Float Conference Podcast

Zerin Beattie is the founder of XPAND and host of The XPAND Podcast, which focuses on helping push the evolution of consciousness forward. His field of study involves over a decade of meditation, 250+ float sessions, plant medicine ceremonies around the world and an extensive knowledge base in movement, mind-body integration and martial arts. Sharing some his passion for mindfulness and love of managing Still Water Float Center in Boise, Idaho, we also discuss how he incorporated floating into a daily practice for 30 days in a row and how it had a profound influence on how he perceives the world around him.

Zerin Beattie is the founder of XPAND and host of The XPAND Podcast, which focuses on helping push the evolution of consciousness forward. His field of study involves over a decade of meditation, 250+ float sessions, plant medicine ceremonies around the world and an extensive knowledge base in movement, mind-body integration and martial arts. Sharing […] The post 146: Zerin Beattie shares his extensive floating and meditation experiences appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

We talk with Mike Ruskow and Andreas Kraemer from Just Float, which is currently the world’s largest float center over in Pasadena, California. Mike, one of the founders, began working on the concept of Just Float over 6 years ago and is currently working closely with his Executive Director, Andreas, to continue the shift of […] The post 145: Business concepts from the World’s Largest Float Center – Mike Ruskow and Andreas Kraemer appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

We talk with Mike Ruskow and Andreas Kraemer from Just Float, which is currently the world's largest float center over in Pasadena, California. Mike, one of the founders, began working on the concept of Just Float over 6 years ago and is currently working closely with his Executive Director, Andreas, to continue the shift of their business from simply surviving—to thriving. During this episode, we touch on a variety of different business-related topics that any float center owner will be curious to listen in on, plus some details on what these two will be discussing during their interview-style presentation at this year's conference.

Returning speaker and podcast guest, Dr. Roy Vore speaks to us about his upcoming presentation that continues the informative conversation of germs and float tank solution, specifically in what we can do as float center owners. He also shares more about his background and how he got started down his long-standing career. Roy is a microbiologist who specializes in pool and spa sanitation, specifically in regards to recreational water illness and has been doing so for the better part of 28 years.

Returning speaker and podcast guest, Dr. Roy Vore speaks to us about his upcoming presentation that continues the informative conversation of germs and float tank solution, specifically in what we can do as float center owners. He also shares more about his background and how he got started down his long-standing career. Roy is a […] The post 144: Roy Vore informs us about microbiology and its relation to Float Tanks appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

In this episode we're talking with Dan Price, who founded Gravity Payments when he was just 19 years old and has worked hard to maintain his mission of helping hard-working small business owners stay competitive against larger corporations by making credit card processing transparent, fair, and easy. Today, nearly 20,000 independent businesses across all 50 states trust Gravity as their processor. Dan captured national attention in 2015 when he decided to raise the company's minimum salary to $70,000 a year. Although he's been criticized for what some consider his radical policies on pay and equality, Dan believes businesses have enormous power to promote social good, regardless of what industry they're in, by serving communities instead of shareholders and putting people over profits. We get into great conversation about being a leader within your team, mindfulness in the workplace and the importance of story-telling when it comes to growing our businesses.

On this episode, we have Dr. Matt Driller, who is an academic staff member in Health, Sport and Human Performance at the University of Waikato in New Zealand and has published over 90 peer-reviewed journal articles with a focus on fatigue, recovery and sleep in elite athletes. We chat about how he got started down the path of exercise physiology, where he first heard of floating and also dive into some of his most recent work which focuses on the use of Float-REST to enhance recovery from exercise in athletes.

In this episode we’re talking with Dan Price, who founded Gravity Payments when he was just 19 years old and has worked hard to maintain his mission of helping hard-working small business owners stay competitive against larger corporations by making credit card processing transparent, fair, and easy. Today, nearly 20,000 independent businesses across all 50 […] The post 143: Leadership and mindfulness with Dan Price, nationally recognized entrepreneur appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

On this episode, we have Dr. Matt Driller, who is an academic staff member in Health, Sport and Human Performance at the University of Waikato in New Zealand and has published over 90 peer-reviewed journal articles with a focus on fatigue, recovery and sleep in elite athletes. We chat about how he got started down […] The post 142: Dr. Matt Driller discusses exercise physiology and Float-REST for Athletes appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

On this episode, we're chatting with Michael Zev, from Dreampod, one of this year's amazing Float Conference sponsors. He opened one of Asia's first commercial float centers back in the late 2000's and has been manufacturing float pods for almost 5 years now. We were fortunate enough to get Mike to share his story of how he moved from New York to Hong Kong when he was younger, his first experience with float tanks and his inspiration to get involved in the industry, along with his thoughts on the float trends he's seeing in Asia and around the world.

Back again with another stellar presentation and slideshow for this year's conference, Flux shares his amazing story-telling ability in how he was able to combine his passion for art and science into his career and education, along with summarizing the great talk he did last year on Floating and the Immune System. Flux is working on a double Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience, based at the University of Colorado Boulder, and his dissertation work being in collaboration with Dr. Justin Feinstein at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a focus on understanding how floatation affects the immune system and anxiety.

On this episode, we’re chatting with Michael Zev, from Dreampod, one of this year’s amazing Float Conference sponsors. He opened one of Asia’s first commercial float centers back in the late 2000’s and has been manufacturing float pods for almost 5 years now. We were fortunate enough to get Mike to share his story of […] The post 141: Mike Zev shares thoughts on international Float trends- Dreampod, 2019 Sponsor appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Back again with another stellar presentation and slideshow for this year’s conference, Flux shares his amazing story-telling ability in how he was able to combine his passion for art and science into his career and education, along with summarizing the great talk he did last year on Floating and the Immune System. Flux is working […] The post 140: Flux – Boulder, CO-based Researcher – shares his passion for art and science appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

The Float Conference Podcast is back, starting with an interview with a new-to-Float-Con speaker, Dr. Jerry Walker. Jerry is a licensed, board-certified clinical psychologist who currently holds the position of Psychology Services Manager for Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. We talk about his passion for learning why people do what they do, how he got involved with the military and his most recent research study that was conducted on the effects of flotation therapy for mitigating physiological and psychological stress experienced by airborne intelligence operators.

The Float Conference Podcast is back, starting with an interview with a new-to-Float-Con speaker, Dr. Jerry Walker. Jerry is a licensed, board-certified clinical psychologist who currently holds the position of Psychology Services Manager for Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. We talk about his passion for learning why people do what they do, how he got […] The post 139: Psychologist, Dr. Jerry Walker on Stress Reduction in the Military appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

During the Friday Activities at the 2018 Float Conference, float marketing professionals joined forces to share their best practices on specific areas of marketing for the second Float Center Marketing Forum. In this episode, you’ll hear a group presentation on Facebook Ad Strategies. We’d like to give a special thank you to Joni Sue Cleavenger […] The post 138: Marketing Forum – Facebook Ad Strategies appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

During the Friday Activities at the 2018 Float Conference, marketing professionals from within this industry joined forces to share their best practices on specific areas of marketing for the second ever, Float Center Marketing Forum. In this episode, you’ll hear a group presentation on membership growth. We’d like to give a special thank you to […] The post 137: Marketing Forum – Membership Growth appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

This episode is a rerun of an interview conducted with Stephen Johnson for the 2014 Float Conference. Stephen Johnson has been a long time Float Conference favorite, giving talks about the spirit of the float experience. In this interview, Stephen discusses his rich and eclectic past, ranging from poetry to boxing to human anatomy. The post 136: Stephen Johnson – Revisited appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

John Turner worked with Tom Fine back in 1979 as the first two people to actually conduct research on floatation tanks. John chats with Ashkahn about how that early float research got started, what sort of research questions they investigated, and how it evolved over the years. The post 135: John Turner talks about how float research got started and evolved over time appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

This episode is a rerun of an interview conducted with Tom Fine for the 2015 Float Conference. Tom Fine is one of the first people to conduct research using floatation tanks. He’s responsible for some of the most foundational research studies, such as studying cortisol levels in people while floating to deduce reductions in stress. […] The post 134: Tom Fine – Revisited appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Justin Feinstein runs a float research lab out of the Laureate Institute for Brain Research. He’s been conducting float research for some years now and is currently working towards a project called the Float Research Collective, an organization with the goal of creating an infrastructure for float research to be conducted in actual commercial float […] The post 133: Dr. Justin Feinstein discusses the Float Research Collective and more appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

On this episode we hear from Dr. Peicheng Hu, a professor and clinical doctor in the Medical Psychology Department of Peking University in China, and the President of the newly formed Flotation Therapy Association of China. Professor Hu speaks about his own history with floating, which goes back many years, and about what’s currently happening […] The post 132: Dr. Peicheng Hu updates us about the FTA of China appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Flux is a Ph.D. candidate and the University of Colorado, Boulder, that has been actively working with the Laureate Institute for Brain Research to research the possible link between floating and the immune system. He joins Ashkahn to discuss his educational background that has lead him to work on this project, and the implications the […] The post 131: Flux fills us in on his latest research and it’s potential implications appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

This episode is a look back at an interview conducted with Sahib Khalsa from the 2017 Float Conference. Sahib is a researcher at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research and has been working for the past few years on studying the effects of floating on patients with anorexia nervosa. Sahib joined the podcast to discuss the […] The post 130: Sahib Khalsa – Revisited appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

James Nestor is a science-adventure journalist who has written for Scientific American, Outside Magazine, The New York Times, and more. As a past conference speaker (2014 & 2015), James will be joining us at the 2018 Float Conference to discuss new research on his forthcoming book on the lost art and science of breathing… and […] The post 129: The lost art and science of breathing with James Nestor appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Gloria Morris is the owner of Float Sixty with two locations across Chicago and NW Indiana. She’s also close to opening her third float center with the next couple of months. Did we mention all of these locations only took 2.5 years to open? In this episode, Gloria talks about her background in marketing and […] The post 128: Gloria Morris – Float Sixty appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Jake Marty is one of the other founders of Float On and organizers of the Float Conference. He’ll be teaching the CPO Certification class that takes place the day after the Float Conference. Mr. Marty joins Ashkahn on the podcast to discuss what the CPO class is, and give more details on how it’s relevant […] The post 127: Certified Pool Operator Training details with Jake Marty appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

This episode is a repeat of an interview conducted with Glenn and Lee Perry for the 2015 Float Conference. Glenn and Lee Perry are the creators of the first commercial float tank, the Samadhi tank. They have a rich history in the float world, starting by working directly with John Lilly and continuing to be […] The post 126: Glenn & Lee Perry – Revisited appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Dr. Roy Vore is a microbiologist that specializes in Recreational Water Illness (illnesses most commonly found in pools and spas). Roy joins Ashkahn to discuss the most common ways people get sick in pools and spas, and how the chemistry and operations of float tanks require different thinking when it comes to the likelihood of […] The post 125: Dr. Roy Vore talks about Recreational Water Illnesses appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Kevin McCulloch and Jacob Resch are the owners of Float STL, as well as the organizers of the Rise Float Gathering, a floatation event that takes place in St. Louis every year. Kevin and Jacob join Ashkahn on the Float Conference Podcast to talk about their lives before running a float center, and how their […] The post 124: Kevin and Jacob discuss how their experiences influence their center appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

[Apologies in advance for the audio quality of the Marketing Forum episodes. The content is still amazing and we hope that you enjoy them.]   During the Friday Activities at the 2017 Float Conference, the industry came together to share their thoughts on four specific areas of marketing in the first ever, Float Center Marketing […] The post 123: Float Marketing Forum 2017 – Social Media appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

[Apologies in advance for the audio quality of the Marketing Forum episodes. The content is still amazing and we hope that you enjoy them.]   During the Friday Activities at the 2017 Float Conference, the industry came together to share their thoughts on four specific areas of marketing in the first ever, Float Center Marketing […] The post 122: Float Marketing Forum 2017 – Community Building appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

[Apologies in advance for the audio quality of the Marketing Forum episodes. The content is still amazing and we hope that you enjoy them.]   During the Friday Activities at the 2017 Float Conference, the industry came together to share their thoughts on four specific areas of marketing in the first ever, Float Center Marketing […] The post 121: Float Marketing Forum 2017 – Pricing & Memberships appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

[Apologies in advance for the audio quality of the Marketing Forum episodes. The content is still amazing and we hope that you enjoy them.]   During the Friday Activities at the 2017 Float Conference, the industry came together to share their thoughts on four specific areas of marketing in the first ever, Float Center Marketing […] The post 120: Float Marketing Forum 2017 – Customer Relations appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

David Vobora is the founder of the Adaptive Training Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on creating both physical and mental training programs for athletes, especially those with physical disabilities. David joins Ashkahn to talk about his story, and how he started incorporating floating into the work he does. This episode is brought to you by […] The post 119: David Vobora, founder of Adaptive Training Foundation appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Shoshana Leibner and Kevin Johnson are two of the board members of the Floatation Tank Association. The FTA will be hosting a Friday Activity this year entitled, “FTA: Shaping the Future of Floating.” Shoshana and Kevin join Ashkahn to chat about the FTA, and what to expect from their Friday Activity. Read more about it […] The post 118: Shoshana and Kevin – Floatation Tank Association appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Justin Feinstein is the head researcher the Float Clinic and Research Center, a float specific research lab housed in the Laureate Institute for Brain Research. Justin and Ashkahn chat about the current research Justin is doing, and about his path forward towards publication and funding future studies. This episode is brought to you by the […] The post 117: Justin Feinstein – Float Clinic and Research Center updates appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Duncan Trussell is a comedian and host of the Duncan Trussell Family Hour podcast. He’s an avid floater, and talks about floating frequently on his podcast. Duncan will be doing a live recording of his podcast on stage at the 2017 Float Conference, with Christopher Ryan as his guest. Duncan and Ashkahn chat about the […] The post 116: Duncan Trussell on floating for self-reflection appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Bob Mangine has worked in sports therapy for many decades, and is currently working in the athletics department at the University of Cincinnati. He’s installed a float tank in the university’s training facility thanks to the STRONG program at the Air Force, and has started to conduct float research with his student athletes. Bob joins […] The post 115: Bob Mangine discusses his research at the University of Cincinnati appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Lydia Caldwell and Josh Hagen work for the Air Force Research Laboratory in the 711th Human Performance Wing. They work on a program within the research lab called STRONG, Signature Tracking for Optimized Nutrition and Training. Through this program they have started conducting research on float tanks, focused both on human optimization and recovery. This […] The post 114: Lydia Caldwell and Josh Hagen – Air Force Research Laboratory appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Sahib Khalsa is a researcher at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research. Sahib has been conducting a multi-step research project on how floating affects people with Anorexia. He’ll be coming to the conference to show the results from the first part of that research, the safety study. Sahib and Ashkahn discuss the study Sahib has […] The post 113: Sahib Khalsa updates us on floating research for people with Anorexia appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Dan Larsen, Matt Smith, Brad Dauk of the Float Collective are hosting a Friday Activity this year entitled, “The Soul of the Float Industry: 2017-2018.” The event is a a forum for conversation on the needs of the float industry, and how collective action can help accomplish those needs. Dan Larsen, Matt Smith, and Brad Dauk […] The post 112: Dan, Brad, and Matt – The Float Collective appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Joe Beaudry is the owner of Urban Float. Based out of Seattle, Washington, Urban Float has three of their own locations, along with one franchise location open and a handful more on the way. Joe and Ashkahn talk about the logistics in growing into a multi-location float business, and go over some of the finances […] The post 111: Joe Beaudry of Urban Float talks about expanding to multi-location float business appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Christopher Ryan is well known by many people in the float industry. He’s got a podcast called Tangentially Speaking, as well as a New York Times bestselling book called Sex at Dawn. He’ll be a guest on Duncan Trussell’s live podcast at this year’s Float Conference. Chris hops on to tell us about himself, his […] The post 110: Christopher Ryan – about himself and his floating experiences appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Jason MacDonald is a health regulator in Alberta, Canada. He’s been deeply involved in the world of float tank sanitation and regulations for the last several years, and will be speaking at this year’s conference about how how float tanks do and don’t fit into the regulatory scene. Jason and Ashkahn discuss the emerging world […] The post 109: Jason MacDonald discusses Aquatic Health Regulations appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Lisa Martin is organizing the Floatlympics, a Friday Activity that will involve a collection of friendly competitions based on common float center operations (eg, who can fold 10 towels the fastest). Lisa is in charge of day to day operations over at Float Sixty in Chicago. This episode is brought to you by the San […] The post 108: Lisa Martin – Floatlympics Friday Activity appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Nick Dunin is the co-founder of Beyond REST, a float center in Australia that is now in construction for its 6th, 7th, and 8th location. Nick joins the podcast to talk about his journey to the float world, and how he knew it was time to expand from his first location in Perth. Nick is […] The post 107: Nick Dunin shares about his journey with Beyond REST appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Gary Ferguson is the founder of Pathways for Veterans, a non-profit focused on helping vets bring health back to their lives. Gary has been integrating float tanks into his organization, making it part of the services he offers to vets, and beginning down the path facilitating float research. Gary will be putting on a Friday […] The post 106: Gary Ferguson – Pathways for Veterans appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Treeka Drake is the owner of One Love Float in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, as well as the President of the Float Collective. She’s partnered up with Corey Costanzo to put on a Friday Activity this year called “Shamanic Floating Concepts with Didgeridoo Journey.” Treeka has been digging into the world of shamanism and incorporating it […] The post 105: Treeka Drake – Shamanic Floating Concepts appeared first on Float Conference 2020.

Corey runs Still Point Wellness, a float and wellness center out in Asheville, North Carolina. He’ll be partnering up with Treeka Drake of One Love Float to put on a Friday Activity entitled “Shamanic Floating Concepts with Didgeridoo Journey.” Corey will be playing using his didgeridoo to take people on this sound based journey. Read […] The post 104: Corey Costanzo – Shamanic Floating Concepts appeared first on Float Conference 2020.