A quiet presence tucked into the bustling commercial strip on Cason Lane near Old Fort Parkway, Float Alchemy is a mystery to many who breeze past the establishment, the first to offer salt-water-filled flotation tanks to Rutherfordians locally. (The business’s older sister, Float Nashville, was the first such facility in the state, opening in 2013). Float Alchemy’s progressive-minded concepts may require further understanding to fully grasp the benefits of its health-enhancing services, but keep in mind that “alchemy,” in a nutshell, simply means “transformation.”
Float Alchemy founder Amy Grimes’ own health journey was significantly transformed by experiences using flotation tanks, which eventually helped her recover from substantial chronic pain and inspired her to make tanks available in Tennessee. Since 2005, she’s also been a licensed massage therapist, a skill she continues to employ despite not initially having planned to make massage part of her career. Grimes says she was committed to including therapeutic massage in the menu of healing tools under the Float Alchemy umbrella from the outset.
The community wellness center’s unique offerings may be a still-unfolding secret known only to a growing list of satisfied customers, but word has definitely been getting out regarding the establishment’s therapeutic massage services. In the wake of a recent local Main Street award citing Float Alchemy as the city’s best massage, the business’s massage slots have been steadily booked, with additional rooms now being added to accommodate demand.
Grimes, whose vision for creating a peaceful and healing environment strongly flavors every facet of the wellness center, carefully hand-picked the licensed massage therapists that comprise Float Alchemy’s well-regarded massage department. Two of the three professionals on staff, in fact, learned elements of their craft under Grimes’ instruction at Mind Body Institute, and were inspired by Grimes’ compassionate and comprehensive approach to healing.
Taylor Langston, a 2017 MBI graduate, jumped at the chance to work at Float Alchemy for her former teacher. Taylor, who says she got into massage “to help people from a holistic (whole-person, not symptom-based) standpoint,” combines massage with an interest in counseling, a field she’s pursuing a degree in at present. Her gift for listening and interest in her clients allows them to feel safe enough “to share their stories or just get things off their chest that they may not be able to tell those close to them,” Taylor says.
Her specialties include therapeutic massage and active isolated stretching (AIS), which can loosen tight muscles and relieve pain in areas that regular massage can’t easily address. Taylor also offers recovery massage, which involves creating a goal-oriented treatment plan.
“I love to see the change in my clients as they progress through our appointments and to hear their happiness that they are finally getting better,” she says.
Clients whose treatment requires multiple appointments, Taylor notes, allows her “to really get to know my clients. I love that,” she says, “because we are creating a family that really cares about each other at Float Alchemy and our clients are definitely a huge part of that.”
Cat Stout, a graduate of Georgia Career Institute who has been a licensed massage therapist for six years, recently joined the team at Float Alchemy. Cat offers services including full-body relaxation massage and soft tissue therapy as well as muscle targeting, which improves strength and endurance in specific muscle groups.
In what almost seems a massage mantra from the Float Alchemy team, Cat says “I got into this field to heal and nurture others. It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done!” Like her colleagues, she’s excited about the potential for growth her unique workplace offers.
The most recent addition to Float Alchemy’s massage staff, who simply goes by her first name, Jess, is probably the only staffer there you’ll likely see hanging from the ceiling. Suspended by horizontal bars, she provides ashiatsu, a method of massage applying controlled pressure using her bare feet and body weight.
“The benefits of ashiatsu include a deeper, more broad type of pressure which tends to be more comfortable than the deep tissue techniques achieved by using knuckles and elbows,” Jess says. “The long flowing strokes also induce a deep relaxation response in the body.”
Jess, also a hands-on massage practitioner, has a special interest in helping clients with trauma and addiction. Victims of trauma or abuse, she says, can equate hands with being hurt. For them, the foot-delivered ashiatsu foot massage is an alternative to hands-on massage that can feel safer. Safety and comfort are paramount, says Jess, who recommends that nervous newcomers try a fully-clothed chair massage, or undress only to their personal comfort level for a table massage. Tell your therapist what you like, or don’t like, she advises, emphasizing that massage experiences can, and should, be custom-tailored according to each client.
Of her massage team, Grimes says they were chosen for their skills as well as for “their compassion and the way they listen to their clients and craft massage experiences to address pain and stress issues. Each therapist has their own personal way of looking at issues and has developed a set of skills to address them.”
Grimes and her team are gratified that they can bring relief to clients, whatever the modality. Still, many have yet to discover the exponential benefits of combining a float-tank session, the facility’s marquee service, with a massage. For the time being, therein lies the rub.
Float Alchemy is located at 131 Cason Ln., Murfreesboro. For more information or to book an appointment, call 615-933-1116 or visit floatalchemy.com.
