About the Float Shoppe

The Float Shoppe was created in 2011 as a welcoming, calming environment in which to experience floatation therapy combined with massage, acupuncture, and counseling. The Float Shoppe exists to provide integrative therapies which promote a healthful life through reduced stress, reduced pain, and opportunities to reveal and engage with the core of one’s being.

Founders Dylan and Sandra created The Float Shoppe after their own first float sessions provided deep relaxation, renewal, and pain relief. As an RN in cardiology and psychiatry at the time, Sandra had witnessed firsthand the impact of chronic stress among her patients and felt strongly that floatation therapy represented an opportunity for a significant shift in the lives of those who make it a practice. Having gained relief from her own anxiety and chronic pain, Sandra set out with Dylan to create a place of integrative healing with floatation therapy at its core of offerings.

The Float Shoppe is a local family business which strives to provide an extraordinary environment both for its clients as well as its staff, connecting with the community in service. Since opening, Dylan and Sandra have become leaders within the float industry, providing guidance to others including the research facility at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, where float research is progressing every day. Dylan hosts the Art of the Float Podcast, started in 2015 to help others successfully start their own float centers, and offers his skills both as a consultant and photographer to others in the float industry. Exceptional practitioners and dedicated, enthusiastic float facilitators create an environment for all who enter which is akin to walking into a hug.

Float Shoppe Co-Founders: Dylan and Sandra Calm

MASSAGE THERAPISTS

Experienced massage therapists with great range and depth of skill in massage for both relaxation and therapeutic work.
Amber Star Pollard LMT
Massage Therapist
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A recent resident of Portland from the Big Island of Hawaii, Amber Star has over 12 years of professional experience in therapeutic bodywork and the healing arts. After graduating in 2006 from one of the country’s most esteemed schools for medical massage therapy, The Hawaiian Islands School of Massage, her continued exploration of healing modalities led her to study in many places around the world, including Thailand, Bali, Peru, and Kauai. Her work has since expanded to the fields of multi-dimensional healing, intuitive channeling and spiritual coaching, but her love of therapeutic massage and working with the body remains amongst her favorite offerings. Her bodywork has a unique integrative style, combining the refined skill of medical deep tissue with a compassionate and highly intuitive touch. She utilizes an array of techniques, including myofascial release, Hawaiian Lomi Lomi, and channeled energy healing to deeply release, realign, and nurture the body on every level.

Schedule with Amber Star
Zachary Ensign LMT
Massage Therapist
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Zac Ensign LMT #25019 graduated from East West College in 2018. Previously living in South Florida, Zac moved to Oregon to pursue a career in Art and Massage. They believe in the extraordinary ability for massage to heal and are passionate about using massage and energy work to alleviate stress, chronic pain and emotional trauma, creating a solid mind/body connection. They offer deep tissue, myofascial release, relaxation and trigger point therapy, married with energetic balancing work.

Schedule with Zac
Kelcy Heerspink LMT
Massage Therapist
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Kelcy has been passionately practicing Massage Therapy since 2009. She provides a gentle, yet strong approach to access the deep tissues of the body. She brings an intuitive and grounding presence to every massage, catering to specific health goals and individual needs. Her philosophy towards health is that the body knows how to become healthy and whole, and as a Licensed Massage Therapist she is here to assist with this process. She offers clients a blend of bodywork techniques including: myofascial release, deep tissue/trigger point therapy, soft tissue release, and craniosacral Therapy.

Schedule with Kelcy
Sarah Peterson LMT
Massage Therapist
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Sarah is an Oregon State Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT). Since graduating from The Swedish Institute, NYC in 2011, Sarah has become a highly skilled and experienced practitioner. She combines her expertise with a calm and mindful presence, customizing each session to meet the needs and preferences of the individual. Sarah brings a holistic and compassionate approach to her practice, drawing upon her advanced training and extensive experience with the following modalities: Swedish massage, deep tissue, myofascial release, prenatal, medical and sports massage.

Schedule with Sarah
Steffi Kutcher LMT
Massage Therapist
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Steffi, raised in Ashland OR, believes that massage is one of the most effective ways to facilitate healing in the mind and body. She draws inspiration from eastern and western theories of the body, energy work, and healing. With this knowledge she recognizes the body knows how to regulate and heal itself. She also recognizes that sometimes it needs a little help. She is passionate about supporting each client on their healing journey, working layer by layer though their tissues and pain. Her work is very relaxing and soft, with the belief that light – medium touch is one of the most effective ways to promote healing. She graduated from East West College of the Healing Arts in March 2021 and received their Level II Reiki certificate in June 2021. On her off days, Steffi enjoys yoga, running, rowing, and playing with her pet rats. She has a degree in Sports Science from PSU & OHSU and is looking forward to getting her Masters in Public Health.

Steffi offers: Thai inspired bodywork, soft tissue release, trigger point therapy, myofascial work, craniosacral, and energy work (Reiki).

Schedule with Steffi

Leadership Team

Dedicated to furthering awareness and knowledge of floatation therapy and its many benefits.
Sandra Calm RN, MS
Co-Founder

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Sandra Calm is an RN and nurse educator as well as one of the two co-founders of The Float Shoppe. While working as a bedside nurse and nurse educator in local hospitals in both medical-surgical nursing and psychiatry, Sandra witnessed the enormous impact of stress on the development of chronic illness. After floating relieved her chronic back pain and anxiety, it was clear floatation therapy represented an immense opportunity to support the long-term health of many. She became determined to create a welcoming, comfortable atmosphere in which people could discover and utilize floating in conjunction with therapies that work perfectly in tandem. Through the Float Shoppe, Sandra aims to provide a center for wellness which fosters well-being and the prevention of disease.

Dylan Calm
Co-Founder

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Dylan Calm, Portland native and co-founder of The Float Shoppe, has a passion for community and personal development. In 2011 he and his now-wife Sandra opened the Float Shoppe. Dylan started Art of the Float With Brian Van Peski in 2014 to help others open and run successful float centers, providing consulting services and a podcast to support those starting and running a float center. He soon added photography for use in marketing by float centers and his photos, taken at the Float Shoppe, are now visible across the float community.

Nathalie
Office Manager

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Nathalie has been the Office Manager at The Float Shoppe since April 2019.
She has lived in Portland Oregon since 2006, after moving from Washington State to attend the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA).
Once she did her initial float it was clear that this was a missing piece to the puzzle in her overall recovery and wellness. Floating regularly has significantly reduced chronic pain inflammations, as well as helping to manage a severe anxiety disorder.
She also works to coordinate local goods and art being sold and displayed at the Shoppe.
Nathalie is a certified Adult Mental Health Peer Support Specialist through NAMI Portland and is a strong advocate for the mental health, houseless, and the LGBTQIA2S+ communities.
She would like to thank and acknowledge the land of the Chinook, Cowlitz, and Clackamas peoples on which the Shoppe is standing.
Abraham
Assistant Manager/Float Facilitator

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Abraham believes strongly in our innate capacity for self-healing. Floating helps Abraham see what is truly important and leaves him feeling kinder, more compassionate, and more creative. In addition to collaborating on behind-the-scenes construction projects and connecting with local artists, Abraham’s favorite part of working in this industry is the importance placed on simply holding space. Abraham always endeavors to help others live in each present moment, honoring their stories and the paths that they have travelled. He believes healing is always there to meet us exactly where we are, no matter from where we come.
Brian Van Peski
Senior Solution Architect
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Brian plays a variety of roles, from troubleshooting computers and helping with websites, to optimizing business practices and workflow methodologies. He also works alongside Dylan to create Art of the Float Podcast.