Breathing underwater is just the first part of a potentially life-changing experience.
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be completely weightless? In a calm environment, where sounds are diminished and you only use hand signals to communicate?
Welcome to Immersion Therapy.
Invented in Adelaide in 2014, Immersion Therapy has been helping people with disability, illness or injury to go deeper and experience weightlessness while using special breathing equipment.
And it’s now expanded from Adelaide to Melbourne, with plans for Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand on the horizon, before being available in other Australian capital cities, thanks to a partnership with Immersion Therapy founders Determined2 and Belgravia Leisure.
Belgravia Leisure senior exercise physiologist Daniel Alford leads the Immersion Therapy team in Melbourne. He says it’s suitable for almost everyone aged 8 and older… and it’s an experience like no other.
“A big part of Immersion Therapy is it allows you to be underwater and stay underwater and this creates a weightless environment,” Daniel says.
“People that might struggle to move on land find this unbelievable freedom underwater; they can move in ways they haven’t been able to. It’s really empowering and a truly amazing experience to be a part of.
“Being underwater you experience sensory deprivation, you can’t speak, hearing is diminished, you focus on what you are doing, giving a lot more to the activity or exercise – in fact, everything you do underwater can be classed as a mindfulness exercise.”
For people with physical disability, the ability to move without restriction underwater can have immense health benefits for their body. Meanwhile, the mental and psychosocial benefits have been a welcome surprise that’s now been well-researched.
How does Immersion Therapy work?
Immersion Therapy uses some equipment that’s similar to SCUBA apparatus, but it is very different.
Immersion Therapy is a 1:1 with an allied health professional that’s tailored to every individual’s goals and what they want to achieve. The equipment is purely to unlock the weightless underwater environment.
That means participants don’t need to be able to swim or feel confident around water.
Anyone who wants to try Immersion Therapy is screened by doctors, but referrals aren’t needed to contact the service. Daniel says “no one is ruled out automatically”.
“We can work with all types of conditions and disabilities and water confidence,” Daniel says.
“The therapy and standards have been developed in collaboration with the top underwater medical specialists in Australia and while there are some conditions that require further investigation before participating – things like heart and lung conditions, epilepsy or uncontrolled diabetes – they are referred to an underwater specialist doctor.”
The benefits of going deep underwater
Immersion Therapy can support people with different mobility support needs to enter and exit the pool with lifters and hoists.There is no upper age limit to participate. Everyone is supported to participate at their own pace and Daniel says the changes that take place underwater have far reaching benefits on land.
In fact, Daniel says he’s never witnessed anything like Immersion Therapy in all his years of working in the allied health space.
“Immersion Therapy is one of those things where words don’t do it justice, you need to experience it for yourself to know how amazing the underwater environment is – we recommend you try it out to see the real benefits,” Daniel says.
“I’ve worked as an allied health clinician for over 17 years, all types of settings and services from acute hospital to private practice e to sporting clubs, elite athletes and everything in between, and I’ve never been part of a service that gets results of all areas of health and wellbeing, it is a therapy that adopts the biopsychosocial approach and gets benefits in all areas of life.”
A participant with terminal cancer diagnosis has recovered their ability and confidence to regularly leave their home again as well as regaining independence for everyday tasks at home. Other participants have, after 30 years, started attending music festivals and going on holidays. Another participant developed the confidence to try snorkelling after experiencing a near drowning in their youth. Participants can be non-verbal, quad-amputees, people who use AUSLAN in everyday life – it truly is for everyone.
Related: Tim Maloney OAM: From Paralympic Gold to Championing Immersion Therapy
Why is Immersion Therapy so good?
The underwater environment is a great equaliser where subtle movements, verbal communication and sound have no place.
That means, for people who experience difficulty in typical social settings, Immersion Therapy is a safe space away from the everyday world.
Physically, being weightless in the water can help relieve chronic pain and it’s especially useful for people who usually are seated in mobility aids – the water allows a pressure relief.
For people who have fear or past trauma around water, the use of underwater breathing equipment allows them to experience the aquatic environment again in complete safety with the support of an allied health professional.
Any activity is a great choice
So whether the Paralympics have inspired you to hit the pool or just try a new sport or recreation, Daniel agrees it’s a very good thing.
“For everyone we know how important activity is, especially one we enjoy. Making sure we find and try activities we might enjoy helps with all aspects of life and there are visible and invisible benefits,” Daniel says.
“Immersion Therapy, because it is so inclusive, does allow a lot of people to try it and if they end up enjoying Immersion Therapy they find that all aspects of their health and wellbeing improve – your confidence, self-esteem, it definitely translates into the rest of your life and lifestyle.”
To find out more about Immersion Therapy in Adelaide, go to https://determined2.com.au/.
For Melbourne and future national locations, go to https://www.watermarcbanyule.com.au/swim/immersion-therapy
