The forgotten benefits of floating

The funny thing about sitting in a hot tub is that it forces you to chill.

Floating doesn't take much effort, and almost anyone can do it. There are a lot of benefits to floating that you might not be aware of.

To begin with, the simple act of submerging yourself makes you stop everything else. You can't be typing a report, peeling vegetables or dialing a cell phone while you're floating - all you can do is think or talk.

One of the other good things about hot tubs is that they are hot. This means that when you sit in them for a few minutes, you get hot too. Your body temperature raises, your circulation improves, and your blood pressure lowers, leaving you feeling warm, safe, and happy.

And you can dip your head underwater, cutting off the sounds in the room. It's nice not to have to concentrate on hearing everything around you for a change.

Hot tubs are also good public spaces. Like I said before, when you're floating you can't do much else but think or talk, and sometimes there are nice people to talk too. Chances are they will be warm too, which means they'll be in a good mood to talk.

Although public bathing has such strong roots in our history it is often over-looked in our day to day suburban lives, crowded out by bedroom television sets and basement parkades. The benefits of floating are simple but so profound - I recommend finding a way to make it part of your weekly routine.

Many community rec centres have late night swims - find one in your neighbourhood to help fend off those winter blues!