Stephen Bryla, Owner
Floating first entered my life in 2008 while I was a sophomore at UMass Amherst. It was brought to my attention by a dear friend, who heard the word from Joe Rogan on a YouTube video. Without thinking twice, I knew floating was something I had to try. I sought out the nearest float tank and I arrived at The Crystalline Matrix near Worcester, MA. With no expectations, I entered the tank and had a profound experience. A year later, I made another visit to The Crystalline Matrix, and after another moving experience in the tank, I began to wonder why floating was not a more prevalent therapy and practice. I wanted to float more regularly but did not want to have to drive an hour away in order to do so. I was surprised that after each passing year, no float center was opening in the Valley. I then began to brainstorm what it would be like to create a place in Western Mass where people could come and float. After doing some Internet research, it led me to traveling to Portland Oregon to attend a float conference (I know, I couldn’t believe there was a float conference either). I attended 2 conferences, gathering as much information as possible, before opening Go With The Float (and continue to go every year). I have come to love the float industry and facilitating floats to the people of Western Mass and surrounding areas has become my passion and life’s mission. I am deeply honored by all who chose to come to Go With The Float and experience floating.
Our Float Facilitators
Courtney
Hi, I’m Courtney—a Float Facilitator here at Go With the Float. I found my way to this work through my own deep connection with flotation therapy. It’s been a core part of my wellness journey for years. My personal float practice became so regular (we’re talking 3–5 hour sessions, 1–3 times a week!) that stepping into a role where I could help others discover the experience felt like a natural next step.
Outside of GWTF, I’m an advanced therapeutic yoga teacher with a strong focus on anatomy. I co-own The Space, a yoga studio in Westfield, alongside my husband (who also floats and works here!). I’m currently pursuing my Yoga Therapy certification through the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health—a continuation of a journey that’s taken me from local studios to immersive trainings in Colorado, Georgia, and even three weeks living and learning in Guatemala.
My goal is to offer inclusive, accessible yoga for every body—any age, all abilities.
Liz
Elizabeth Sciore-Jones is an intermedia artist and embodiment practitioner with a deep commitment to creating transformative sensory experiences. Her artwork is rooted in ritual, material culture, and feminist histories, extending into immersive environments designed to support inner exploration. Through Venus Culture, she creates installations, ceramics, fiber works, sound, and film that function as speculative sanctuaries. Central to her practice is floatation as a vessel for transformation—an immersive form of sensory deprivation that supports deep rest, altered perception, and embodied awareness.
Elizabeth is on a lifelong exploration of hot springs, waterfalls, saunas, polar plunges, and other somatic practices. She is also an art educator, backcountry hiker, and trained in peer support through Zendo. She is honored to support guests in their floating and cold plunge journeys, holding a safe and intentional space for restoration and insight. Learn more about her work at venuscult.art
Bill
Hi, I’m Bill. Floating started as a gift from my family and turned into a practice that’s changed how I rest, think, and explore. I’m very grateful to be a Float Facilitator here at the Float.
My float practice centers on intentional exploration through meditation and altered states of awareness inside the tank. I’m fascinated by how sensory reduction creates space for clarity, creativity, and deep nervous system reset. For me, floating is both profound rest and a tool for exploring consciousness.
Outside the float space, I’m a Holyoke-based entrepreneur, web designer, and artist. As a partner at cdeVision, I’ve helped shape Go With The Float behind the scenes for years. I also create mixed-media art as Billy’s Junk, inspired by motorcycles, history, and psychedelic culture.
I’m honored to support guests in their float, sauna, and cold plunge experiences . Holding a grounded, welcoming space for whatever brings you in.
Max
Max Gonen is a writer, performer, scholar and a student and teacher of Yoga in the Hatha lineage, breathwork, and meditation, with a deep commitment to presence and contemplative practice. He loves floating for the radical orientation toward stillness and awareness that it offers, an immersive space that supports rest, reflection, and a return to the present moment.
Max is currently working toward opening a fully sliding scale Yoga studio in Easthampton, where he will offer rigorous and expansive classes for advanced and emerging practitioners alike. He is also a small motorcycle rider and the dedicated steward of a gorgeous black cat named Joan. He lives by Ram Dass’ reminder to treat everyone you meet like God in drag.
He is honored to support guests in their float, sauna, and cold plunge experiences, holding a grounded, welcoming space for whatever brings you in. Find out more about Max and his classes at www.flowstatesyoga.com
Sara
Hi, I’m Sara, a Facilitator at Go With The Float since April 2026 and a dedicated floater since early 2024. Floating arrived serendipitously when I needed deep healing from personal loss, professional burnout, and domestic violence. Therapy and a deep dive into the self-help canon helped me begin to understand my experience, but it was in the tank that what I understood intellectually became embodied, as my nervous system finally learned to rest and release years of trauma.
At Go With The Float, I’m grateful to share that healing with others who come to these waters seeking their own, and I believe floating will become an increasingly important part of holistic mental health care, a way to return to the womb, let go, and begin again.
Outside the float world, I’m a brand builder with over 20 years of experience across natural foods, regenerative agriculture, and functional health, a self-described “carob kid” of the 1980s who has helped launch category-changing brands alongside visionary collaborators. I’m a mom to four, two human and two avian, a longtime Bikram yoga devotee, and a firm believer in good butter, sharp knives, and second chances.