Has anyone done the isolation tank / sensory deprivation thing? I’ve been wanting to try it for a while so the wife and I are going this weekend for a one hour float. A lot of people have described it as being much like a deep meditation experience, and that you can get to this state pretty quickly because the physical senses are not occupied. The water is kept at skin temperature and contains a high concentration of epsom salts so that your body easily floats. Some people have reported extraordinary experiences during their float sessions. One claim I have seen is that after just a short while of floating in the tank you can no longer tell where the water is touching you, and you can even lose the sense of your physical body all together—what remains then is just an experience of pure consciousness, without notions of time or space. Total psychonaut shiz. I’ve been meditating daily for years now so I can’t wait to see how this compares.
Interesting. I've never heard of such a think but its intriguing. I hope you come back to share your experience.
The facility we went to—Float Houston—has two tanks in the room, so my wife and I were able to float at the same time. The lighting in the room was kept pretty low, and there was a dimmer switch so we could adjust that however we liked. When we arrived there was some incense burning in the entry way that was barely noticeable from the tank room. The atmosphere was intended to be very soothing and quiet, which we liked a lot. You are instructed to shower off before entering the tank. They provided bath robes and the space is private, so we were very comfortable to go a few feet from the shower to the tank, drop the robe and step in. You can close the lid to the tank or leave it open. I started out with it closed but after a few minutes it felt very warm and stuffy in there, so I pushed it open and left it that way for the entire time. We had the light in the room dialed all the way down so it was plenty dark. The water has about 800 pounds of epsom salt dissolved in it, so when you lie on your back you are completely suspended, floating on the water. This was a unique experience and took a little time to get used to. Initially I wasn’t sure that I could just completely relax and lie back without the fear that I would drop below the surface and get a mouthful of salty water. While floating, the water level was just above my ears, aligned about at the temple level so my face was comfortably above the water. They provided ear plugs which not only keeps out water but also minimizes ambient noise, of which there was practically none anyway. The place was very quiet. For the first few minutes they had some nice meditation-type music playing, then it faded out, and we were told that when our hour was up the music would gently fade in again to let us know it was time. Nice touch. Even with the ear plugs we could hear the music coming on at the end, but it was very subtle. The water is kept at about 93 degrees—skin temperature—and after a little while I lost the sense of where water meets skin. Further on, I had very little sense of the body except when I deliberately moved my arms or legs. The only sounds I heard were the flow of air in and out of my nostrils and when I swallowed, and these simple sounds are actually quite loud when there is no other noise or sensory stimuli available. If you have spent any time in meditation you know that once the body is settled and comfortable, one becomes acutely aware of the activity of mind: mostly the random, pointless, discursive thought patterns that dominate our mental landscape. This was certainly the case for me while floating, and it seemed a little more pronounced, maybe because I was in a very different environment and my thoughts were frequently about this new thing I’m doing and whether I like it or not, etc. Typical things the mind so often wants to do with any experience—judge, label, describe, categorize, critique, resist, attach. Once I was relaxed and more settled into the adventure I definitely felt a profound calm throughout the body. The sense of floating without being in contact with something solid is strange at first, but then seems natural. Immediately afterwards and into the following day I felt very relaxed, as if I’d had a really good massage. My mind felt settled and calm too, but I never did get into what I would call a deep meditative state. As I said before, I think this is because it was something radically new and my mind was running about trying to decide what to make of it all. I expect that future floats (I will do it again) might be more conducive to quieting the mind and drawing more out of the experience. I’ll conclude my bloviation with a zen-like quote I found on a floating related site: “When you get in and before you lie down, open and close the door several times, noticing how it feels different from the other surfaces. If you try to open the door and it doesn't open, it's not the door.”
Cool stuff. You liberals come up with the neatest stuff Do you know if they have one in the DFW area? My bucket list was empty until today
Yea, but I'm sure it's upside down. Kidding, of course. I found three in the DFW area and I plan on checking out the one in Colleyville next time I'm in the area. Can't wait
Thanks, I'll check it out. I can't wait to do the isolation tank, but just haven't had the chance yet.
