Saltwater-filled pods allowing customers to float in silence and darkness for a sensory deprivation experience or with lights and music are coming to downtown Victoria.

Floating in an ultra-buoyant environment helps relieve mental and physical stress accumulated in today’s world. Everything from cell phones to crowds of people piles on external stimuli, said Erik Zaremba, owner of the Float House.

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A 90-minute session in a float tank is designed to reduce stress and allow people to relax, he said. “It is so difficult to turn off your internal dialogue.” He added with a smile: “It’s a gift of nothing.”

Yoga is growing in popularity and has a meditation component, he said. “These tanks allow you to get into that meditative state very easily.”

Workers are preparing 2,000 square feet at 662 Herald St. for the Float House. Walls are getting extra soundproofing.

Zaremba hopes to open in late December.

Six tanks, costing $25,000 each, have been ordered from a manufacturer in Virginia, he said.

Tanks open like oysters.

An individual can climb into a tank and pull down the top to shut out light. Tanks are insulated to keep out noise. Customers can also choose to keep the top open and there’s an option of music as well.

Each room will contain one tank. A customer first takes a shower and is nude when entering the tank. After their session, they take another shower to wash off the salty water. At that point, the tank’s water filtration system runs through five or six cycles, he said.

Floats will be $65 each and members can pay lower rates. There is an introductory offer of three floats for $120.

Tanks will hold 10 inches of water kept at body temperature, and 850 pounds of Epsom salts, creating an environment twice as buoyant as the Dead Sea, Zaremba said. The interior measures about 1.4 metres by 2.6 metres.

“As it turns out, when the effects of gravity and sensory input are minimized, your body has additional resources at its disposal,” the Float House brochure says.

Astronauts train in sensory deprivation conditions to prepare for long-duration space flights. The U.S. Navy Seals also use it. But the Float House experience is intended for calming effects.

Researchers at Karlstad University in Sweden contend positive benefits of floating remained four months after treatment. Their findings were published in 2006, based on 70 patients diagnosed with stress-related pain, with 26 of them also diagnosed with burnout depression. Pain, stress, anxiety and depressions decreased while the quality of sleep and optimism rose, they said.

Zaremba, 36, is originally from Ontario, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology at Western University. He is a co-founder of VIDYN Media, an independent film production company.

Pico Meter, a film he directed with Neal Melançon in 2012, was a semi-finalist in the GE Focus Forward short films competition showcasing innovators around the world. The three-minute film is about Rodney Herring, associate professor in mechanical engineering at UVic, and his successful bid to bring the world’s most advanced microscope to the university.

Last year, Zaremba placed second among 35 years old and up in the Canadian Squash championships

He decided to start this business after trying out a tank at the Float House in Vancouver started by his cousins Mike and Andy Zaremba. The companies only share a name. Erik is the sole owner of the Victoria operation.

This kind of business suits Victoria, he said. “I think it is a great place for people who want to get involved in alternative medicine and alternative therapies.”

> On the web: floathouse.ca