My Experience in a Flotation Tank - Sensory deprivation therapy
Hi Everyone,
today I went to my second flotation therapy session, also called sensory deprivation therapy. I actually bought a trial offer before the pandemic and used the first session, but have never been able to go to the second one. Then I found an email saying they extended my ticket to use by.... today. So I obviously stopped everything I was doing and booked a session.
The flotation tanks look like huge dragon eggs and are filled with water and half a tonne of epson salts. This high concentration of salt increases the density of the water so you float, and the water and air temperature are kept at 36 degree celsius, which is body temperature. The goal is that you feel weightless.
The minerals in the water are also good for the skin and muscles.
There is a light switch inside the tank so you can turn off the blue light and it is pitch black, or you can keep it on if you prefer that. The session starts with 10 minutes of relaxing music and then 50 minutes of silence followed by 5 minutes of music when your session ends to wake you up.
You also get earplugs that are made of wax, to close your ear canals so you don't have ears full of salt crystals and they give you small sachets of vaseline that you can put onto small cuts you might have. If you don't it will really sting.
For me it is a really nice experience even though I find It difficult to shut off my mind. I was so tired when I came home that I fell asleep.
this is from the website about the benefits of floating
Reduces cortisol levels (when high, cortisol can lower our immunity and leads to prolonged stress)
• Lowers blood pressure (a symptom of stress that compromises our health. Lower blood pressure allows us to feel relaxed)
• Increases overall wellbeing
• Boosts cognitive performance
• Improves symptoms of chronic fatigue and burnout, and
• Improves sleep
Floating and the brain
Justin Feinstein, head neurophysicist at Ohio’s Laureate Institute for Brain Research, the leading authority on floating and the brain, discovered that floating decreases activity in the brain’s salience network, which:
• Reduces anxiety
• Reduces negative emotions
• Reduces the perception of pain
• Reduces confusion, and
• Reduces the impact of many serious mental health issues.
Source: https://floatworks.com/what-is-floating/science-of-floating
I took a little video of what the room looks like:
