 Today is a good day. Do you want to know why? Because it is one more day that I am not in the mental institution. A year ago, my life was different. I was taking a drug called hydroxazine three times a day for anxiety. I was addicted. I watched the clock minute by minute, anxiously waiting until I could take my next lorazepam. I was also secretly self medicating with Vicodin. I was trying to handle my post traumatic stress disorder symptoms. You see, dear audience, you are looking at a rape survivor and a childhood domestic violence survivor. As an adult, the flashback started. I was a shattered human being. I had convinced myself that I'd rather be dead than live with a mental illness. I wanted the pain to stop. To make matters even worse, my marriage was falling apart. I was declared gravely disabled by the state of Washington and enabling child protective services to remove my daughter from my care. I was placed in the mental institution 14 times within seven years. I was so overwhelmed by what my life had become that at age 30, I attempted suicide. Everyone, just for a moment, I want you to consider what it would be like to live my life every single day. Pretty scary, right? Thank goodness my doctors eventually prescribed the right anti-psychotic medication for me, which I still take to this day. It alleviated the devastating flashbacks. However, nothing seemed to relieve the relentless anxiety that I still continue to feel daily. I had hit a tall, wide, formidable brick wall with a huge flashing neon sign that read, out of options. I was lying in bed, every muscle in my body hurting, my brain tied in a knot. I was afraid to go to sleep every night due to the reoccurring, horrendous nightmares. How could I live the rest of my life like this? I had raised my white flag in surrender. Then something miraculous happened. To my rescue came my husband Wei, my knight in shining armor riding a white stallion. He charged through the foreboding brick wall and snatched away my white flag and replaced it with a groupon for floating, my hero. I had never heard of floatation therapy before, but since it was presented as a new option, I immediately called the float center and scheduled my first appointment. The staff explained that floating can help relieve anxiety. As I purchased an unlimited membership, I made it my 2019 New Year's resolution to commit to floatation therapy. My very first session, I fell in love with it. I had never experienced anything like it before. As I share my story with you today, I feel like crying tears of joy. Floating saved my life. I believe my nightly routine of eating dinner, floating, driving straight home and going to bed was very effective. In three months under doctor supervision, I was entirely weaned off my anxiety medications. I no longer needed a Lorazepam and my shameful secret of taking Vicodin was over. I simply did not eat it anymore. I no longer suffered suicidal thoughts. The graphic nightmare stopped. I was completely different. By the end of 2019, I had accumulated an astonishing 280 hours in a float pod. I was free. I was able to restore my marriage. Child protective services returned my daughter to my care. During the COVID-19 lockdown, when the float center was closed, my doctors held their breath, waiting for me to backslide into chaos. However, thankfully, my symptoms did not return. I was able to maintain all the progress I had achieved in 2019. My brain had actually been rewired to be at peace. My gentle transformation from floating had become permanent. This was something my battery of medications could never achieve. I also had no negative side effects from floating. Knowing now that anxiety is a universal language, I have authored a trilogy of books that document my recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder. It is due out next spring. I'm also an artist. My time of still uninterrupted thought has sparked many creative breakthroughs that I never thought possible. I'm reaching new creative heights in my career. I attribute my multitude of successes to floatation therapy. I'm hoping my experiences will empower and encourage others to try floating. Most importantly, I now know peace. I now know safety. I now know security. I learned that in a float pod. Please understand float therapy goes far beyond a spa treatment. In my opinion and experience, it is a viable way to treat anxiety disorders. I am living proof it works. Please keep fighting the good fight. First, I implore you to keep researching. Second, work to support every effort to achieve health insurance coverage for floatation therapy. Third, do whatever you can to promote floating as a mainstream treatment. Floating is an untapped wellspring of health that can provide healing for so many. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to share my story with you today. But for the grace of God, I could still be in a mental institution. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Liberty Jubilee John. Today is a good day.