Flotation therapy changed Kimberly Boone’s life on her road to recovery from drug and alcohol abuse, she said.
Floating in a dark tank filled with water and epsom salt gave her an escape from anxiety without having to depend on any medications, she said, and it relieved her back and neck pain at the same time.
“You’re able to get into this very meditative relaxed state,” said Boone, 53. “Every time I come out I feel like I’ve kind of rebooted my brain.”
She started Hope Floats, her flotation therapy center, in her Bethesda, Maryland, home to share its benefits with others, and it grew into a business that’s seen 10,000 clients, she said.
Now Boone has brought flotation therapy to Williston Park, where her second Hope Floats location opened Oct. 1 at 52 Hillside Ave. She is planning a grand opening for next month.
The space has two flotation tanks that shut out light to allow people to totally disconnect from the outside world while floating in the salty water, Boone said. Hope Floats also has an infrared sauna, which uses dry heat rather than steam, she said.
Boone started shopping for a Long Island location about a year ago. The area is similar to Bethesda, an affluent suburb of Washington, D.C., and has a similar clientele, she said. Williston Park itself also gave her a good feeling, she said.
“I walked around and met some people, and I think it’s an up-and-coming area and will be very similar to Bethesda,” Boone said.
Hope Floats gets 20 to 30 clients each week for 60- or 90-minute sessions that cost $75 and $95, respectively, Boone said. The center also offers packages that couple floating with time in the infrared sauna.
Customers range from curious professionals who want some stress relief to athletes wanting to restore their bodies, including some from the nearby karate studio, Boone said. Many veterans come to the Bethesda location from the nearby Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, as floating can help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, she said.
“While you’re in there different things happen for different people, but I will say almost everyone that I come across, when they come out of the tank, feels this immediate, peaceful, serene feeling,” Boone said.
Peter Hewitson, owner of Uncle Bacala’s Restaurant in Garden City Park, is an investor in Hope Floats and a believer in flotation therapy.
Floating gives Hewitson some reprieve from the stress of his everyday life and forces him to get away from his cell phone and other devices, he said.
“This is the only way to really detach from the phone, besides sleeping,” he said.
Flotation therapy has become more mainstream as more celebrities and famous athletes have started using it, including basketball player Stephen Curry and Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, Boone said.
“I think people are going to find this is something they are working into their everyday life more and more,” she said.
Hope Floats is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
