01/28/2026
A special message from Dr. Justin Feinstein....
Sicut vis videre esto. These were the final words of my dear friend Colin Stanwell-Smith. He secretly inscribed them behind the beautiful mural painted on the wall of my former laboratory at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research. This was back in 2015 and I only learned about his hidden message a few days ago when I received the photo below from the mural’s artist, Sandra Calm.
Sicut vis videre esto is a Latin phrase that translates to “Be the change you wish to see.” Perhaps it was the catalyst for Gandhi’s famous quote? However, it turns out there’s a second interpretation, which is the one I think Colin was trying to convey… “Exist in the state that you wish to perceive.”
Colin’s message was prescient. The float environment that he had engineered allowed the nervous systems of my clinically anxious patients to enter a state of equilibrium, a state they so desperately wished to perceive. The patients found solace in the silence, or as one patient put it, Zen without the Xanax! This anxiolytic effect has now been replicated in over a half dozen studies, inspiring Colin to help me establish the Float Research Collective, a nonprofit that aims to get floatation therapy approved as an accepted medical treatment.
Last week, Colin sadly passed away and no words can do justice to the enormity of this loss. I feel so honored to have known him and been his friend. He was a brilliant engineer and a true pioneer in the world of floatation therapy. In 1999 he founded Floataway with his wife Gini, where he spent his time innovating new designs for float tanks, and finding ways to make the therapy more accessible. As part of these efforts, he revolutionized the design of the open float pool, which turned out to be the key ingredient for my research since most anxious patients will avoid any float tanks with an enclosure. What most don’t realize is that Colin and Gini spent over 7 months living with me in Tulsa so that we could construct the world’s first research laboratory dedicated to studying the neurobiological and clinical effects of floatation therapy. None of this research would have been possible without Colin.
During our final conversation together last month, I promised him that our dream of establishing a clinical model for floatation therapy would continue, and big plans are already underway. Colin was the first person I called after the horrible fires on Maui, and thanks to the valiant efforts of his son Toby Stanwell-Smith, an amazing engineer just like his father, we are now on the cusp of completing the world’s first mobile float facility for the Maui Calm project.
Here’s a toast to a true Renaissance man in every way, shape, and form. May you rest in peace my friend knowing that your secret message will continue to resonate across the world and your dream will continue to live on.
Please join me in celebrating Colin’s life, either in-person or through the livestream, on the 28th of February:
https://colinssfuneral.rsvpify.com/
