Swimming pool culture in Iceland is big. In every Icelandic town you have at least one swimming pool with natural geothermal water. Outdoor swimming is a daily sport and it does not matter if you have rain, snowstorm or frost – Icelanders go to their swimming pools. There people socialize, do their exercise, meditate and relax.

The newly invented Float design is an addition to the Icelandic bathing culture. Designer Unnur Valdís – an Icelandic mermaid and a wellbeing specialist, designed this product to add a new dimension to the water and bathing culture. Float is a swim cap made from Neoprene-Lycra-Polyethylene foam, designed to be able to let your head float in water. This water relaxation product has created a huge trend in Iceland in terms of wellbeing and water experiences.

Designed to create a total bliss moment and relaxation in water, whether in a manmade pool or in natural settings. You are float around, comfortably wrapped in water. It is the perfect setting for the weightless body to experience a deep relaxation where you can relax every muscle.While floating, the whole body chemistry reacts to the surroundings. Muscles relax, blood pressure drops and the heart lower its pace. Adrenalin and Cortisol are replaced by Endorphins. This creates a meditative state and the mind calms down.

Like many Icelanders, a big part of Unnur´s life is in water as she goes to the swimming pool daily. Visits to the local swimming pool combined with occasional baths in exotic nature is all a part of her upbringing and a big part of daily life for people living in a country with an abundance of water and geothermal energy.

The Float trend encourages social gathering, both in public and private pools. Sometimes people gather in an isolated place in the countryside where there is a pool and float together. One of the upcoming pop up float events is a floating concert at the oldest and biggest indoor swimming pool in Reykjavik. In collaboration with musicians and artists, people will come together with their float gear and enjoy music and stunning visuals while floating around, free from gravity. Groups of like minded people meet and float together, embraced by water – giving them the feeling of floating around in the vastness of Space. They are comfortably lost in Space – although on their own terms.
 
A new experience with water.
 
Ragna Froda
 
www.float.is