It was a chance dip in the Dead Sea last year that first introduced me to floating as a way of relaxing. The experience of being completely supported by the water was totally unlike anything I'd come across before and I could see the advantages of a dedicated flotation pool where it would be possible to lie flat out and enjoy the drifting sensation to the full.

The Dead Sea feels oily and is incredibly salty. It also stings ferociously if you happen to splash your eyes or get the water in your mouth, so it's best to wade in gently and sit down carefully. Once you're in, however, the experience is both restful and invigorating.

We had stopped for lunch at an hotel along the Jordanian coast and took our dip from its "beach" which amounted to a narrow strip of pointy shingle. Most of the residents were there to sample the health enhancing properties of the Dead Sea and were staying a week or two to get the best from their daily dips.

Some sat armchair-like in the water reading books, while others with black mud packs on their faces floated gently by. The salt dried quickly to a sparkling white crust on exposed skin and, as you rubbed away the salt, the skin underneath felt smooth and slippery.

Facilities for showering afterwards were limited to a limp trickle of cold water, so there was no option but to get dressed and drive damply onwards. By the time we reached the hotel about an hour later, our salt dried clothes crackled like newly starched sheets.

After a long shower most of the salt had disappeared down the plug hole and my skin was smooth and positively glowing. This was exfoliation on a grand scale.

It was the Dead Sea relived in luxury recently when I tried out the flotation pool at Walmer House in Raheny, Dublin. Walmer is an holistic training centre which runs courses in natural therapies such as massage and aromatherapy. Unlike the Jordanian experience, however, the Walmer flotation room is fully equipped with a hot shower, towels, toiletries and ear plugs. There is also a lock on the door so you can shut yourself away for an hour in a private world of soft music and dimmed lights.

The pool is like a very large bath and the water is kept at blood temperature. The pool is filtered after each use and it is up to the individual to decide how to dress (or not) for the occasion.

Each flotation session lasts an hour and at Walmer House it costs £20 per session or £50 for a course of three. For those interested in having a flotation pool at home, the cost is in the region of £15,500.

The pool measures 10 by 15 feet and the saline solution in which one floats is about 15 inches deep. The pool temperature is maintained at 35 degrees. Unlike traditional flotation tanks which have a lid, the flotation pool is completely open so there is no feeling of claustrophobia.

It takes a little while to get used to the sensation of being fully supported by the water but once you relax you begin to lose all sense of being in water and you just feel comfortably suspended. For anyone who doesn't like the sensation of water in their ears, a neck pillow and ear plugs are available.

Apparently lots of people drift off to sleep during a flotation. I didn't, but I certainly wound right down and was totally relaxed by the time the float was finished. I found an hour was a bit long and got out after 45 minutes. But others find the hour flies and they have to be urged out of the pool by the buzzer which tells you your time is up.

The Walmer pool was installed by Paul McCarthy whose company, RDE, is currently fitting pools in the Nutron Clinics in Dublin and Galway. "The flotation pool we sell has been developed by a British company over a period of 10 years," he says.

"It is filled with 400 kilos of Epsom Salts BP which is the best quality salt approved for surgical use. The pool has the same sort of engineering plant that one would find with a swimming pool or spa. The solution is chlorinated and there are two filters. The pool is automatically filtered and sanitised after each use."

The healing and therapeutic properties of water have been known for a very long time, McCarthy explains, and flotation is used by people for many different reasons. "For example, to speed healing after an injury or to help with painful conditions such as arthritis. I've also come across case studies on people with MS and migraine among a list of conditions which have benefited from floating. It's also a good environment in which to learn so some people have an educational tape on instead of music when they float.

"Floating doesn't demand any great intellectual effort. It's just something you do and it suits all shape and sizes. You're on your own so you can completely relax with nobody looking at you or putting any pressure on you in any way.

"The pool is user-friendly with handles to help people getting in and out and there is a call button for any emergency. You have control of your environment and can adjust the music and the lights from within the pool."

The whole ambience within the flotation room is designed to be warm and soothing. It is certainly a deeply relaxing environment and with ear plus in place a very quiet one. With the body in a state of weightlessness the mind is freed to float off on its own and it is supposedly in this state of detachment that the healing and relaxation processes occur.