*Claustrophobic? You likely won’t be able to do this.
How I learned about it?
There was a sci-fi movie in the 80s staring William Hurt called “Altered States“. A key element of the movie was a form of experimental sensory deprivation by use of these creepy black water tanks. They’d get in the tank and close the top. All sound and light would be inaccessible to the mind. While the body is floating the mind loses the sense of gravity and it is said that the mind recalls being in the womb. In the film, this put the lead character into a scene that I believe was intended to represent humans living in a more primal way, using psychedelics to connect with the character in the tank. Near the end, it had a very memorable scene where the star was smashing himself into walls trying to convert himself back from a primal being into his normal modern self (inspiring the end of the A-Ha Take on Me music video).
That won’t happen to you… at least it didn’t to me 😉
Where I tried it…
I wanted to try it and spoke with my manager. We share many common interests. He told me he use to go to a place in Manhattan called Blue Light Floatation (reviewed by GQ Magazine in ’03). He mentioned that the person that owns it had been doing it for decades out of his apartment. I looked it up, booked an appointment and went.
The process
The owner, Sam, welcomed me in. He sat me down and went over how everything was going to go:
- shower off loose hair – he had a clean bathroom with Trader Joe’s natural soaps/shampoos
- wrap up in a towel
- walk to the next room, leave your clothing outside the tub door
- slide open the door and step in
- turn off the light and get into the tub
- once floating, use your fingers to position yourself in the middle and steady your float
- at the end, music will slowly increase and lights will come up
- get dressed and meet for calming tea and a chat with Sam
The experience
I did as I was instructed.
Once I was floating and steady I had to adjust my neck a bit so my head was back and my mouth was directly up and out of the water. After that I got pretty calm.
Then, SUDDENLY, I was in a desert, I’m guessing the middle east, with a woman dressed in all black, face mostly covered. She had a machete/sword/knife and cut the head off of a snake in front of me.
Just then I woke up. I felt like it was a few minutes but the hour passed. The music was slowly getting louder, I turned the lights on and got dressed.
I had that tea with Sam and left.
It felt like I had a week vacation and was still on vacation. That lasted a few days for me.
Value
$80 for Sam’s single 1 hr sessions. Very worth it.
For a week or two I felt much of my body was looser and my mind calmer. My skin was pretty smooth and felt refreshed for a few days.
