Bringing Together Ancient Knowledge And Innovative Technology With Anand Sukhadia

 

What mark can you make on this world when you strip yourself of all limitations and see achievement as infinite? Health expert Anand Sukhadia started answering this question by creating a wellness center complete with sensory deprivation therapy, cryotherapy, infrared saunas, and even CBD massages. Anand founded om.life, a modern recovery spa, after realizing the power of proactive health and creating a healthy environment in which your body can heal. Today, Anand and host Josh Martin talk about how caring for yourself first is how you can best care for others, and how this kind of healthcare is more than just a business, but a lifestyle.

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Bringing Together Ancient Knowledge And Innovative Technology With Anand Sukhadia

I’m here with Anand Sukhadia of Om.Life Wellness Modern Recovery Spa. Anand and I go a little back, especially with the work at Om.Life. I’m a big believer in taking care of your body and trying to get every edge that I can on the competition. Being an elite, professional athlete, I don’t always feel elite. When I leave Om.Life, I do. Anand, I appreciate you being here and being able to share about you and yourself and the concept behind Om.Life, and why you feel it’s necessary and some of the modalities that you employ to help keep athletes. I consider everyone an athlete, anyone that moves up. Anand, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you. I’ve been always involved in trying to better myself like you. I used to play basketball, soccer in high school and then I started getting into fitness, working out, meditation, yoga, biohacking and self-development. I’m always trying to optimize every aspect of my life. This was a journey I was on by myself. I had different businesses. I knew at one point I would always want to open up a wellness center that encompassed all these cool modalities. My mission was always to try to find the nicest and coolest and the most effective optimal ones. At some point I realized, “I can do this. Maybe down the road with money and when I have the resources.” I decided in 2014, “If I’m not living my purpose now, what the hell am I doing here?” I had a spiritual experience where it was an awakening where I realized, “I have to start planning this.” I liquidated all my assets and borrowed a bunch of money.

Over the next few years, I planned the whole concept of Om.Life out. It took me about a whole year of construction to do. We finally opened on December 2017 and it’s been phenomenal. We have a couple of different therapies. Your audience might know, we do Flotation Therapy, which is a zero-gravity experience, no lights, no sound, no gravity. You’re able to unplug from this five-sense reality where you’re floating in nothingness. The stiller you can get, the more you can calm your mind down, amazing things start to happen. Cortisol levels or stress levels go down. We also do Cryotherapy and infrared saunas. We do Shamanic energy dealing, massage therapy and a lot of different modalities to help with the mind, body and spirit.

I’m a big fan of Cryotherapy and Flotation Therapy. I’ve even tried to sauna there once. I love Flotation Therapy because there are clearly physical and mental benefits. When you talk about wellness and recovery, a lot of people overlook mental health. Being on the field, you’re attacked from every angle, physically and mentally. Being able to recharge the physical benefits as well as the mental. Correct me if I’m wrong, you’ve got the Epsom salt. How many pounds of Epsom salt is in these tubs? 

One thousand pounds.

It doesn’t matter who you are, you’re floating as Dead Sea dense. I’m maybe 6’2″, 6’3″ but I’m 250, 260 pounds. I float easily.

We’ve had people that are 6’8″ or 300-plus pounds float, no problems. It’s amazing what salt can do. There are a lot of benefits people see going into the Dead Sea. They feel a lot of healing from it. The magnesium level is getting into their body, help re-mineralize the blood, they sleep better, feel better.

Muscle functions better. Sensory deprivation is no joke. I can speak to my personal experience when I’m in a float tank. You have to shower, rinse off, don’t forget your earplugs. Don’t hop in. You don’t want to splash because you don’t want any of that stuff in your eyes. Make sure if you have any minor abrasions or cuts, you put on the petroleum jelly that’s offered. You slowly ease yourself in and the lights start to dim. Music starts to soften, unless you like music. I prefer silence. I prefer myself in my thoughts, your heartbeat, your breathing. I say myself with my thoughts. One of the freakiest things about Flotation Therapy is if the water temperature is right, you don’t feel where your body begins or ends. You’re like some sentient being in this black void. You can’t tell the difference between your eyes being open or closed. It’s like you’re in another world almost, another dimension. I don’t practice mantras or anything when I’m in there. I mainly focus on my breath. That’s about as meditative as I get. It’s a truly revelationary experience.

People use it for creativity. People use for rest, athletic recovery, meditation. Every time, it could be different as well. That stillness place, you forget the body, first of all, and then it’s your mind. We have to understand what is the mind and where all these thoughts are originating. Are we creating them or are they downloading to us? How is this happening? If you’re able to slow everything down, you become still and you become one with whatever level you want to see yourself. It becomes a very beautiful practice because time doesn’t exist there, and having no sensory input. We’re bombarded daily by all these things: advertising, media. No cell phone, no text messages, no ding. You’re able to just be. A lot of people feel like, “What am I going to do for an hour? What am I going to do for 1.5 hours in there? I can’t be without my phone.” They do it and they’re like, “I could do this.”

Many people are used to being stimulated all the time. You feel uncomfortable. Your phone’s a crutch. You have to be connected to something. When you’re completely disconnected, even from your physical being, it seems that it’s an uncomfortable experience. I can say anxiety-inducing if that’s not something you’re accustomed to or you’re not sure what to expect. I remember my first couple of floats, I felt uncomfortable because you don’t know what sensations to expect. Even if you do, knowing what you’re going to feel and feeling it are two different things. It’s a mental practice and being able to be comfortable with yourself and your thoughts exclusively. 

It’s nothing else in the world unless you’ve been floating in outer space, but there are still lights and sound and things like that. This is the only unique environment where you can create that sensory deprivation.

Another thing that I like is the cryotherapy and some of the benefits, anti-inflammatory response. That’s probably the biggest one for me. Maybe you could go into the science of Cryotherapy and how that works. 

It’s supposed to induce a hypothermic response. When you’re out in the cold, if you’re in the Arctic and you’re in a t-shirt or whatever, your body is going to start to think, “There’s a serious danger here. I need to protect this thing, this vessel.” All the blood starts rushing to your vital organs. We use liquid nitrogen to cool down the air. It gets anywhere from negative 249 degrees, which is the starter level we do and then it goes all the way down to negative 321 degrees, which is the extreme version. There’s no moisture or wetness in there. You always want to be dry going in. I know one of your brothers in the NFL.

You’ve got to be careful in there. You can cause some serious injuries and there have been people that have died without proper supervision in doing these things. They’re the real deal, when it’s negative 321 degrees, it’s negative 321 degrees. That’s no joke.

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We are careful about all of the above. We made sure that we’re with the person going into the cryo chamber at all times. We’re talking to them the entire time and making sure they’re going in with the right safety precautions. You wear socks, slippers, glove liners and gloves. Two sets of gloves to make sure you protect your extremities, and then you go and dry as well.

I want to say that other than those gloves and socks, you’re not wearing much beyond that. You might be on an underwear and a t-shirt maybe.

It’s negative 249 degrees. You don’t want to wear any metals or jewelry or anything like that in there. Once you’re in there, the session starts, we have a little setting that starts out with heat to calm the body a little bit, to get you warm.

That’s luxury right there. 

It gives you false sense of security before we cool it down. Also, it’s good to relax the body and dry up any moisture you might have and then it goes into the cooling phase. Once it hits the desired temperature, say negative 321 degrees, that’s the last one you did, all the blood starts rushing to the vital organs to protect it. All the other blood vessels close up and then while it’s going through the blood and the other organs, it’s circulating your blood, your lymphatic system. It’s picking up oxygen through the heart. It’s picking up nutrients through your other organs. As a session comes to an end, you come out, you’re freezing, but the body starts slowly heating up. The ideal is you’re getting down about 40 degrees in your body temperature, outside skin temperature, then your body’s going to heat itself up. It has to pump up a lot of blood. Blood vessels open back up because there’s no sense of imminent danger. All that fresh oxygenated nutrient-rich blood flushes to the rest of your body. Places that have been injured, that have any scar tissue, it’s getting newly oxygenated blood with nutrients. It’s helping heal parts of the body that have not had a lot of consistent new blood flow.

It promotes circulation is what I’m hearing as well and lymphatic drainage. How long are you in there? Are there options? Is it three minutes?

It’s three minutes for most of the sessions except for the first session. The first time somebody goes in there, we put them at the starter level at negative 249 degrees and that’s 2.5 minutes. Everything else is for three minutes.

It doesn’t seem like 30 seconds would make a big difference but that last 30 seconds is rough.

Going from negative 249 to negative 278 or 306 and then 321 degrees, there’s a huge difference in each of those stages. We want to make sure that people are ready to accept that cold.

We talked about some of the injuries that could happen. At what point is too cold? Is it dangerous? 

I would say, first of all, timing is important as well. You don’t want to max anything more than three minutes. This has been done by all the Cryotherapy researchers. They realized three minutes is much all you can do. If you’re in ice bath, people stay in a lot longer, but that’s because the temperature can’t get as cold as it would in a cryo sauna. In terms of temperature, 321 degrees would be the max. There are no other options after that. We want to make sure people get the 40-degree drop in temperature. That’s all that’s required to stimulate all the great benefits. Brown fat activation, lowered inflammation, you get all the blood circulation to the fatty drainage. You’re also getting muscle recovery.

What is brown fat? 

Brown fat gets stimulated when you’re in a cold response, you start shivering. That brown fat is getting stimulated, it’s turning to burn off and that is allowing for you to burn calories. A lot of different systems in the body get drained.

We talked cryo, sensory deprivation and tank floating. What other modalities do you have? You have the NormaTec, the sauna. You have a massage the CBD massage. Let’s go through the menu. 

 

Infrared sauna has become popular nowadays. It’s different than a regular sauna. A regular sauna gets up to about 180, 200 degrees. It’s heat inside of a room. It’s stimulating your sweat glands, you’re over activating them and you start sweating. With the infrared sauna, you’re getting different levels of heat. It’s near, mid and far-infrared heat spectrum. It’s able to penetrate through yourselves, open them up and allow for cellular detoxification. You start sweating a lot of heavy metals, people with Lyme disease sees a lot of relief. People with cancer see a lot of relief. If I have a cold or something like that or going into those stages, I go in there and then I feel amazing afterward because it overheats the body to burn out a lot of the symptoms that I’m experiencing. We have Chromotherapy in there too. We have Light Therapy. You can choose the different lights. Different lights relate to different moods. It can stimulate happiness or calmness, the different ones that we offer. We have Music Therapy there as well. Music, while you’re sweating, is also more relaxing. It’s more meditative. The temperature only gets up to about 150 degrees versus regular saunas, which is about 200 degrees. You’re able to be in a gentler environment, but you also start getting the same benefits of the sweating.

You have the NormaTec, which the Compression Therapy, is that what it’s called? 

Yes. That pairs well with the Cryotherapy. It’s sleeves you put on. We have arms, legs and hips. What it does is start squeezing the lactic acid out of the legs by using dynamic air compression. The first time it goes through the body, you put on your legs, it’s going to measure the diameter of your limbs and then create an algorithm around that to either compress or decompress in certain stages. You’re getting back and forth. It’s pulling all the blood out and then it’s pulling all the blood back in when it decompresses. It’s going through the heart all that blood, recirculating, pick up oxygen, pick up nutrients and then coming back down. People who would run marathons, athletes, they see they’re sore after 30 minutes, there’s a lot less soreness. If you do it consistently, you can induce your recovery time.

You have the CBD massage. What’s the role of CBD in this massage? 

Everybody’s talking about CBD. It is amazing. It comes from the hemp plant and it lowers inflammation, helps with anxiety, but there are also no psychoactive properties. When CBD is applied transdermally on the skin, it is able to go directly into the bloodstream rather than taking it internally through droppers or whatnot or gummies. People do that. You have to digest it and then it has to form to liquidy ash and it goes through the blood. It also helps with the inflammation but this is direct. As soon as you put CBD on, our body has CB2 receptors. It’s almost like our bodies and the plants co-evolve together because it has the same receptors. Once the CBD hits the CB2 receptors, it drops inflammation right on the spot. People with the pain they rub a lot of those CBD balms on them.

People with anxiety, they take CBD orally. There are many benefits to it. Also, there are massages. We do Himalayan salt stones to stimulate some reflexology points on the feet. All of our whole body can be found, according to Chinese herbology, to the points on the feet, the meridians and also on the ears too. There are two different ways of doing it. We stimulate the feet to help more blood flow, channel flows. We do Aromatherapy. We also have a thing called the Hypervolt, which is an electronic pulsing massage guide. I’m sure you’ve seen that. All different companies use the Hypervolt. That helps eliminate any knots or deep muscle tension that people have where it might not be able to be done by hands. This electronic stimulation gun helps break it up.

One of the things I like about all of the modalities at Om.Life is that they are built on the fact that they simply enhance the body’s natural processes to recover and heal. Having had injuries and recovering from an injury, it’s overlooked your body’s ability to heal. I’m amazed. This isn’t my first surgery. This isn’t my first injury, how my body is essentially fully recovered from every injury that I’ve had. It’s pretty incredible what your body’s capable of. It seems like Om.Life is simply allowing your body to do what it does best more efficiently.

We’re a big fan of the body and we believe in it. We believe if you put in the right nutrients, give it the right environment, it can heal it and thrive. I had shoulder surgery. You had a shoulder surgery too. It won’t heal sometimes on its own. You’ve got to do a surgery. Allopathic medicine is important with any trauma like that. Afterward, it’s up to you to give yourself the right environment to get the blood flow in there, to take in the right nutrients, the right vitamins to help promote healing. There are many different ways we can lower inflammation, supplements like turmeric or ashwagandha, things like that.

Even there are minor dietary changes, getting those carrot sticks instead of those French fries. 

I look at food as two different things. You can either eat food intake for nutrients for your body to help it promote healing and good health, or you eat because you love chocolate cake and it’s a great feeling to eat it. If you’re eating for that reason, then you want to eliminate it as quickly as possible. In my life, I don’t want to deprive myself of the bad stuff, but I want to make sure that I get rid of it.

That’s why after those cheat meals, I make sure to hop in the sauna, take a float, toss on the NormaTec. I’m interested if you’re okay discussing, what’s the business of recovery? What goes into that? Where is it headed? You talked briefly on the things you had to do to get the business up and running. I want to get into the recovery business because I understand how important it is and how it’s allowed me to perform at my highest level. I want it to be able to offer that to other people. It’s inspirational to see people live their purpose and to be able to make a living doing that. It’s something I’m exploring. I’ve been playing professional football for several years and I can’t play that forever, but I’m looking to still be able to live my purpose and make a living doing things that I’m passionate about.

There’s a big emphasis on wellness and there are many different angles and everywhere you look in Manhattan, new places are going up. The thing is to educate people on the recurring practice of it, starting out small, like breathing techniques or meditation or maybe float once a month, we have a lot of people coming to our center that love those modalities. It’s becoming more and more where they’re like, “I need to start doing this regularly.” You have to make it a practice. It can’t be like a one-time. It’s a lifestyle. You’re proactive about all these things.

My journey started out because I was interested in wellness. My parents are doctors. My dad passed away years ago. I realized that you have to be proactive about your health. Losing my dad was tough for me and I realized that he did so much for other people. He was a doctor. He always would see people, no questions asked, even if they didn’t have any way to pay for it or something like that. He was always openhearted. When it came to taking care of his own health, he developed diabetes, had hypoglycemia because he wasn’t eating lunch on time because he was always with patients.

I realized that you have to be able to take care of yourself first before you take care of anyone else. It’s not a selfish thing. You can’t give your gifts to the world unless you are complete and whole. That includes self-love too. It can’t be the physical part. It’s also the emotional part, the intellectual part as well. My eldest sister is an Ayurvedic doctor. That’s an ancient Indian practice, similar to Chinese medicine, but using the herbs from India. It’s a lot of massage therapy, saunas and detoxification. I got to see both sides of the whole spectrum.

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I realized that being proactive about your health is the way to live a long healthy life and a life of quality. You can live a long time on medication, but I’m sure we all see in people that are on meds. They have to take 50 pills a day and they’re not happy. They end up having a lot more complications because of these things. Knowing that, I realize I want to get into the health business because my whole family is in the medical field or the alternative medical fields. My goal was to open up a center like this. As I said, it took me several years to make the decision to bite the bullet and to go into this.

During this process by the time I signed my lease at the location in Jersey City, I was promised three months on the build-out by my contractor. He was the highest contractor price. I vetted a lot of different people with somebody I knew. He brought on a general contractor to run the whole thing and it ended up being a whole year. We were nine months past the expected open date. I already did some presales. I had to be kind to my customers and tell them exactly what was going on and make sure that they all know what’s going on. A lot of communication. At the same time, I was going through a breakup with my fiancé at the time, who was also supposed to be in the business.

Going into this wellness place, everyone’s like, “It’s such a dream business. It’s loving and easy to do.” No, there were a lot of hardships to get through it. By the time I opened, I was stressed out. Opening up a wellness center and being stressed out, I had to float every day for my own calm and sanity. Many things were going on at the time but luckily, as soon as we opened, we hit the market well and a lot of people were interested in our modalities. We built an amazing community. These three angels came into my life who are my team members, Yulia, Mark and Kelly. Day by day, we give our all, take care of our guests, take care of our clients and show love. Everybody that walks through our door, it’s all about treating people like family. It’s more than just the business. It’s about the human connection that we make. We’re a little less than two years, we’re growing. We had our first community happy hour.

One of the goals in addition to helping people live a better life, mentally, physically, spiritually is also to build a community of people who want to evolve themselves and then go out and spread that light and love into the world. We’re big on that as well. We’re going to do a lot more community stuff. In terms of wellness in general, more and more people are getting on board. Flotation Therapy is something that people didn’t know about and now people have at least heard about it. I would say everyone in Jersey City, there are at least 1 or 2 people away from either coming to Om.Life. Either one of their friends has, or a friend of a friend has come. Everyone knows about us and we’re continuing to spread the word and evolve.

In terms of the business that you asked about, it is going well. We’ve been profitable since day one. We have three float tanks, a bunch of saunas, cryotherapy. We have a lot of different modalities. Educating is a big component. We have to do a lot of that versus just having a floating place. There are other centers that do one modality and it’s easier for them to market it. We’re finding our different ways on how we can get the whole message out and build this community of people who want to come and evolve themselves.

You’re doing the rebranding, the remarketing push. What makes Om.Life a modern recovery spa?

Our whole thing is we want to use ancient knowledge and bring in new technology. Flotation Therapy, for instance, sensory deprivation is not a new concept. The ancient Egyptians were meditating in pyramids in the darkness for days to reach certain levels of heightened awareness. In India, they were doing the same things, meditating in caves. These Buddhist monks, same deal. I believe there are many levels of being and I’m spiritual in nature, but I realized that this five-sense reality is one aspect of that. When we could connect with our higher self, then we started seeing that there’s so much more out there that we don’t even know about.

Having an environment to separate all the distractions of the world, ambulances, firetrucks, all this stuff, stress, relationships and being still, you realize you’re more than this body, this person in this life. That was one of the reasons why I want to have this as the primary service. Cryotherapy, people have been doing cold dips and plunges for many years. It stimulates the body. It keeps you young, it keeps you refreshed and it helps you feel alive. Breathing techniques and infrared saunas, we’ve been doing it for a long time. Bringing all these things into easy, palatable experiences to come to a center and escape the city life into a little wellness sanctuary that we have. That’s what makes us different.

You mentioned allopathic, the opposite would be naturopathic or holistic. Let’s go onto that. What does allopathic mean? 

Western medication.

You mentioned all of these medications that people are taking and everyone can relate to this. You’re watching TV, in the airport, wherever you are and you’re reading or watching this advertising for medication. It solves all these problems but then they murmur of the side effects. The negative side effects almost seem to outweigh the positive side effects. My experience with medication is that they don’t solve the underlying issue. I’d like you to speak to your opinion and thoughts as it relates to preventative care and where you see Om.Life Wellness fitting in and used to holistic wellness a category? Where does it fit into healthcare as it stands?

It’s a new form of healthcare. This is a personal idea of mine anyways. I have a lot of respect for doctors because my parents are doctors and I see the hard work and the love that they put into their fields. Also in terms of the whole medical industry, what they’re learning is based on a lot of research studies by pharmaceutical industries. Pharmaceutical industries have a certain motivation.

They’re biased. They’re trying to sell pharmaceuticals. They’d be calling it what it is.

I don’t have anything against it. I feel that if you look at all the pharmaceutical drugs, what are the ingredients? Most of them are coming from the Amazon Rainforest, but there are a lot of chemical compounds that they put in that which cause all these different side effects. If you’re taking in plants, you’re taking in nutrients, you’re taking in sunlight, air and breathing, clean water is such a huge aspect. We’re drinking purified water. It’s all filtered. It plays a big role. Our bodies are mainly water, 60%, 70% water. Our brains are mostly water. If we’re taking in the right inputs, then our bodies can thrive. Also the emotional stress, it affects it.

 

Taking it all these other chemicals, our bodies are trying to constantly detox it, but it comes to a point where you’re overloaded and it can’t detox. If you see a lot of people who are in medications, they could either be overweight or they can be gaunt. People react differently to different stress inputs. Some people lose a lot of weight, but that’s not a good thing. People gain a lot of weight, which is not a good thing. I see Om.Life as a place where people can come learn about a healthier way. We do a lot of other free events and community events where people can learn and educate themselves. We’re not forcing anyone to come in a float tank if they can’t do it or they don’t want to.

Having the availability, “This is a different way to look at life. Try it. Maybe do a membership with floating once a month or something like that where you can see what it’s going to do for your body and your minds.” The people who have come in so far, they’ve been loving it. They use it as a resource, a place for community and they feel a lot better. They look a lot better. The best part of my job and the best compensation I get is after somebody comes out of a float with a big smile on their face, they’re all relaxed. David, when he came to float, he was on his phone right before the float the whole time. He put it away and after he came out, he had this huge smile on his face and he didn’t even need to see his phone.

It’s probably the longest you’ve been without your phone in years. David’s a busy guy making all this happen.

That’s the best compensation I get is to see how people transform in a short amount of time. Marathon runners, a lot of people are training for the marathon. They’re sore as hell. After they run ten miles, they come in and do 30 minutes on the NormaTec and the cryo a couple of minutes and they feel like a million bucks. They’re like, “I’m going to go run again.” It’s wonderful to see all this stuff.

I’m not a big politics guy but this impact made me think of healthcare and you think of the argument for single-payer healthcare. Where does preventative healthcare fit in? I’m not a doctor. I run into people for a living. Medicine today is entirely, after the fact, reactive. I feel like holistic wellness is necessary and it is the future in my opinion. Do you need to have NormaTec boots in every hospital? It would be a great idea but probably not. Changing the way people think about their diet and nutrition and understanding that moderation is key and not even moderation. Not everyone has access to fresh fruits and vegetables, even within the United States. Having access to healthcare means more than just doctors and hospitals. It’s the proper nutrients that your body needs to perform at its best. 

It’s a risk perspective because so much is run based on the financials. Insurance companies can save much money by implementing these programs and hospitals as well. The number one cause of bankruptcy in this country is medical bills. People don’t have insurance and they can’t afford $300,000 for cancer treatment or something like that. It’s sad and people save a lot of money. The business can save a lot of money and the saving of lives can be much more enhanced when people start looking into this. It’s been looked at for a long time but never been implemented on a countrywide level. In terms of the way that’s starting to shift over a little bit, it took a long time for acupuncture to be covered by insurance.

There are some rumblings about Cryotherapy being able to be used by insurance companies and paid for because of the inflammation effects that it has or reduction. In Japan, Cryotherapy was invented for rheumatoid arthritis. There are a lot of these amazing modalities that are used in other countries here and there, but who’s going to spearhead this whole thing? As long as I’m doing what I do, I’m going to try as much as I can, but there needs to be done something on a countrywide basis. It starts with the government and about educating. A lot of things are because of lobbyists and money.

Is there a holistic wellness lobby or cooperative? I’m sure you have relationships with other people that run holistic wellness centers, your modern recovery spas.

I’m friends with a lot of float owners.

What are the rumblings in that community?

There’s a lot of research being done. There’s the Laureate Brain Institute in Oklahoma, which is conducting float studies. The National Institutes of Health has green-lighted a major funding for a full-scale float study, which is amazing. The first thing that they did was they studied 30 people. They had anxiety all the way to full-scale depression. Every single one of them after their first float reported a significant decrease in stress or anxiety. If you look at any medical study that’s done on pharmaceutical drugs, that’s never happened 100% of people who not had symptoms after or reduction in symptoms after one experience like that, 60 minutes of complete rest. A lot of people don’t get the opportunity to do that and to be an environment where you’re floating.

I would imagine even beyond the sensations, you’re physically removed from the things that cause you stress, depression and anxiety when your floating. It’s just you and your thoughts. As much as your mind plays a role in those things, your mind is stimulated on many levels. When you remove all of those stimulants so to speak, it makes sense. It’s almost too easy. It’s a simple solution. It makes you happy. Go sit in some water, see what happens.

A lot of people are dumbfounded when I say, “You’re sitting in saltwater.” They’re like, “What is that going to do for me?” When you sit there and do it and experience it, then that’s when I can have a conversation. If I start the conversation by listing out all the benefits, I’m going to sound like a snake-oil salesman. What was your first experience like? I know you floated before you came to Om.Life. What was the first float that you had? Tell me about that.

I started floating years ago during my rookie season in Kansas City at KC Floating or Floating KC, my first float experience. For me, it’s something that you have to be into. You have to be able to buy-in. You can’t go there with apprehensions. You have to be able to let go and practice that. The first time I was a little wound up, not quite sure what to expect. Being a professional athlete and trying to get every advantage that I could, I was open to trying anything. I did my research and they took me through the steps, make sure you don’t have any minor cuts or anything, putting your earplugs, that stuff, and you get in the water. It’s lukewarm and it was a little uncomfortable, but I was honestly surprised that I was floating in six inches of water.

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The darkness comes in and you’re blinking your eyes, there’s no difference. It’s a trip. For me, I gained a sense of comfort in the darkness and stillness to myself and my thoughts. What I like to practice, when I get in, I lay down in the water, I’m sitting there floating and then I do a mental check of my body. From my toes, all the way to my neck and try to relax my feet, my ankles, my knees. I go to my hips, then my back and my shoulders. I’m tense, I’m always on. You have to be on the football field. When you carry that around with you throughout your daily life, it influences the other things you have going on in your life, whether it’s relationships or other things you’re pursuing professionally off the field.

I’ll do that system check almost. I couldn’t say that I was able to fully relax because it is a foreign feeling that first float. After the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, I was taking naps and it would feel like I had a full night’s rest. I was thinking about this while we were talking about it. You’re literally weightless. You don’t have worries in the float tank. You might have worries in your mind, but with practice, you can let those go at least during the time that you’re in the tank. The weight of the world is gone. One of the strangest sensations is it happens every time I float. I don’t know if you can relate, is when you start to stand up and you feel the weight and your spine readjusting and it’s like, “Back to reality.” That’s the worst part about floating is stopping the float. Make sure you use the restroom before you get in there. 

I do eight-hour floats sometimes. I do overnight once. It’s amazing.

That’s a practice. You have to practice to be still for eight hours. 

In the morning when I wake up around 6:00, I am out. I have to push myself. I can’t move. I have to take my time getting out of there. You feel like a bowling ball.

It’s like being in space I would imagine when you’re weightless and you have to transition. I’m not an astronaut. I’ve never been to space but from what I’ve read, it’s like when astronauts have to get used to gravity again.

Some NFL guys like Tom Brady has one in his house. He was one of the first to have one.

The Saints have a couple of them.

The Patriots have them. J. J. Watt has one in his house. I love how athletes are on top of these things because they’re finding the best modalities. I know that Chicago Cubs have a whole recovery center. They have the floating, infrareds, cryo, the NormaTec boots everywhere.

Do you know who was happy that I told them about this float like, “You have to try this?” It’s offensive and defensive linemen. They’re 300 or 350 pounds, with constant stress on their joints and body. I forget who I told, but they were happy that I told them and I was like, “You’re weightless. It’s only six inches of water.” “I won’t float. I’m 340 pounds, there’s no way.” They get in and I get a text or I see in the next day and they’re like, “Thanks, that was great.” Feeling weightless for someone who’s that big and it’s their job to be that big, the physical stress on their joints and body, they were appreciative of that experience. Anything else you’d like to cover or talk about, promote? What’s next for Om.Life Wellness Modern Recovery Spa?

We’re continuing to build our brands. After we get a little bit more established, I like to open up a place in the city to a full biohacking center, including the modalities we have, plus a lot of cooler things. I wanted there to be a space where everybody looks in the world as this is the model on what healthcare should be. I want to bring in the right people. I went to a lot of events, more community stuff and wellness days in Jersey City or in Manhattan and things like that. My passion is this. I don’t do it for the money. My motivation is on what more can I make?

We’re these limitless potential beings. One of the great quotes I heard is that, “Hell on Earth is meeting the man you could have been.” The only limits we put are on ourselves. Once you come to the realization that you can achieve anything, how much do you want to turn that dial up? How loud do you want that volume to be? That’s what the beauty of this life is. We will never get to that point because there’s infinite. How much do we want to do while we’re here? Every single day that I wake up, I wake up with gratitude. I have the best thing in the world, the best gig. I get to choose what I want to do on a daily basis and influence a lot of people’s lives. This is the beginning and I want to do a lot more and contribute to the world.

If I’m someone who’s looking to, I know I’m not living right or I don’t feel great, my body’s aching, sore, I might not get enough sleep. I’m not eating well, what would you have to tell that person that wants to change their life around, but they’re stuck? 

Please come to Om.Life Wellness Modern Recovery Spa.

 

Let’s say this person’s in California.

There are tons of float centers all over. It’s becoming a big thing. People see the benefits. Look up Flotation Therapy or sensory deprivation in your zip code. There are many places you can go to. If you’re in pain, you go to a Cryotherapy center. These things are popping up all over. It’s a great thing for the community for each different city that you go to. If you’re stressed, practice breathing. There are many YouTube videos you can listen to. The world is completely open to you. Know that wherever you are, it’s not the end-all. Also, if you’re in a lot of pain or a lot of stress or anxiety, depression, there’s always a way out of any hole that you’re in, don’t give up. There are many different things that you could be doing. Om.Life Wellness is a great option. Follow us on Instagram, @OmLifeWellness. My Instagram is @Anand.Life. We put some cool content up.

Thanks for joining us. 

Thank you for that. I appreciate it.

Important Links:

• Om.Life
• Laureate Brain Institute
• National Institutes of Health
• @OmLifeWellness – Instagram
• @Anand.Life – Instagram
• https://www.OM.life/

About Anand Sukhadia

Growing up in a family of medical doctors and holistic healers inspired me at a young age to create a health and wellness center that combines ancient knowledge with modern technology. As I grew older, I put my ultimate dream on hold and pursued different entrepreneurial opportunities. While I had varying degrees of struggle and success, I remained unfulfilled professionally and personally. This led me to dedicate the last 16 years to self-development on every level of my being: intellectually, emotionally, physically and spiritually. I read every book related to self-help, business, and spirituality that I could get my hands on. I attended seminars with Tony Robbins, New Peaks, Dale Carnegie Training and Landmark International. I developed an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, experience, and deep human connection. I have also trekked the world and have been to Australia, Europe, South America, Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East. I spent time with visionary thought leaders, shamans, gurus, billionaires, and individuals who possess nothing more than the shirt on their back. They have all been my teachers. During my travels, I discovered modern-day technologies that foster vitality, have explored ancient civilizations and learned about the mind-body-spirit connection.

In spite of all this personal work, I still hesitated to take this leap of faith of opening up my dream business because I assumed that I would eventually have the startup investment capital and ability to devote 100% of my efforts into my passion. Then in 2014, I had a spiritual experience that changed my life forever. After a four hour, mystical “journey” with the Amazonian plant medicine known as Ayahuasca, my reality and purpose in life became crystal clear. All of the knowledge and experience I acquired intellectually sunk into my heart and I had a rebirth of sorts. I started living from my heart as opposed to living from my mind. I realized I was put here on this planet to fulfill for myself and spread to others the meaning of my name, Anand, which translates to “eternal bliss”. I decided that I was not going to play small anymore, not live in fear, and be present in each day with love, gratitude, and service to others.

I curated some the best health technologies and experiences on the planet through going through my own health journey, and was delighted to see some of the visionaries I admire in various fields utilize the very same therapies. I was exposed to whole body cryotherapy from Tony Robbins, floatation therapy and ayahuasca from the Joe Rogan Podcast, infrared saunas from Ben Greenfield and various other biohacking techniques from Dave Asprey (Bulletproof Podcast) and Tim Ferrriss. Today, I am the founder & director of om.life Wellness, a modern recovery spa and lifestyle brand dedicated to healthy living for the mind, body, and spirit. As a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, I specialize in plant-based nutrition, functional fitness, holistic health, and spiritual lifestyle and business consulting.

Our holistic sanctuary was created for you, for me, our team and for everyone looking for a place to discover their truest essence. I’d like to invite you to join us on this journey, and live into your new om.life by experiencing our services, chatting over a cup of tea or stopping in for a heartfelt hug.