About a week & a half ago, someone I know posted on her Facebook about float therapy. She had recently completed a session & was offering a coupon code to her loyal (local) followers. She raved about how float therapy made her feel like she was “walking on clouds”. She also said it was helpful in relieving pain she felt. As someone who suffers from chronic back pain, I was immediately intrigued so I took her up on her offer for the coupon code. The code reduced the price from $65 for 90 minutes of float all the way down to $40. I figured it would be something good for both Bill & I to do so I booked two sessions for this morning.
If you are like me & know absolutely nothing about float therapy, you can read about it here.
Let me tell you – I have been nervous about this all week. Floating belly up in a completely dark tank, in 8 inches of water, with ear plugs in doesn’t exactly fit my expectations of a good time. It sounded more anxiety inducing than it did relaxing.
First of all, I am unreasonably afraid of water. I have this ridiculous fear of being eaten by a shark in just 6 feet of water. Don’t ask me why but I have always been terrified of water. Sure it is only 8 inches of water but adding to that complete dark & stillness makes my heart feel like it is going to jump out of my chest.
After taking a quick shower to remove any body oils, I slowly eased myself into this near zero-gravity tank.
Seriously, what was I thinking? That thing looks like it belongs in The Jetson’s cartoon. It definitely doesn’t look like somewhere I want to “relax” for 90 minutes. But I’d already paid & I was still super intrigued. I had every intention of getting my money’s worth. The whole set up was serene & relaxing. Prior to even getting to your room (yes – your OWN room), you sit in a dimly lit room, in a massage chair, for 15 minutes to get nice & relaxed.
When I got into the tank, I opted to close the lid. Although I was still nervous, I wanted the full experience even if it meant accelerating my anxiety. The lead up to the event was more nerve-wracking than the actual experience itself. The tank is filled with about 800 lbs of Epsom salt so there is no chance of not floating. You are completely buoyant & able to float without even trying. Upon first entering the tank I was a little leery that I would be able to float without any effort so my body was initially tense. However, after a couple of minutes I realized I’d be able to float without any effort what-so-ever.
Since it was our first time, the lady assisting us with getting to our rooms set the iPod to play music for half the session & then silence the second half. The music was soft & calming ocean-type sounds. It was so relaxing. Once I got my arms situated above my head, I was able to focus solely on my breathing. I was able to find a place of complete relaxation. I think I even got to a place of meditation. Literally nothing was on my mind. It was a level of meditative relaxation that I had never experienced in my entire life.
At some point I must have fallen asleep. I don’t know how long it took but it couldn’t have been too long. I don’t even remember the shift from light music to complete silence.
Then suddenly, something jarred me back to. It was the strangest thing. I wish I knew what it was but it wasn’t the end of my session. I forgot to mention the session ends by buoy (like in the ocean) dings. When I came to, there was complete silence. I don’t like the way I came to because it made me nervous & extremely shakey. In normal circumstances, it is supposed to be a gradual awakening but for me, it was very sudden. It was like my body forgot where I was but my brain suddenly reminded me. It caused me to sit straight up & forgetful of where I was. I woke in a complete panic. I really wanted to finish my session because I had no idea how much time was left. I opened the door to the tank because I thought maybe I’d be able to relax again. I decided against laying back down in the water, though, because I was shaking so bad & wasn’t sure I’d be able to find, again, my place of relaxation.
When I got out of the tank & looked at my phone I saw I only had about 19 minutes left so I went ahead & showered again to remove all of the salt off my body.
It took a couple of minutes for my shakes to go away but I was already feeling a complete euphoria. I mean seriously, I was so relaxed. I felt drunk but in the best way sans alcohol. My entire body felt like Jell-O but just because it was so relaxed. I was giddy & just wanted to laugh. I talked to the lady who helped us & explained my experience & she said maybe it was an out-of-body experience & the jarring was my body coming back to. I haven’t read any evidence to support that but I mean, really, anything is possible. I absolutely do believe my body experienced a complete & total meditative state. It was surreal. Even now, four hours later I feel completely relaxed, free of any pain, worry, or stress. It is definitely something I would encourage anyone to try. It is hard to put into words how I feel now & felt during & after. I didn’t feel tired or groggy afterwards, just absolute relaxation.
If you have any interest in float therapy, I most definitely recommend it. Even with my weird experience at the end, I would absolutely do it again.
Apparently there is a tradition of leaving towel art at the end of your session, so here is a photo of my towel art.
Vagabond Texan 