POOL OPENING – The new saltwater swimming pool at the Mary Ann Moore Wellness Centre is set to open this coming week, along with their adjacent dry sauna and hot tub. 

ENTRYWAY TO ANOTHER WORLD – Jacqueline Dickson, president of the Mary Ann Moore Wellness Centre, is pictured here at the doorway to the newly opened Float Cabin. Inside is a wide, warm, illuminated pool, holding 1,100 pounds of dissolved magnesium sulphate. Guests can book in for an hour, or 90 minutes, and enjoy complete peace and rejuvenation. See the full story below.

Float Cabin a relaxing soak

BY KIM LANGEN

A new spa addition – the Float Cabin – is now taking on passengers.

It’s just one health-oriented element of the new Mary Ann Moore Wellness Centre expansion project, and the first private bookings for the silent flotation tank experience were accepted a few weeks ago.

“It’s like the Dead Sea in the tank,” said president of the Wellness Centre, Jacqueline Dickson. “It has 1,100 pounds of Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) in it. Everybody is lacking in magnesium, and you can absorb it through your skin. We’ve had around 30 customers go through since it opened three weeks ago.”

Dickson said that the benefits from a silent soak in the float cabin included relief from muscle aches and pains, migraine headaches, insomnia, fatigue, postnatal depression, anxiety, and many other disorders.

“You can book the cabin for a 60 minute or 90 minute float,” said Dickson. “We prefer people to go in the nude because of the detergents that are in small amounts in both clothes and swimsuits. This keeps our tank very pure.”

The Float Cabin has its own designated room, with an adjoining shower (guests shower before entering the tank), and a fluffy towel on hand to dry off after the peaceful experience.

The cabin itself is like a very large, square bath, not too hot, with a cascade of diffused, changing light illuminating the water, altering it from blue to green and to purple. A sealed door keeps the cabin very warm, and totally quiet.

And it’s proving popular – in town and out.

“We have people phoning from Brandon for appointments,” said Dickson. “And there’s one lady in Killarney who has been travelling to Winnipeg who now comes here. There are only two other float cabins in Manitoba, and they are both in Winnipeg. The most common thing customers say when they come out of the tank is that they feel relaxed, and they feel rejuvenated.”

The cost for a session is $55 for the one-hour soak, and $65 for the 90-minute version. The centre also offers packages, which you can check out on a handout sheet available from the reception.

And these packages will soon include other spa facilities, like the saltwater swimming pool, located in the southeast corner of the new addition, which will open to a curious public next week.

“We are hoping to open our saltwater pool, hot tub, and dry sauna in the first part of May,” said Dickson. “They’re looking beautiful, and we’re nearly ready to go. We will be making an announcement in the newspaper. It’s been a year since we began construction, and while I am tired, I am also very excited.”

In the meantime, guests can enjoy the many other services already available at the Mary Ann Moore Wellness Centre at the corner of South Railway Street and Mountain Avenue.

Plus, a new retail section at the west foyer includes local designer Betty Hicks’ ‘betty made it’ line of yoga attire, children and adult coats, hats, caps, headbands, and scarves.

There’s also Jane Tote’s ‘Leather Aspirations,’ jewelled flats, essential oils and diffusers, plus natural Canadian-made hair products, and bath salts.

A Grand Opening is planned to take place later this year, in order to showcase and celebrate the full span of the modern, cool, and contemporary centre, said Dickson.