It is so easy for men to get caught up in the machine of the workaday world, shouldering the stress that life throws at them, staying tough and pushing through. After a time, though, that mindset takes its toll — physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Ken Kaplan, owner of Quantum Wellness in Bedminster and a corporate attorney, knows this cycle all too well. Although he always prioritized wellness — especially physical outlets such as golf, tennis or running sports — about 15 years ago, he sought a solution that addressed stress more directly. He tried yoga, meditation and acupuncture, but none achieved the deep and lasting relief he desired.
When he learned about floatation therapy at a business networking event, he was skeptical. “It sounded fringy and even gimmicky,” he says. “I thought, ‘I have a bathtub. I belong to a gym with a swimming pool. Why do I need a float tank?’”
However, his curiosity won, and he booked a float session. “I found floating didn't require the kind of effort that I needed to put into meditation — and I reaped more rewards. I noticed my life started to change, particularly in how I dealt with personal and business relationships and stressful situations. I found I was not reacting and fighting so much and was less stressed,” he says. “I found I was a better father, husband and business colleague. I was able to listen better and enjoy things more because I did not have a constant buzz of stress. Floating took everything down several notches.”
He apprenticed with one of the early pioneers of floating and shared his knowledge by opening Quantum Wellness, which offers five zero-gravity flotation cabins, in addition to other wellness services, such as massage, holistic facials, reiki, cryotherapy and an infrared sauna.
“I wanted to share how floating is a unique environment,” he says. “We spend an enormous amount of attention and energy dealing with external sensory inputs: sound, light, temperature, gravity. People do not realize how enormous the effects of gravity are on our bodies. The floatation cabin cuts out the outside world and frees your brain to just relax. Unlike being in a swimming pool, doing meditation or even being in your bed at night, in a floatation cabin there is no external stimulation — only profound quiet.”
Kaplan and his team are on a mission to be guides in clients’ wellness journeys. “You often hear from men that their relaxation is playing cards or golfing, but that is not true relaxation,” he says. “I have seen businesspeople transform remarkably in a short period of time through flotation. They come in with a certain stress level and now find their lives completely different. They find this therapy pays great dividends in their business life, family life and community life — as it has for me.”
Jake Slowinski, publisher of Bridgewater City Lifestyle and Somerset Hills City Lifestyle is a believer. “As a father of four girls and owner of two publications, to say that I lead a hectic lifestyle is an understatement,” he says. “For me, floating has become a great way to hit the reset switch on the stress levels of my life. It’s a great way to gain clarity and focus while lifting the pressures of everyday life.”
Learn more about Quantum Wellness at quantumwellnessnj.com.