I can see why flotation tanks are the new name for sensory deprivation – after all, the latter sounds a trifle negative - a bit more like a method of torture, like ‘solitary’, rather than a means of relaxation and regeneration. “So Tommy, sree more months in ze kuhler for you, I sink, ja?”
So what is a flotation tank, apart from being a tank that you float in? Well for one thing, it has a light-tight lid to render the inside completely dark, although there is an interior light for any minor adjustments to your position that you might wish to make, and for those who prefer it that way.
GENERAL STUFF
The one I entered (today 11/12/03) had nearly a foot deep of blood-temperature water in it, this level of heating being an important part of feeling ‘nothing’. So that non-swimmers can enjoy the experience, the water has some 700 (yes, 700) pounds of Epsom Salts* mixed in. This actually makes it practically impossible to touch the bottom once you are horizontal, and the extra buoyancy afforded by the salt further enhances the experience of touching and feeling nothing. It also stings if you have failed to heed warnings not to shave before arriving, especially for those who favour a fuzz-free fan…errr….well, for those that “race on slicks” a.k.a. the Brazilian approach to lower body hair, if you get my meaning! My eyes are watering just writing that! They also water if you get any of the contents of the tank in them. They leave a small spray bottle of fresh water clipped to the inside of the tank to help dissipate any salt from eyes, sore skin or cuts you didn’t know you had. Any cuts you knew about in advance can be dabbed with the Vaseline
supplied.
(*Yes, THOSE salts, you know, the ones that go through you like a dose of…errrr…salts. Hot tip – don’t swallow any, or it may not just be your worries that you get rid of!)
Despite what you'd think, based on experience of salt water drying on you, the 'wet' water felt extremely silky, and, well, yes, sensual - pity there's only room for one really!
WHERE I WENT
My chosen venue for my trial by salts was Floatworks, a health spa in 1,Thrale Street, London, SE1. This claims to be the world’s largest flotation centre, but I’m not sure what the Pacific Ocean would have to say about that, if given the right of reply. The spa is situated a stone’s throw from London Bridge station and is very near to Southwark Bridge, the Thames Path and the Tate Modern.
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7357 0111
Open 10 am – 10 pm, NOT from 7 am as shown in their brochure – well that’s what their answering machine told me at 8:00 in the morning!
PROCEDURE
Time wise, you need to budget 1 hour 20 minutes for an hour in the tank. This allows for a pre-float shower, and more importantly, bearing in mind the salt, a post-float shower. You don’t have to worry about anyone legging it with your wallet whilst you are closeted away in wet silence. They allocate you a whole lockable room with the shower and tank in it. You can borrow such items as a towel and hair-dryer, you are encouraged to bring your own. You won’t be in need of a ‘cozzie’, because you’ll be the only one in there, and anyway it’s pitch black in the tank, so no need to hold the paunch in! I'm always amused by the literature for these places, showing ladies in one-piece bathing suits coyly bobbing up and down in the tank - it's all a bit too like those ads for upright baths with Dora Bryan in them!
Once through the initial shower, you are free to get into the tank. One thing that does take you by surprise is how awkwardly buoyant your legs are as you are still trying to get level. There are three push buttons inside the tank, and these are pointed out to you if you are a ‘newbie’, one is for the lid mechanism, another for the internal light and the third a panic button, but I’m assured that in 10 years, this has never been used. It’s probably better to keep the internal light on as you close the lid, because you still need to get level and floating with arms relaxed at a natural position (slightly outwards but quite near your sides). Then you settle down, let any waves subside, wait for the dripping noises to stop and, stark naked in a totally inert environment, you lie there and ………..
EXPERIENCE
……….well, what you actually DO is, I suppose up to you – I preferred to adopt the zero-movement approach by pretending that my limbs were so heavy that I’d forgotten how to move them (incidentally this work for me on restless nights too!). The web site mentions that this is the closest you will come to being weightless this side of being recruited by NASA or leaping out of a plane. Thanks to the skin-temperature water, you are not aware of being touched by anything, so it’s even better than the most gossamer-like of beds, which could actually give you back ache. I had trouble getting a totally relaxed position for my neck, but once I’d adopted the ‘hands behind head’ pose, à la deckchair, this solved itself.
As your mind drifts from one thought to another, you begin to realise how different to dreaming this is. For a start it all seemed to make sense (well, at the time it did!), and you can work through real life problems un-assailed by outside influences. I’m told that robbed of stimulus, the creative side of the brain starts to play a larger role, and I’ve no reason to doubt that, although even then, I found myself wording this opinion in advance – just how sad is that?.
One thing you DO do, is lose all track of time. I’d taken the precaution of asking them what kind of ‘wake-up’ call they gave so that I wouldn’t have my ‘better get up in case I’m late’ reflex ruining the whole thing. I have to say that despite being pretty good at guessing the time normally, I was way out here, and it actually lasted a lot longer than I thought it would. Perhaps I’m a slow thinker. The wake up call is like the settling in process in reverse. At the beginning you are offered a ‘menu’ of
Pictures of Flotation Tank
A Float Room
background music* which only plays for 10 minutes before fading out, presumably as a means of leaving you with at least some outside stimulus whilst you acclimatise. Then there is a 50 minute silence in the pitch-black (oh, I forgot, you also wear ear-plugs to keep the salt out), at the end of which, the music fades back in, and the lid lifts. This is your signal that you have 10 minutes to shower the salt off, get dry and dressed. During this time, you can hear the water being re-filtered.*Curiously, some of this music menu was starred as 'suitable for vegans'. I can only assume that they mean it's music that uses no bits of dead animals in the mae-up of the instruments (leather, horse-hair, cat gut, armadillo shells, that kind of thing). I must admit that I'd never given it a thought before!
WHO IS IT GOOD FOR?
Apart from the obvious stressed-out person, who will now doubt benefit by just being somewhere that cell-phones and pagers can’t reach, the deep relaxation brought on by floating releases endorphins, the bodies natural painkillers. It therefore follows that it is beneficial to those with arthritis and/or muscle problems. Since you are left entirely without the need to support any part of the body, heavily-pregnant women can get some blessed relief for ‘that bag of shopping’ they’ve humping round in front of them for weeks and the back-ache that goes with it. Floating can also negate the damage done by jet-lag. It is reported that those trying to break an addiction, say to nicotine, find it much easier with a course of ‘floats’.
COSTS
A one hour session costs a maximum of £35, but there are off-peak discounts and bulk discount – for examples, vouchers for three visits cost £70, so there are no prizes for guessing what ‘her indoors’ is getting for Christmas! They also have a web site at www.floatworks.com.
The centre offers other courses all aimed at relaxation, such as yoga and massage, all with their own tariffs, which you can find from the web-site.
CONCLUSION
My main purpose was to sound this out before buying my wife a triple gift voucher for Christmas – I’m pretty sure she’s going to like it from what I now know.
Quite apart from all that scientific stuff, floating, was for me a hugely enjoyable experience. I actually found having the light switched off as soon as practicable lessened the feeling of claustrophobia that some have reported – if you can’t see how small it is inside, then you can start to imagine that it’s enormous. I found it more like being safely cocooned in a gravity-free zone. It wasn’t without it’s weirdness though – initially I could have sworn that I was rotating, and waited with a little tension to collide with the sides. Of course, this never happened. Once or twice, I found myself drifting, as if into sleep, but without that nasty jerk that you sometimes get if awakened at the precise wrong moment. Likewise, there was no-one in there telling me not to lie on my back in case I start snoring!
A couple of small points you might like to consider. The air inside the tank is as stuffy as the water temperature dictates. Some people might like to compromise by leaving the lid open but with the lights off – the cubicles are in a basement, so apart from a chink of light coming under the door, the darkness is more or less complete. Also, I’m 6’1” and even then, despite not being a giant by modern standards, I did find it difficult to find a spot in the tank (especially in the dark) where I wasn’t touching anything. Any taller than that and you might want to think again.
I haven’t noticed any specific benefits yet, but maybe I’m laid-back enough as it is!
The only problem I encountered was adjusting to travelling home on the bloody Piccadilly Line afterwards – ‘due to a signal failure at Acton Town, trains will be term….’ Yeah, yeah, I know, at Hammersmith. Still at least I didn’t leap out and strangle someone – that’s got to be a good sign!
I'm going again, so that's another, I suppose.
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I'm sorry, I didn't read anything except for the title. However, it was good enough for me to confidentally assume the rest of your review was a gut-bustingly funny account anyway. Seriously - great title.
shazzaspannered 26.07.2006 18:53
I have always fancied trying one of these! I found your review very informative and may well look into this again when I have some spare cash.
starsally 26.05.2004 14:14
I'm really surprised at the cost. I was expecting it to be more expensive. We are looking for gift ideas at the moment and I think this might be perfect for my boyf's mum. Thanks
We know that spending an hour in a tank of water might sound at first like a David ... more
Blaine-style stunt - but in fact this experience is about total relaxation. You'll lie in a quiet, darkened room in a warm solution of Epsom salts, about 10 inches deep ...
Postage & Packaging: £3.91 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: It's the most effective way I've found to relieve stress and back pain Disadvantages: If you don't live near a float center, you need to own one
OrganicPhoto 10.04.2007 (14.01.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Flotation Tank
Advantages: It's the most effective way I've found to relieve stress and back pain Disadvantages: If you don't live near a float center, you need to own one
OrganicPhoto 10.04.2007 (14.01.2008)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Flotation Tank
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