neck pain caused by arthritis, tendonitis and bursitis; inflammations, insomnia and psychosomatic pain. It also boosts immune function, improves limb circulation, rejuvenates and relaxes, among others.
Floating takes place in a light-proof, soundproofing flotation capsule, also called an isolation or sensory deprivation tank. Inside it has 25.4 centimeters of water with 450 kilos of dissolved epsom salts. The person enters it and floats effortlessly.
For all the benefits of this therapy, Christopher Muñoz and Ángel Naranjo decided to start the Float Nation center in 2021, located at 12 norte 610, Viña del Mar, with the idea of providing a deep rest.
“In one of my previous jobs I was under a lot of pressure and had long shifts, so I had a crisis and got facial paralysis from stress. I met these capsules in Toronto and Tokyo, and the first time I used them I felt an indescribable rest, just the one I wanted when I was so stressed,” says Christopher Muñoz, a shipping engineer with a master’s degree in economics.
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Christopher and Angel wanted to add value to floating therapies, and that’s why they’re the only ones in Chile that offer the virtual reality (VR) experience, recommended especially for claustrophobic people, and they are the only floating center that has oxygen bar. Both can also be enjoyed outside the capsule, combined with a massage and 8D music (binaural sound).
VR is offered through visors and oxygen therapy through a nose that allows it to reach the lungs with 100% purity. “With virtual reality we show virtual universes, there is one that is a mandala, in which the universe and the stars are crossed,” explains Christopher. “Scopes are ideal for the claustrophobic, because it helps them forget that they are in an enclosed, confined space inside the capsule,” he adds.
“The oxygen bar has many benefits, it helps relaxation, concentration, deep sleep, blood circulation, 80% of toxins disappear, improves the appearance of the skin, stimulates digestion, among many others. In Chile there are only two oxygen bars, and we are the second,” explains Ángel.
The floating session lasts at least 60 minutes and is equivalent to 3 days of good sleep of 8 hours and the effects are from 45 minutes, it is ideal to do it 1 time a week. “People receive an induction talk, we tell them that they will float in a saline solution, we indicate the most beneficial positions to float and after the talk we take them to the capsule,” explains Ángel Naranjo, a transport engineer at PUCV.
Before entering the capsule you have to take a shower. It is recommended not to activate the senses, such as speaking or opening the eyes, so as not to interrupt the “rest trance”.
The water is heated to the same temperature as the skin’s surface and Float Nation capsules have the option to generate white noise and have a neutral odor. After each use, they are cleaned inside with ozone.
For all these benefits and more, well-known names undergo this therapy, such as tennis player Novak Djokovic; chef Anthony Bourdain; Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony KIedis; musician Peter Gabriel; Olympic sprinter Carl Lewis, the actors Emma Watson, Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Downy Jr. and Russell Brand; and NBA player Steph Curry, among others.
Anthony Bourdain described his experience with floating: “An hour in the tank and I came out relaxed, rested, with my back feeling amazing... Interestingly, I found that for a day or two after floating, my experience of colors and flavors would be much sharper and more intense. The reds were redder, the blues brighter, and the taste of the food more explosive. Lying in the tank, I felt like I was moving through space, my brain speaking to itself in an unfamiliar language.”
Can everyone float? People who are allergic to magnesium cannot use the capsules, nor can those who have just dyed their hair and those who have exposed wounds. The minimum age is 12 years old.
Most of those who go to Float Nation for a floating session do so for stress, burnout, depression, and muscle soreness. “There are also a lot of people who have panic attacks, people with fibromyalgia and tinnitus. In the last 2 we have been very successful in combating acute stress,” says Christopher Muñoz in www.floatnation.cl and on their social networks @floatnation.cl (Instagram, TikTok and Facebook) more information about this healing and innovative therapy can be found.