Do I need to know how to swim?
No.
Your aquatic practitioner guides you and does all the work for you. Your head is always supported. Your nose remains above the water line. You are floated and gently moved through the water in a series of graceful, fluid movements.
How does aquatic therapy work?
Basically, the brain goes on holiday.Being moved upon the water creates sensory input and provides a unique context of experience that helps the brain make a shift. The water’s surface turns off the brain’s defenses and allows consciousness to send new messages of ease and comfort through neural pathways.
Non-invasive, non-chemical, and with generally no side effects, aquatic therapies promote relaxation, relief and reflection. They compliment and enhance your surgical recovery, pharmaceutical and physical therapies.
What makes aquatic therapy different from land-based modalities?
Four aspects of water set this experience apart. They are hydrostatic pressure, buoyancy, resistance, and warmth.The hydrostatic pressure of the water surrounding the body helps blood circulate from the legs to the heart, often helping to reduce swelling in the ankles and feet.
Buoyancy provides assistance and support. It lessens gravitational forces on the body and better supports limbs that are less able to bear weight. Joint compression and pain diminish. You move more easily in water warmed to your exact body temperature.
In this gravity-lessened and supportive environment, individuals working to develop improved body awareness and related skills such as breath control, balance, coordination and gait are also likely to benefit.
The water’s resistance may promote musculoskeletal shifts that improve balance, postural control, and trunk stability. Muscule strength may be increased in all ranges. Clients generally experience enhanced sensory awareness.
Warm water softens connective tissue, including fascia, tendons, ligaments, and muscles. One’s range of motion is naturally broadened.
Why warm saltwater?
We maintain a specific daily water temperature of 97°. Our pool is heated to the same temperature as the human body.Floating in this "same as me" environment facilitates a deep connection with life and aids the physical, mental, and emotional self to appreciate more beauty and satisfaction in your world. Wonderment is engaged.
Water improves motion and flexibility. Warm saltwater has a massaging effect on the body allowing muscles to relax while reducing pain.
Moving through warm saltwater - bobbing against eddies and currents - quiets the mind as the energy centers in your body are stimulated.
Your natural buoyancy reduces gravitational pull and lessens compressive forces on healing structures.
Floating nearly weightless allows your mind to disconnect from the constant drone of mental chatter. In this multi-sensory experience of nurturing calm you are free to heal, relax, and expand.
Each session is different and customized to your needs. And, although each person’s experience is unique, receiving a series of treatments will likely restore inner peace, vitality and and personal sense of wellbeing.
Who benefits?
The vast majority of people can participate: Individuals with a wide range of needs to relax and reduce stress, as well as people with orthopedic, neurological, neuromuscular, or musculoskeletal challenges often benefit.Conditions can be acute, transient or chronic. Our practitioners tailor your sessions to address one’s functional abilities.
To learn more about the benefits of aquatic therapy click here.
