RECEPTION

Your first view of our beautiful suite comes from our window in the corner of the shared waiting room. From here you get your first glimpse of the sweeping arc that is our reception circle and my desk area. I love the shape and size of my desk because of its accessibility for me and patients, and how it reflects the openness we have here as a practice. We want patients to feel really seen and heard when they are here, and my desk being open to the waiting room, hallway and treatment rooms helps me do this on a daily basis. I personally find it very important to connect with patients on a level deeper than just patient care, and the shape and scope of my desk area has made it easier to have a conversation or a laugh with patients, which I love to do.

Structurally, above the desk you’ll notice the beautiful wooden art piece that was hand made here on site by the ridiculously talented finish carpenter who lent his myriad skills to us in other parts of the office, Marshall Kirk. (His work can also be seen in the shared waiting room in the shape of a gorgeous latticed circle suspended from the ceiling). This piece mirrors and reinforces the arc of the desk, adding to the grand scale of the reception area. It is a beautiful, powerful piece of art, and we are thankful to have it.

We hope that what we’ve been able to accomplish up front is a dynamic, open and welcoming space that is as much about excellent care as it is comforting and inspiring for our patients.

Written By Jenna Morgan

Old School, Old World, Old Town

Why did I pick Old Town? I think the most important reason is that when I am in Old Town, I simply feel more comfortable; it is where I feel most at home, where I belong.  That has to mean something.  It is a way of listening to and honoring my spirit. It is an intangible, and though there are many tangible reasons for moving here, I am an intuitive person and I have learned to listen to my intuition.  It has some wisdom.

I am a great fan of history.  I especially love the Old World (Europe) and the even older writings and teachings of Yoga philosophy.  Being in touch with things that have lasted a long time makes me feel connected and gives me more assurance that what I am learning and applying to my life now has been tested and honed by hundreds of generations of thoughtful people.

One thing I learned from several of my mentors that really stayed with me was that the basics in the practice of medicine; listening carefully to the history, keen observation, palpation, and a thorough physical exam (no short cuts) are the things that make great physicians great.  The basics are what I have spent years trying to get better at doing.  I would call that Old School Medicine, and I still believe it is the foundation of any great physician’s practice.  We have a lot more ways to obtain further information, but if we don’t know our patient, we’re going on a fishing expedition without any wise guidance to know what to look for.

I believe in being a participant in community, not an observer in the stands watching.  I see that  kind of participation amongst the people I have come to know who are part of Old Town, and I want to be with others who are of similar mind and are practicing community. 

I believe that we need to come to terms with how divided and polarized our culture is on matters of race, class, gender, sexual preference, and access to things we all need to be safe and healthy like food and shelter and healthy relationships.  I see Old Town as a place that celebrates art, creativity, and diversity.  I want to be part of the effort to dispel the fear and intolerance that is poisoning our culture.  I think Old Town has a critical mass of people who want that as well.

Finally, I like being next to an old river flowing.  That imparts an energy that keeps me going; this continuing tense is needed to sustain our work and attention to our vocational calling.  Nature shows us fecundity. It continuously demonstrates creativity in abundance.  This is our directive.  Listening and responding to the lessons of nature is what keeps us from forgetting why we are here.  I am in a place of renewal in my life now working in a building that has been graciously saved and renewed by its owners.  I am grateful for this!

Participatory Medicine and Health 2.0

I am increasingly aware of the powerful role social media and networks play in how we are communicating with each other about health and healthcare issues. Spending the day in the charming Saugatuck/Douglas public library, I happily found an informative and well-written book that addresses this phenomenon! It is Laurie Edward’s In the Kingdom of the Sick: A social history of chronic illness in America. (Walker and Co, New York, 2013).

She writes about the stigma and misunderstandings that surround chronic illness, especially for those that defy diagnosis through clinical tests or have no known cure. These are now the leading health-related problems Americans face and want help with overcoming. I think this is a crucial topic to explore.

Our understanding of chronic illness is hampered by the limits of science and by society’s throwback belief that people who are sick have weak character or aren’t trying hard enough to be well. We have Lyme disease, Autism, Sensory Processing Disorders, ADD, ADHD, Depression, Sleep Disorders, Chronic Pain, Chronic Fatigue, and Fibromyalgia (to name a few), which are incredibly challenging. If you have these problems, Conventional Medicine has little to offer, and Complementary and Alternative approaches to treating them are a bewildering quagmire that feels overwhelming to enter. Then there are the regular issues of our time. It’s hard to go to a social gathering without hearing the cry of folks who wonder how the heck did I get ...arthritis, or diabetes, or high blood pressure? And why does everybody seem to have high cholesterol and low Vitamin D?

Increasingly, my patients come well prepared from doing their research on line, and they are getting their information from a wider range of sources. Edwards calls this phenomenon Health 2.0: the explosion of networks and social media tools that allow patients and health professionals to share health information. She quotes several in her book.

Becoming wired is an antidote to the alienation, isolation, and skepticism so many of us are feeling when faced with a health problem that seems to baffle our doctors and defy our attempts to overcome it. I hear people say their doctors don’t seem to care about why they have the problem. That is frustrating, and it erodes their confidence in the treatments their doctors are offering them. If you don’t know why you are sick, how can you make an informed set of decisions about how you would like to go about getting better? The trouble is, a lot of the time we don’t know why. The science of medicine has its limits, and we don’t want that to be true. Lewis Thomas called it the youngest science. Medicine right now is kind of like your 15 year old who you are sure was abducted by aliens and reprogrammed; you long for the day when he or she once again becomes recognizable. I think it is emotionally easier for doctors to ignore questions they do not have an answer for than to speak honestly and say, “I do not know.” Better to say I do not know.

As a physician, I am basically grateful to my patients who have the initiative to go exploring. I look to see what they’ve found, and try to be sure we are using credible, peer reviewed health resources upon which to base our shared decision making. I invariably learn something from this process. Moving forward in this age means we both show up and participate together in the shared agenda of improving our health. I say our because I recognize unless I am doing the work along with my patients, I am no longer being responsible or authentic as a physician.

Edwards says, “Participatory Medicine holds the premise that technology can fundamentally benefit patients and the doctor-patient relationship and when used appropriately, that information can be the bridge that connects both parties.” Let’s face it; I don’t want to feel isolated within the medical community. Believe me, you don’t want to spend your lunch hour inthe hospital doctor’s dining room. I learned that sad fact 33 years ago. I spend my days with patients. Patients don’t want to feel isolated or placed outside of the access to health information either, but they need reliable sources and education in critical thinking skills for this subject.

Unfortunately, networks and social media can be divisive, creating and us vs. them mentality. This is part of human nature. We have to be responsible to the overarching goal of helping each other and our society collectively toward better health. I see no value in the perpetuation of a mentality that does not move one toward unity with each other and the earth.

When someone wishes to take more responsibility for his or her health, I am happy to help. Brene Brown says we are wired to be connected. I think we are also born to collaborate. It’s the key ingredient. There needs to be transparency between us for this to work. We have to be honest, trust our own wisdom, and be willing to share. We share from what we know, and we have to do the work of learning to have authentic knowledge. We also share from our own experience—which is always valid---and has made us who we are. This kind of collaboration— when we are being authentic and wholehearted—is the true joy of being part of the solution to the mysterious and arduous journey toward healing.

We are all on that journey. I say we walk it together.

DNG 5-1-15

The truth behind why the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

I had a wonderful experience last week participating as a member of the Musician’s Wellness Team from Michigan State University’s College of Music. We led a five hour workshop on the four topics the National Association of Teachers of Music has made a priority for our nation’s Music Programs: Hearing Conservation, Neuromusculoskeletal Health, Psychological Health, and Vocal Health. We were in Salt Lake City, Utah at the American String Teachers Association meeting.

Teaching always helps me learn through multiple pathways. It is the connection with my students, the curiosity I have for my subject, and the synergy of being in an ensemble of amazing people. For the 15 years I taught for Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine’s world renowned Manual Medicine Series, I enjoyed being part of another impressive team of teachers that inspired me and acted as a catalyst for my professional growth. I have missed that environment and longed for a similar experience.

In every life there are times for going out and times for staying in. After that 15 year rocket like start to my professional career, I realized I was missing multiple opportunities to be with my kids, wife, and extended family. I had three briefcases: one for teaching, one for research, and one for my role as Medical Director of the Clinic where I saw patients and supervised residents. At the turning point I realized…too many briefcases!!! I felt desperate for time and space to rest and play. Something had to change.

I had neglected a whole sphere of my life. I began to study yoga with an inspiring teacher in Montreal, and Quebec became a place of refuge and deep learning as I repeatedly returned to the Ashram, a pilgrim on a spiritual quest. I left the University and went into private practice and gradually learned to slow down and pay attention to progressively deeper and wider spheres of the rich and full life I live.

Now the kids are grown and launched, and we even have a grandson who is 7 months old. I feel ready to go back out and be part of a team again. Last week, when we put 6 people from different and varied backgrounds together to teach about Musician’s Wellness, it was magical. It was Alchemy. I credit our fearless leader, Judy Palac, who has tirelessly campaigned on behalf of this team and this idea for many years…decades, actually. She is the true north of our group. Her vision has crafted a beautiful and talented ensemble.

You can learn more about us: Musicians' Wellness Team

On our refrigerator at home we have written with those cool magnetic letters a reminder of a truth we have learned in 33 years of marriage… “It is in the doing of it.” Mastery of any skill in which we may have a natural talent occurs through the clarifying process of practice. But it is only manifested in the world when we use our gifts in concert with others so that the gift can be shared. In the sharing it multiplies and sends ripples out into the world. This is a deep truth that is just part of learning to be a useful human being.

We are part of a greater whole, and our gifts are best used in concert with others. I am grateful to be part of another wonderful team where our cultivated gifts can multiply and be spread to land on fertile soil where they can be of use to a culture hungry for authentic and meaningful teaching that informs our living.

The Wisdom of the Body

Is there a hidden bias in our view of human nature that stems from a view of the body as hierarchically inferior to the mind and spirit? Where did we get the idea that we could not trust the nature of ourselves?

Arguments for the inherent wisdom of the body come from all areas of study within the biological sciences and medicine. In anatomy and physiology, we learn about the inherent qualities of how an organism functions as a unit, how structure and function are integrated, interrelated, and self perpetuating. Living things have the amazing quality of being able to move matter from a state of disorder into order!

I could go on about this! THIS WONDROUS INTELLIGENCE THAT IS PRESENT IN EVERY CELL OF OUR BODY CALLS OUT TO US DECLARING THAT EVERYTHING IS PART OF A GREATER, COHERENT WHOLE.

If we are loved, if we love ourselves wholly, our body will respond with gratitude and be a vehicle for us to use to function in the world. The exaggeration of tendencies toward inertia and excess are a result of the collective and accumulated violence we have performed toward each other over many centuries in many cultures. We have sadly come to see our lack of balance as normal and even expect it in each other and ourselves, calling it our "nature" and accepting it as such. This is a harmful shared delusion that does not further peace in the world or our collective evolution.

The body is a wonder and a teacher. Why would we choose to treat our body with less respect than we would treat a cherished child or grandchild? The path to peace is to love: first yourself, body, mind, soul... --and then it begins to spread.....

May it continue to spread.

dng

Understanding….bonus or bogus?

“No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show
that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.” ---Thich Nhat Hanh

I’ve spent most of my life looking for understanding. In school, I studied to understand. In
Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, it was essential to understand the mechanisms that drove
the chemical reactions. In Physiology, it was essential to understand the mechanisms that
determined how our bodies function. In Anatomy, it was essential to understand the relationship
between the parts of the body and how they interact with each other, how forces were
distributed, how structure influenced function. This has been my path.

And then, in practice, helping people to understand what was happening to them was such a
great gift I could give to them. It helped give meaning to their suffering, and it gave them ideas
to gather their strength and put together a plan to overcome the illness. At the very least, it
helped them to understand why they needed to take a medication, or have surgery, or undergo a 
treatment to help steer the course of their illness back toward better health. At times, it helped to 
inform people or their loved ones about what it was going to be like as they approached death. 
That can be a blessing, too.

I have used this as a guidepost for the work I have done in my relationships with patients, my
family and friends, my business colleagues… I thought this was the way to go, and there was no
limit to what you can try to understand. But you know, there is a limit to understanding.

Who am I to have a conversation about the wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh, winner of a Nobel Peace 
Prize and arguably one of the most influential peacemakers in the history of the world?

It is true that the quest for truth and understanding is a noble one, and that a lifetime is a very
small amount of time in which to broaden one’s context of understanding. In reaching for
understanding, we get a lot of wrinkles on our forehead and around our eyes for sending out
the non verbal message to the world that we would like to hear what other people have to
say…(picture the face of one who is listening to you with interest… eyebrows raised, crinkles
around the smiling eyes encouraging you to continue your story….). but…

Things happen that we don’t understand. Contingencies collide in our world to completely
blindside us some days. Sometimes we remain disoriented for years at a time. Worst case: you
probably know someone close to you that has spent their life after a particular event-- bitter,
mean, and depressed. Maybe they are just withdrawn and shut down. Maybe they drank
themselves into oblivion and are dead now. Maybe they became the famous martyr in your
family. Things that appear to be bad happen to good people. Things that appear to be good
happen to people we don’t think deserve their apparently fortunate circumstances. The world
seems like a very dangerous and confused place. There does not seem to be enough (insert your 
favorite thought habit here)….money, energy, time, opportunity, help, compassion,
understanding, talent, ability, etc.-- to make it possible to change your life in the way you wish
you could…

Do you see the paradox between the wise words of wisdom about Understanding and our
common experience of having things happen that seem impossible to understand? It can be
confusing, yes? no? yes?

So what is UNDERSTANDING anyway?

Merriam-Webster says: first as a noun, understanding means these things:. a mental grasp,
comprehension. 2a. The power of comprehending, especially the capacity to
apprehend general relations of particulars. 2b. the power to make experience intelligible by
applying concepts and categories. 3a. friendly or harmonious relationship. 3b. an agreement
of opinion of feeling: adjustment of differences. 3c. a mutual agreement not formally entered into
but in some degree binding on each side. 4. Explanation, interpretation. 5. sympathy
But as an Adjective, it means: 1. Knowing, intelligent. 2. Endowed with understanding, tolerant,
sympathetic, as with a kind and understanding teacher who often helps troubled students.

That sounds like something worthy of a great life-long pursuit. But do you feel (as I do) that this
is a difficult and rarely achieved state for most of the people you know? The truth of it is that the 
world is really complicated and overwhelming. Understanding ourselves is a lifelong task that only
people like Thich Nhat Hanh actually manage to accomplish. Understanding someone else is
exponentially harder, and if we don’t understand ourselves, we are likely to project our own 
misperceptions upon them and get into a horrible, twisted mess of a situation.

AND SO MY COUNSEL IS TO LET GO OF THE ATTACHMENT TO UNDERSTANDING.

The important words here are the attachment to understanding. It is actually paramount that
we spend our entire life gaining an understanding of our bodies, our emotions, our mind, our
intellect, our spirit. That is the beginning of being able to love our self and others, and the
springboard for healing in the world.

But it is the attachment to understanding that can send us down the infamous rabbit hole of
misperception. And if we think we have reached understanding, we are most likely delusional.

Follow me here, this is going to expand your mind….. Here is where defining
Understanding and defining Yoga come together in a way that will leave you pondering
it for a long time…..

Patanjali, a 2nd Century Mystic whose Sutras are read by every person in the world who aspires
to become a yoga teacher, starts his treatise on Yoga called The Sutras (which is about the path
to union with God) with the definition of Yoga. Chapter One, verses 1, 2, and 3: “Now begins the
exposition on yoga. Yoga is the cessation of identifying with the fluctuations arising within
consciousness. Then the seer abides in his own true form.”

I invite you to study this work; it is one of the worlds’ great treasures. The key here is in the way
our minds tend to attach to things, like Understanding as a noun or as an adjective. We try, and
we should try to understand what is happening to us, to our family and friends, and in the
world, but we are woefully inadequate to have the capacity to understand these things at the
level of complexity in which they exist. I think as a noun, Understanding is not obtainable in our
present state of awareness--but as an adjective, it can be something we practice. That is my sense 
of what Thich Nhat Hanh is saying about how understanding leads to love.

Don’t fool yourself. Sometimes understanding is just not going to be possible today. Instead of
writing, saying, or believing some sound bite, spend more time listening, learning, asking how
you can be more kind and tolerant and slow down long enough to learn about your own and
your friend’s lives and circumstances. That is the road to Understanding, and it is a loving thing
to do with your time and your attention.

The power of our free will to give of our life to others.

Norman Cousins wrote the book that inspired me to become a physician back in 1979. It was
called Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient. When I was in Medical School, his
book The Healing Heart lifted me up when I was exhausted and frustrated with the grueling
work that was shaping me into a physician. In my second year, I stayed home from school and
read it in one day…then wrote him a letter to thank him for the timely effect on my psyche his
words of hope and comfort had imparted to my heart. He graciously wrote me back and
encouraged me to keep going. I treasure that letter.

Recently, I went back to order The Healing Heart on Amazon for a friend who I thought might
also be inspired by the book and I found another book by Norman Cousins that I had never read.
It is called The Celebration of Life, a dialogue on Hope, Spirit, and the Immortality of the Soul.
This book is written in a Socratic dialogue format and is a survey of modern science, philosophy,
religion, physics, politics, ecology, and the biology of the human spirit. It was my inspiration this
weekend. What I can share with you is that it is an optimistic conversation that supports a
hopeful view of the future grounded in the recognition of our common humanity. I needed his
words again, and once again I was inspired and comforted by them.

Let us start with this: He says “We may have no jurisdiction over the fact of our existence, but we are
not barred from imparting meaning to that existence. The tragedy of life is not in the fact of death, but in
what dies inside a person while he or she lives. No person need fear death; we need fear only that we may
die without having known our greatest power—the power of our free will to give of our life to others.”
Have you felt that sense of something dying inside you? I have, and these words struck a chord
in me. I remember the blog I wrote when I was going through the process of getting a hip
replacement in 2012. On Saturday, May 12, 2012, I wrote a friend with grief hope is.
I was one month out from the surgery. Here was the turning point for me of moving from feeling
something dying inside me to feeling my life force return and sustain me in a vision for the future.

I looked squarely into the face of both hope and despair. I felt as if my heart and my body had
closed off and doubted they would ever make it back to being my vehicles for expressing myself
again. Yet I hoped that the surgery could possibly help me come back to life. I had been so tired
and in so much pain for so long that it seemed I might not be able to come back. I compared the
emotional colors of grief (sorrow, heartbreak, heartache, bereft, bereaved, mourning, sorrow) and
hope (trust, desire, feeling, want, promise, expectancy, anticipation, initiative, somebody, soul,
individual) and I saw myself living in the tension of the paradox created by their juxtaposition.
I realized then how hope and despair come together in healing. They are like ingredients in a
chemical reaction. With the acknowledgement of what we have lost coming together with what
has been restored in us, in our life with others, in our recognition of our common humanity,
there is a spark of hope created to once again light the fire of our spirit within us.

We can put our hope in others, but in the depth of transformation, within our self, we find grief
gives birth to hope, which is not gone, just gone missing. It is within our self that the birth of
hope lives. We don’t have to name it or give credit to another for it. It just lives inside, waiting to
be found. Others may be here to nurture it, keep it going, but we must with our imagination find it
and connect with it. With compassion for our own suffering, we can see ourselves for what we
really are. Cousins called it “individual cells, in the immortal body of humanity.” We are
individuated, but part of the larger whole as well. There is something beyond us waiting to
spark us if our fire goes out, and it looks, to our surprise, like us. Is there really such a thing as
elf and other? Perhaps all things are really connected, and we are truly more alike than
different. This is what I think Cousins means by the recognition of our common humanity. When
we are suffering, we may feel we are isolated and disconnected, but we never really are. With
our imagination, we can reach out and connect to the past and be inspired by those who have
show us the way, to the present and be connected to those who love and care for us, and to the
future to imagine what we may yet have to offer. This gives us a reason for being here and a
sense of continuity with the integration of experiences that have brought us to this point.

Let’s be honest. Life is difficult. There are many obstacles and it can be hard to see the way
ahead. Look regularly to the wise words recorded by those who have come through life’s
difficulties and let them inspire you. Learn from what they share with you and apply this to
cultivate your way of being in the world and let that guide your actions. Remember we are all
part of the continuity of the flow of human experience. Live like who you are and what you do
will impact the future of every person on earth for better or worse, because it will. If you don’t
see how the way your life is contributing to the lives of others, it is time to exercise your free will
and make choices that will give you a reason for being here that connects you to the source of
your inspiration and gives you hope for a better world.

…"A little more clarity and a lot less bias, please!”

Day to day, I get to talk to lots of interesting people one on one in my treatment rooms. I learn
about great books, movies, documentaries, TV shows, events around our town and state, and all
kinds of news from around the world. I’ve been struck lately with how truly vast our options for
learning about what is going on in the world are. We are getting what we know from so many
sources that the whole idea of consensual reality and access to information has taken on a new
meaning. The information explosion and the willingness we have to spin that information in just
about any way we want to have left us confused and unable to know what to believe.
We can no longer assume that we share a common set of information about anything. For those
of you who are 30 or less, I realize you know this and have already been working on ways to deal
with it. But for those of us who grew up with a comforting sense of having some commonality of shared experience within our neighborhoods and thought we could trust Walter Cronkite to tell us what was happening in the world, this feels like the ground beneath us has been taken away.
And so it is with information in health care and medicine. I am spending a lot more time these
days making sure I can trust what I read and hear. Where is the information coming from? Who
paid for it? Who stands a chance to benefit from it or be harmed by it?
Why are there such polarities and outrageous biases about such things as vitamin supplements,
immunizations, or medications for lowering cholesterol or treating depression, anxiety, or pain?
I suggest you be wary of anyone who is giving you a definitive simple sound bite on either end of an opinion about these matters. Such statements as “the case is closed” and “enough is enough”
which were used in an editorial about vitamin use in the Annals of Internal Medicine a couple of
years ago are as arrogant as they are absurd1. We are dealing with a complex system when it
comes to our bodies, and we need to acknowledge that complexity in reporting information
about health issues.
I also hear physicians these days defining their turf, drawing a line between treating disease and
promoting health, as if that is an either/or proposition. As physicians, aren’t we supposed to be
doing both of those things? Don’t we want to know what promotes health and prevents disease?
I surely do!
There are some truths we can count on if we turn our focus within and recognize we do have
some choices about how we live that most certainly affect our health for better or worse. There
are some things we know that we can rely upon to guide us. Our bodies have the capacity to
heal and more robustly recover from the injuries and illnesses we will inevitably experience--if
we give them an environment in which to thrive.
Think of the basics.
Do you eat healthy food?
Do you know what you are eating, where it came from, and how it was prepared?
Do you know what chemicals are in your soaps and beauty products and detergents and
cleaning supplies?
How much exposure do you have to things you know are harmful to you like smoke and
alcohol and recreational drugs?
Do you get enough sleep?

See the article “The Case is closed: Editorial bias prevents reasonable evaluation of dietary supplements!” From Thomas Guilliams’ blog from December 2013 

Do you have time to cultivate the relationships you have with the people who are
important to you?
Do you feel part of a community?
Do you walk at least 10,000 steps a day?
Do you exercise enough to feel it helps you release the tension in your body you know
relates to the stresses in your life?
Here’s the thing: we live in a world where most of us look at those basic questions and realize
we are a long way from feeling good about our answers. Yet instead of paying attention to them and working toward a lifestyle that gets closer to better ways of living, we turn our attention outward for a fix of some kind. I encourage you to take some time to look within and work on those things you can. Stand up for yourself and your family and take time for each other, for meals together and healthy recreation, for resolving your conflicts, for enough sleep to actually feel rested.
A basic principle in health is to know yourself. Your body, your emotions, your mind, your
conscience, and your sense of what are the true and real responsibilities we all share as citizens of this world. Work on that. Then you can certainly address the far more complex work of
understanding and relating to others. If we all work on that, we could be better at addressing the questions of our time with a little more clarity and a lot less bias.

-David N. Grimshaw, DO 01-11-2015

Flotation tanks are new trend in health and relaxation

below is an article published in the Detroit Free Press on January 4th about Flotation Tanks in which I was interviewed and quoted.

Link to Article 

(or you can read below) 

It looks like a pod and holds 144 gallons of water permeated by 900 pounds of Epsom salt. Step inside, close the hatch and lie down. You're in the dark, defying gravity as you float in a foot of water. Your thoughts are your only company.

This is flotation, and proponents say it helps with stress, sleep disorders, chronic pain and muscle soreness. It's easier than meditation, they say, and it doesn't have the side effects of drugs. An hour-long float costs about $65-$70, although packages can lower the price of an individual session.

Growing numbers of Americans are discovering flotation's benefits. The largest U.S. manufacturer of flotation tanks — Indianapolis-based Royal Spa Manufacturing — built 75 in 2012, its first year, and is now up to almost 800 annually.

One fan is Patricia Scott, a retired schoolteacher turned life coach from West Bloomfield. Scott, who suffers from insomnia, tried flotation at the NeuroFitness Center in Southfield, one of three places in Michigan that has flotation tanks, after a friend recommended it.

During the hour-long session, she let the salty water support her body and coat her skin. She hovered between sleep and wakefulness. And she relaxed. Really relaxed.

Afterward, she was hooked.

David McCullar, owner of NeuroFitness Center in Southfield, added a flotation tank after sessions at Great Lakes Flotation in the Flint area.(Photo: Romain Blanquart, Detroit Free Press)

"It's not a natural thing to lay back and trust," she said. "But once you do it, it's amazing. It truly feels like nothing."

After a session, Scott said she sleeps better, and the benefits appear cumulative, lasting longer the more she floats. Her sleep is now deeper for up to a week after a float.

Proponents of floating say some of the benefits come from the magnesium in the Epsom salt, while other benefits come from floating in the soundproof tank.

In addition to NeuroFitness, which has one tank, Great Lakes Flotation in the Flint area, with two tanks, and Delta Floats outside Lansing, with three tanks, also offer flotation.

Bob Dapper, owner of Royal Spa Manufacturing, said most of his company's tanks are sold to float tank operators — at a cost of $22,500 each. Some go to chiropractors and a few to private homes. One buyer was a couple in Florida who installed the tank in the living room of their apartment to help the husband, who suffered from chronic pain.

Dapper said bacteria and other icky things cannot grow in the float tank because the buoyancy of the water pushes everything to the surface. Plus, the tanks are equipped with skimmers and purified with ozone and ultraviolet light. Some owners also may use chlorine.

"It's impossible to get a cootie from a float tank," said Dapper, whose company also manufactures hot tubs, saunas, spa pools and baptismal tanks for U.S. military chaplains.

Patricia Scott of West Bloomfield uses a flotation tank for insomnia.(Photo: Romain Blanquart, Detroit Free Press)

Dapper, who has a tank at his home, said he is convinced the high concentration of Epsom salt, which is absorbed by the skin, "gives your body the nutrients to do maintenance on your nervous system. ... It is recharging your batteries."

"Your nervous system gets frayed by overuse and tension and anxiety, and this product puts you in a position to restore your frazzled nervous system. It allows to you repair your wiring," Dapper said. "If you're able to sleep better, great. If you work through the stresses plaguing you, super. But you cannot promise that. Everyone has a different experience in a float tank. It allows you to open yourself to calmness and relaxation."

Dr. David Grimshaw, an Okemos physician who treats patients with chronic illnesses, arthritis, lupus and head and other injuries, said he checked out flotation after a patient who had been severely injured falling off a horse made a remarkable recovery and attributed it to floating.

"She not only got better, but ended up a lot healthier than I ever imagined," Grimshaw said. He now recommends floating to certain patients, those "who are looking for healing in a bigger way. ... I think about it as helping people along who are trying to do a lot themselves to improve their health and I've gotten some great feedback from the folks I've sent."

Polly Baker, a Fenton physical therapist, also has recommended flotation, especially for patients who have been in car accidents. She said it helps them deal with the trauma of the accident "so they can better handle the rehabilitation process for their injuries."

"If I can calm their nervous system, they can handle pain better," said Baker, who has done flotation herself for deeper relaxation. "You end up getting in a meditative state. It helps you get in touch with a calmer state."

David McCullar, owner of NeuroFitness, said he decided to get a float tank in May after floating at Great Lakes Flotation.

He said his first try was "pretty rocky" but after the second time, "I was blown away by how I felt. I felt so relaxed, at peace and calm."

McCullar said some first-time floaters are afraid that they will feel claustrophobic in the tank, but he assures them that a gentle push is all that is needed to open the door, and they can turn on lights or music with the push of a button. He said the water is buoyant enough to support people who weigh as much as 400 pounds.

Terri Stangl, owner of Great Lakes Flotation, said that for most people, the first float "takes a little longer to unplug." By the second or third float, "they're able to settle in much more quickly and really enjoy it."

"It's not like running a tanning booth," she said. "People often come out of a float session and have questions and want to talk. They're thinking about stuff going on in their lives, thinking about changes they want to make, things they'd like to resolve with their families. When they float, they think and find results."

Wendy Johnson, owner of Delta Floats, opened her business in August 2013. She said it has grown steadily and is "as busy as I can handle it."

"Almost all of my clients are word of mouth and referrals," Johnson said. "For the most part, people are looking for stress relief, to get a break from all that stress, or to resolve some of what is causing the stress in their lives."

By Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press

My Father's Heart

I'm feeling grateful for the family I have. I wrote a piece about what I learned from when my father had to have heart surgery a few years ago. In this season when we remember with gratitude the blessings of our lives, I wanted to share THIS (Click on THIS to read the article) with you all.