Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Dr. Peicheng Hu is a researcher from China that studies floatation therapy over there. He’s speaking at the Float Conference this year so Ashkahn decided to take the opportunity to talk to him about the Chinese float industry and some of the differences in the practice as well as the type of research being done out there.
Show Resources
Get your tickets and find out more about speakers at FloatConference.com
Our Free Scientific Research List
Daily Solutions Podcast Episode 81 – Jake and Ashkahn share their experiences at the Chinese Float Conference
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Ashkahn: Okay everyone, welcome to the Daily Solutions podcast. We have a slightly different episode for you today. It’s just me here, Ashkahn, and I actually have a special guest with me, Professor Hu. He is one of our Float Conference speakers. We just did an interview with him over on our Float Conference Podcast. We thought we would bring him on here and Daily Solutions and ask him a little snippet of a question for you guys as well. So welcome to this podcast, Professor Hu.
Peicheng Hu: Yeah, okay. I’m glad to work with you here.
Ashkahn: Yeah. So I came out to China and met you at the conference that your association, The floatation Tank Association of China, put on earlier this year. One thing that I thought was very interesting about learning about float tanks and how they are being implemented in China was this kind of integration with Chinese medicine. Whereas here in the United States we talk about float tanks and Western medicine, but in China there were some lectures at your conference about actually adding different herbs and things like that to the liquid inside the float tanks and some of those things we don’t see as much here in the United States. I was wondering if you could talk about that a little bit, about the kind of way that float tanks fit in with Chinese medicine.
Peicheng Hu: Okay, okay. So why we call this floatation therapy as a Chinese floatation therapy. This is a way to integrate Chinese medicines, you know, factors. One thing is after each of the floatation we give the patients Chinese massage. Because Chinese massage is good for their health. After the each float they have their dress and in the bed, all of the floating therapies, they can do the Chinese massage in that they provide good massage to the patient. This is one kind of factors of why we call the Chinese floating therapy. This is one thing. The second thing is before or after the treatment we give the patient some special liquids. This is in the liquids they can drink, this is what we call pau fu ye. This kind of Chinese drinking including some Chinese medicines. They can drink this medicine, they can drink this water, is very good for their health. So this is second thing.
Third thing why we call the Chinese floating therapy is we put the Chinese medicine into the water. You know, in the waters our traditional floating is magnesium sulfate. But in now, we put hydrogen-rich water into the liquids. I don’t know whether you’re familiar with hydrogen-rich water. This is special water and there are special factories can produce it and we put this kind of things into the same waters, into the floating tanks. This kind of water can antioxidant. You know, antioxidant means they can prevent the cancer. This is a very good method and we include this kind of waters into our floatation liquids, they can produce more and miracle results. I think that this is our special thinking and this is special integration with the Chinese thinking.
Massage and drinking and the more water, I think this is our three kind of new things to this contribution of this floatation therapy. Maybe we can talk more in our Conference and we will introduce our thinking and our doing this kind of things.
Ashkahn: Yeah. This way that you add these things to floating, it seemed to me that usually required the person who was running the float tank to have more training or more knowledge.
Peicheng Hu: Yeah.
Ashkahn: Like they have to come into it with that kind of background of knowing how to do these things.
Peicheng Hu: Yeah, yeah. I think that there is more people, and also in my view, also in the training classes, also I tell the students, “If you are entering into our floating therapy and each of you should have created your new ideas. If you think this is a good method, you also can create it. Your thinking, your method, your specialty, and you can combine the other things.” So my means is I encourage, or I promote more and more people to focus on this floating, and more and more people will focus on this floating and interest on this floating and they can created more things, new things.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Peicheng Hu: Such as, I think, because the people, they are in the water. In the traditional psychotherapy, the face to face and also in the ground, maybe we have some table or desk, this is traditional psychotherapy. But we now, we do the psychotherapy not in the ground way, but in the water. The water then creates like in the mother’s womb, or they are like in the outer space. So this a different thinking, different ways. So I think this is a good direction, maybe they have a new method, a new result, and maybe new things will be happen. So this, I encourage people to do more things, more new things, and give you good ideas also good. We can combine. But the basic thing is safety. The basic thing is scientific and I ask them to do this kind of thing and not only for the money, you should for the develop the science. This is very important. I think so.
Ashkahn: Yeah. Yeah, that’s interesting and I think it’ll be nice to see in a few years, you know, as people experiment with different combinations of floating and these other things. Which things seem to work very well with floating or complement it very nicely.
Peicheng Hu: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ashkahn: Excellent. Well, yeah. Very interesting stuff and very nice to hear about how floating is being used over there. Yeah, thank you for hopping on this podcast, too.
Peicheng Hu: I also thank you for the podcast and thank you for your work, okay.
Ashkahn: Excellent, great. Thank you.
Peicheng Hu: Okay.
Ashkahn: Okay, you guys can listen to Professor Hu give his speech at the Float Conference this year. To get all the information for that and to listen to the full interview with Peicheng Hu, you can go to floatconference.com and we will talk to you tomorrow.
Recent Podcast Episodes
Should I Wire my Float Tanks into the Wall? – DSP 265
Ashkahn is currently recovering from his talk and the after-party last night, but Jake and Graham have gracefully taken the time to answer a construction question again today.
On the docket today is a question about wiring a float tank directly into the wall. Graham and Jake provide an overview of why some people may prefer this (it’s much easier to keep waterproof, e.g.), and why at Float On they use the twist lock for their outlets and how to properly utilize them.
Can I Keep My Old Ceiling With My Buildout? – DSP 264
Hopefully everyone had a lovely time at the Friday Activities and the after-party.
Ashkahn is still busy running the conference, but Graham and Jake have stepped in to talk about construction!
Today the guys talk about keeping a drop ceiling or T-bar ceiling in an existing space that you’re converting to a float center. The short answer is don’t keep it, as it can cause problems, but the guys do have some workarounds if your landlord is opposed to changing the ceiling.
What to Expect When Expanding from 1 to 3 Tanks? – DSP 263
Ashkahn is busy preparing for everything that happens tonight and tomorrow for the Conference, but that doesn’t mean Daily Solutions will stop being daily.
Graham and Jake talk construction and what to expect when you’re expecting… a giant expansion for your float center. What’s it look like when you go from one tank to three? How do the demands change? What needs to be put in place to make sure that you’re not hitting snags?
Fortunately, these guys know the score and are happy to share.
All About Floor Drains – DSP 262
As Ashkahn gets everything ready for the Start a Center Workshop (happening today) and the Float Conference this weekend, Graham and Jake tackle answering construction questions on the podcast.
Today they’re talking about floor drains. What to consider for drains and how they might pair with different types of flooring. Given the hefty price tag for these more advanced drains, having as much research before making a decision on these is essential. Luckily, the guys have done the hard part already and identified a lot of things to consider.
How to Deal with Float Room Humidity – DSP 261
Graham and Jake are at the helm again while Ashkahn puts the finishing touches on the Float Conference.
Today, the guys are talking all about humidity and how to deal with it when constructing your float rooms. They talk about all the little nuances that you (or your contractor) might not think about when it comes to humidity and how soundproofing and regular airflow may not always go hand in hand.
Latest Blog Posts
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #24
Alberta is often called the Texas of Canada. Part large oil industry, part cattle country.
Don’t Mess With Alberta!
At the base of the Rocky Mountains, replete with an Olympic Stadium, Calgary is a world-class destination for winter sports. The float community developed here similarly to Edmonton – there wasn’t anything nearby except for one or two residential float tanks, and then, in a short period of time, several centers opened all at once. Instead of competing, they’ve decided to work together and have developed one of the tightest knit float communities we’ve seen. They even have monthly Float Dinners, much like we do with the float centers in Portland. They don’t keep meeting minutes, so it’s hard to determine what they talk about at these dinners; my guess would be salt, the effects of salt on various substances, and how salty salt damage can make someone salty.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #23
After Montana, we blazed our way back into Canada. The drive was long, but the scenery was beautiful. We followed the Rockies north, driving up to Edmonton. It’s a bit of a detour but, there are so many float centers in Edmonton, it seemed crazy not to stop by.
The city itself is primarily made up of workers from the oil fields – high risk, high income jobs that fuel the economy. At least until recently. Our visit was right in the middle of the Fort McMurray wildfire which has displaced a lot of the workforce, forcing 100,000 people to leave their homes. Many came to Edmonton, being the nearest metropolitan area to Fort McMurray. Some already split their time between the two cities, living in Edmonton and traveling to Fort McMurray for weeks or months at a time for work.
It’s understood that, in economic hardship, luxury commodities are typically the first thing people cut back on. Surprisingly, this doesn’t seem to be the case for floating. In fact, more people seem to be trying it to help alleviate the stress, many centers even offering free or discounted services to those displaced in an effort to help in a small way.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #22
We’ve got two more stops in Colorado Springs before heading west. It’s a town known for its military base and long history of weapons testing. With such a large military presence, it comes as no surprise that the float center owners here are veterans, themselves.
After that, we shoot across to Salt Lake City. Utah is filled with gorgeous sights, from breathtaking lakes to stunning painted hills. With an international landmark famous for its effects on buoyancy, Salt Lake City should be pretty familiar with the concept of floating. With five different float centers, and the manufacturer of the Zen Tent out there, there could be some cause and effect.
After that, we head up into Idaho and Montana to close out the Central United States portion of our Tour. We’ll follow the Rocky Mountains north, taking in the scenery along the way.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #21
Denver has been home to a vibrant float community for a long time. Some of the earliest commercial centers that started up in the ‘70s and ‘80s were out here. 30 years is a long time, and most of the old centers aren’t around anymore, but there’s a conscious community that has been floating since the old days and they love how much the industry has evolved and grown.