Last updated April 4, 2024
My spa day getaway to Salt Spa at The Reeds is a dry cocoon suspended in water.
The air smells of saltwater. In spite of being separated from the water by my protective bubble, I can feel the water enveloping my body. The smell is so pungent; I can almost taste it. The room is completely silent. All I can hear are the sounds of my lungs breathing and my throat swallowing.
I feel the tension ease away when my body relaxes into the dry floating therapy experience.
What Is Floating Therapy?
Just Google “floating therapy.” You’ll find that the concept is associated with a plethora of benefits. The benefits range from stress relief to pain reduction.
Boutique Wellness Resorts Take on Floating Therapy
I’ve seen an increasing number of boutique wellness resorts take an interest in floating therapy. Many of these resorts are now offering flotation experiences in tanks. This type of floating therapy involves aquatic submersion and promotes sensory deprivation.
Please note that I’m not a huge fan of confined dark spaces. Perhaps you can relate. Contrarily, the idea of a hot tub doesn’t startle me. I’d jump right in. If I were hosting, I would prepare a charcuterie board for a little hot-tub-snacking.
As I have implied, I am a little hesitant to try floating therapy. By comparison, it is much different from a Jacuzzi.
Salt Spa at the Reeds: A Swanky Spa on the Jersey Shore
For years, my friend Jodi and I have wanted to treat ourselves to a spa day at this swanky Jersey Shore spa. Also known as the “Salt Spa at the Reeds.” This salt spa is located in Stone Harbor, New Jersey.
Finally, we are able to check it off our bucket lists.
As we review the treatment menu, which includes everything from manicures to massages, I come across the dry floating therapies. Something occurs to me. I can finally see what floating therapy is all about! Minus the enclosed tank.
I’m sold.
What Is the Difference Between Floating Therapy and Dry Floating Therapy?
According to VeryWell Health, floating therapy is defined as “a type of therapy that is done in a sensory deprivation tank, which is a dark and soundproof tank or bath.” Patients float in a tank of saltwater for up to an hour. The saltwater allows them to lie effortlessly without sinking.
In contrast, dry floating therapy occurs when “you lie floating in the soft embrace of a dry membrane that lets all your troubles float away with a feeling of weightlessness while keeping you totally dry. Gentle vibrations massage your body releasing muscle tension and taking you away into a transcendent state” (The Benefits of Flotation Therapy). To put it differently, dry floating therapy is the same as floating therapy. Not to mention that they have one key difference: dry floating therapy is done while the patient is completely dry.
Arriving to Salt Spa at The Reeds
We arrived at Salt Spa at the Reeds about 45 minutes prior to our scheduled treatment times. We took our time to enjoy the spa’s amenities. The amenities include steam rooms, sauna rooms and a relaxation room. The relaxation room is fully stocked with snacks, tea and water.
Are you booked for multiple facial and/or massage treatments? If your answer is yes, you also have access to the Brine Light Inhalation Lounge!
My Experience With Salt Rooms
I’ve visited a few spas with salt rooms. As I explained previously, I’m not a huge fan of Boba Fett’s Bacta Tank. Let Hollywood and the Star Wars enterprise keep the enclosed healing-water tanks. Please and thank you!
A quick disclaimer: I was (almost) just as excited to try out the lounge as I was to have the treatment.
According to the Salt Therapy Association, there are a variety of benefits associated with salt therapy including removing toxicity from the respiratory system and boosting the immune system.
If it’s a holistic health therapy practice that simply requires me to sit in a room, close my eyes and breathe, I’m in!
Outfitted in our fluffy robes and spa sandals, we head to the lounge. Jodi and I snuggle into the chaise lounges and take in the sights and sounds. Since it was a Monday morning, the spa was on the quiet side. For this reason, we had the room to ourselves.
The Brine Light Inhalation Lounge
This room is both relaxing and impressive. The spa has cultivated a tiered block of Himalayan salt that cascades over a waterfall. You’re instantly lulled into a peaceful state by the sound of falling water. The waterfall is well-complemented by light therapy.
Fun fact: light therapy is meant to revitalize and enhance your overall well-being.
Compared to the other salt rooms I’ve sat in, I was impressed at how large and natural the salt growth appeared. I opted for the 60-minute float session, which included a 30-minute massage and a 30-minute dry float.
The Salt Spa at the Reeds is very accommodating. If my session doesn’t appeal to you, the spa also offers a 30-minute float-only experience or an 80-minute session that includes a dry float, scrub and mask experience.
As if on cue, our therapists collected us from the lounge. Jodi headed to enjoy her raindrop therapy treatment, which included a massage on a heated marble table with pure essential oils. My therapist led me to a treatment room that included both the massage table and the flotation bed. Instantly, I remember that guests can customize their spa treatments. I quickly request that the massage portion of the experience focus on my lower back and glute area.
Part 1 of My Treatment: Dry Floating
For the dry floating portion of the treatment, I have the option to put my robe back on. The therapist wraps me up, first in a sheet and then the vinyl covering of the bed.
FYI, if you have difficulty with your arms being bound alongside your body, opt to keep them out of the enclosure.
Next, the therapist removed the support that I was laying on (beneath the vinyl covering), leaving me wrapped up—except for my head—and suspended in water.
Note that during this treatment, I never got wet. The feeling is like being suspended in a deep waterbed. With a delicate pillow covering my eyes, I embraced the peaceful weightless feeling and almost drifted off to sleep.
Part 2 of My Treatment: Lunch
Needless to say, I was reluctant to leave my little cocoon, but I knew there was a glass of sauvignon blanc and nachos with decadent lobster meat calling my name at the property’s upscale waterside dining option, Water Star Grille.
Relaxed and recharged, I joined Jodi who was also on cloud nine post-treatment to commiserate about our spa day experiences and head to lunch.
The verdict? We check off the Salt Spa from our bucket list and add it to our itinerary for our next visit to Jersey Shore. I’m already counting down the days until I can float away again!
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