Getting a sinking feeling? Try float therapy in a sensory deprivation tank

WALNUT CREEK -- Watching Fallon Collings get her daughter Stevie ready for preschool, you'd never guess that not too long ago, she had serious doubts about her skills as a mom.

"There were parts of me where I felt, 'Am I just really bad at this?'" she said.

Last November, Stevie was diagnosed with autism and Collings found herself overwhelmed.

"Everything was hard," she recalled. "There were times where I felt like I was breathing underwater from a straw."

But instead of drowning, Collings decided to float.

Once a week, Collings slips into a sensory deprivation tank to tune out the world. The sound-proof pod is filled with water saturated with 1,000 lbs. of Epsom salt, allowing her float effortlessly.

"All the stress that I hold in my neck and my shoulders it all just melts away," she said.

Floating therapy has been around for decades but these days it's enjoying a resurgence, as more and more people look for ways to unplug. Multiple studies have shown sensory deprivation tanks can lower stress and alleviate depression.

According to Rebecca Sgambati, the owner of Peak Performance Float and Wellness Center in Walnut Creek, sensory deprivation tanks are a good way to hit that reset button.

"In this busy world where people have their cell phones they're getting pinged every minute our two and zoom meetings this is a place where they can come and disconnect and it's at a deeper level than just turning off all tour devices," she said.

The cost is about $80 dollars for a 75-minute session. But it's what happens after, Collings said, that's priceless.

"There is something about sitting alone with your thoughts and you start to realize how much good is in your life and how much you love your family," she said.