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.
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
Liev Ensign LMT
Massage Therapist
Kelcy Heerspink LMT
Massage Therapist
Christina LMT
Massage Therapist
Leadership Team
Dedicated to furthering awareness and knowledge of floatation therapy and its many benefits.
Sandra Calm RN, MS
Co-Founder
she/her/hers
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
he/him/his
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.
Silas
Shop Manager
he/him/his
Brian Van Peski
Senior Solution Architect
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.