Shiloh spa eases stress, aches and pains through floating

When a lung condition forced Loek Koene to leave his job, he found treatment, and eventually a new career, at an innovative spa.

That was a year ago. Last month, he has opened his own spa that incorporates a therapy of weightlessness through floating. Float Center Shiloh, at 3660 Green Mount Crossing Drive, where clients spend between one to two hours floating in a chamber of 10.5 inches of water filled with 900 pounds of Epson salt to relieve their aches and pains as well as stress and enhance their mental focus.

Koene (pronounced “cone-ee”) has four suites at his metro-east spa, of which three are the size of full-sized beds and the fourth is larger, or as Koene says, is “king-sized.” Each is maintained at near body temperature: 95.5 degrees. Clients can float from one, one-and-a-half to two hours in different colors of starlit LED lighting or in complete darkness. Sessions cost between $50 and $100.

Don’t worry, you won’t drown. Koene and others have tried and tested it. The Epson salt maintains the body’s buoyancy, and Koene said many clients will even go to sleep during their session.

He said this floating therapy not only relieves pain from arthritis and stress, but ultimately detoxes the body.

“It helps relieve the pressure in all of the pressure joints and it relaxes your brain,” Koene said. “You’re floating in a high concentration of magnesium sulfate. The skin is a very good absorber of magnesium in water, and some people have a magnesium deficiency, which is related to anxiety and things like that. It flushes out all of the bad chemicals out of your body. So people who have done very hard workouts normally would have aches and pain the next day because of the lactic acid in their muscles. Actually, magnesium pushes it out.”

Koene and his wife Cheri opened the spa last month after the couple realized they both needed a career change. His wife had worked in law and was also seeking relief from the stress of the work environment. Koene, who was born in Holland, left his native country in 2004 to take a job as the general manager at the Heimos Greenhouse in Millstadt. But when his physician said a sudden lung condition was no longer conducive to working around plants and flowers, he opted to consider treatment in floating that lead to a new calling.

“I said we need to do something different because this is not healthy,” he said. “So that’s actually the reason I started the company in the first place, for us to have a better life. And we want to help people live better.”

Koene first heard about float therapy 13 years ago. His nephew started his own spa in Holland in 2002. Koene and his family helped finance the enterprise when bankers rejected his applications.

Today, the company has five franchises in Holland, three in Belgium and the Koenes now operate the company’s first U.S. spa in Shiloh. Koene, who was already living in the metro-east when he started his franchise, said he chose to locate within the Green Mount Crossing shopping center because of its proximity to Interstate 64 and Scott Air Force Base.

Koene said it was the Air Force that first developed float therapy. When the United States was vying to put men in space and eventually walk on the moon, they used float therapy to condition astronauts and simulate weightlessness and work within confined compartments.

Koene was not only familiar with the success of float therapy, but he also figured introducing a spa like this would be unlike any other in the area and provide an ever-increasing health-conscious society another alternative for wellness.

“Now, people are more conscious about their health and wellness and are looking for better ways than running to the doctor,” he said. “This helps with pain management.”

The float suites are insulated and keep out any outside sound. The float chambers provide no noise by media overload or any exposure to the electronics that bombard society. The spa ultimately allows clients to clear their minds, find pain relief and rediscover clarity, peace and serenity.

After entering the suite and closing the door, clients are in complete privacy. Right inside the suite is a shower for the clients to use before entering the float chamber. Clients must put in ear plugs and if they wear contact lenses, they must remove them before entering the chamber.

Clients can float wearing a swim suit or in the nude. The spa ensures a clean environment and meets strict health codes. The disinfection systems used are in compliance with the Centers for Disease Control. The water in each float chamber is circulated and disinfected five times between each client. The spa is cleaned by the same cleaning supplies that are are used to sanitize an operating room.

Clients must be 18 years old to use the spa. Those who are younger can use the Float Center if their parents signs a waiver and stays in the float suite with the child.

The float rooms are free of electromagnetic radiation frequencies and floating sensation induces increased theta brain waves, which are active during REM sleep.

The LED lighting has been clinically proven to improve one’s emotional state. The LED starlit ceilings in each chamber can be lit blue, pink, yellow or green lighting or clients may choose to float in complete darkness. Koene said one hour of float therapy equals four hours of a good night’s sleep.

Koene said when clients are not fighting gravity or being bombarded by media overload and exposure to smartphones and other electronics, they can clear their minds and rediscover clarity, peace and serenity.

“That’s our aim,” Koene said, “to help people live a healthier life.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Shiloh spa eases stress, aches and pains through floating."