Float Boston

Float Boston on Medford Street in Somerville has been part of the city’s recovery scene for long enough to have shaped it, and the offer now runs to a full contrast circuit alongside the float tanks that gave it its name.

The float side uses tanks of heavily salted water held at skin temperature in darkness and silence — restricted environmental stimulation therapy, which practitioners use for pain, anxiety and sleep as much as for relaxation. The sauna and cold plunge alongside allow a conventional contrast cycle, and the two practices complement each other: contrast therapy is stimulating and cardiovascular, floating is the opposite, and doing one then the other makes a more complete session than either alone.

The infrared sauna runs cooler than a traditional Finnish room, warming the body directly rather than heating the air. The cold plunge provides the counterpoint.

Medford Street sits in the Winter Hill area of Somerville, reachable from Assembly and Magoun Square. Booking ahead is necessary for floats, since each tank takes one person at a time, and advisable for the contrast circuit at peak hours.