Susan Burns, the owner of the Austin Flotation Center, provides epsom salt baths where customers "float" because of the high density salt water and achieve a mental and physical relaxation.

Susan Burns said slipping into a tank filled with water and 800 pounds of Epsom Salt is the closest thing she'll ever experience to weightlessness.

"It's sort of like your body disappears," Burns said. She should know - she owns and operates the Austin Floatation Center in Westlake.

Floating involves lying naked for at least an hour in a 4-by-8-foot tank filled with a mixture of water and salt kept at 93 degrees, Burns said.

Because of the amount of salt, users float effortlessly to the top, "like a leaf," Burns said. It's a relaxation tool used in much the same way as meditation and massage therapy.

Brochures at the center describe it as a way to release yourself from "excess mental and physical stress caused by an overload of day-to-day external stimuli."

It also can help people quit smoking or lose weight, the pamphlet says.

"It's like when you reboot your computer," Burns said. "It feels like your hardware is all ready to go and brand-new again."

Her center, which is one of several in Austin, runs on an appointment-only basis, Burns said. She started offering floating services three years ago.

Floating was really popular in Austin in the 1980s, she said.

"Then it kind of disappeared and went off the map for awhile," Burns said. Now there are floating centers in other American cities as well as in India, Australia, the Netherlands, England and Japan.

Now Burns is trying to spread the word about floating in Austin. She attached fliers to kiosks on the UT campus to bring in people from the UT community, she said.

Her center doesn't just cater to Westlake clientele, Burns said. Some of her clients have even traveled from Dallas or San Antonio to use her tank.

Burns said before she opened the center she taught at an elementary school in Austin.

"I did a lot of research on effects of stress on teachers and students, so that's what got my interest," Burns said. "When I floated, I realized it was such a profound tool for dealing with stress and that I wanted to have one."

Burns said before anyone is allowed to enter the tank, they have to use the shower facilities at her center. Customers can buy time slots of an hour or an hour and a half for $40 and $50 respectively. Burns also has "frequent floater," packages for three 60 minute sessions for $105.

Austin Floatation Center is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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