Today I spent an hour in a sensory deprivation tank.

hey shivaya.. im curious how long it took for you to fully relax? i hear different accounts from different people. some say 15 minutes, and others say 40 minutes (for the first time).. what was your experience?

 

where do you get one of these tanks? how do they work?

 

I really didn't take that long for myself, but when I went I had been meditating for a few months already, and I integrated my meditation practice as soon as I went in so I assume that helped. It did take a bit of time for me to start ''really'' letting go where I kinda stopped thinking altogether, but I honestly couldn't really tell you HOW long. Not 40 minutes that's for sure. But then again, what happened to ''time'' was so weird so in reality I have absolutely no idea. I remember at one point I asked myself ''How long have I been in here?'' And I couldnt guess. As far as I knew, it could have been 5 minutes or 50 minutes, I would have believed either...

For myself I just googled ''sensory deprivation tank'' and cities around where I live. I found some in montreal. In my experience I guess they work as a kind of a shortcut to a deep meditative state bu removing distractions (sounds, touch, vision, gravity...). When you're in there it's pretty much just you and you, not much to ''do'' or to distract your mind...

I know I already posted this in this thread, but here's the video that turned me on to this. It explains it really well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeqmKwsvM58"]YouTube - The Sensory Deprivation Tank - Joe Rogan

 

www.floatation.com is a really good source to find locations near you. you can also find links on where to buy from that site.

shivaya: sorry about asking so many questions, but i want to get the most out of my time on thursday... so i'm going to continue shooting them out. how long did it take for you to find the right position? i hear it takes a little tinkering before you get really comfortable.

 

You can ask as many questions as you like. I get alot out of this site and I'm more than happy to give back.

It didn't take that long at all for me to get comfortable. The only comfort issue I may have had was with my neck. My head would kinda tilt back and I wasn't sure how to fully relax. If I remember correctly, when I would get uncomfortable, I would place my hands behind my head and that worked fine. I'm not sure how to explain but I'm talking about the ''relaxing'' pose where your fingers are interlocked behind your head.

 

I have just recently had my own first experience in a sensory deprivation tank this past weekend, and am looking for places where those interested in such things congregate and talk.

Growing up in the 80's, sensory deprivation and Timothy Leary were kind of household terms. I didn't really know what it was all about. Just recently, I had personal reason to be introduced to a lot of people who knew a lot about tanks. The end result was an amazing road trip that led to me getting into a "float tank" as the parlance is nowadays.

When I first got in, my skin was all roughed up from the long hours of sweaty driving across California. I had showered before, as per guidelines, but the skin was still tender, so the salt stung a little, same as it would if you had just shaven, I'm told. I waited and it went away, left the door open a bit with a towel wedged in while I got comfortable with the space inside the tank (I have claustraphobia from very tight spaces, but there is more than enough room inside the tank), and then I shut the door.

As I lay there, floating in perfectly warm water (the water is heated to 93-94 degrees, which is the approximate temperature of the skin [98.6 is blood temp], although each person is different), all of the normal sensations were gone.

The human mind maintains about 70% focus on visual, with the rest being spread out between sound, smell, taste, and touch. Floating in regular water, you have to use your muscles to hold your head up so you don't drown, even though you can shut off a lot of that, you still have to use a lot of your autonomic nervous system to maintain not dying. In the float tank, that isn't the case at all. The body floats on the water, allowing muscles to relax in ways that they can't normally do when awake. Because the brain is still active, all of that mental energy freed up from mundane concerns about trying to keep from dying can focus on core issues. Of course, you have to adapt to this sudden freeing of energy. Normally the body only does it during deep sleep, although masters of meditation can achieve this state after years of practice.

I began to stop thinking about my body -- once I was able to fully relax and stop trying to keep my head above water. I trusted in the principles of science (particularly buoyancy) and let go. At first, I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my chest, but as my body began to relax further, my hearing synced up with my heartbeat, so I would only notice it when it sped up or slowed down. At that point, I was left with only my breathing, and the feeling of spinning -- sometimes in impossible directions! This was my body attempting to find an equilibrium which is had not been separate from since it's time in the womb. During this time, I also noticed that I would forget to breathe, which would in turn speed up my heartbeat. I focused on breathing, and tried to focus on the faint images that began appearing before my eyes, which others have described, the beginnings of the hypnagogic state.

At this point, I began to worry as to what would happen next. Would my bad memories come out, or would I have one of those crazy freak-outs? I had taken psychedelics before, the most intense trip being where I got up and walked down the hall and began crawling down the stairs to the outside observer, while in my own mind every step took me years backward in time and as I descended the stairs my roommates became my family members from my childhood. I was afraid if I kept going I'd have to re-live my whole life over again when the hallucination broke. I got up, cleaned myself off and apologized to everyone before returning to my seat. I didn't want that kind of experience to happen in the tank. I wasn't even on drugs, but I was afraid.

And then the images in front of me formed a snake, which reared up and struck a feint at my face. And when that happened, I heard a noise. I'm fairly sure it came from inside my own head. I can't describe it. It was like a message that's encoded too much. You can't read it per se, you can only get the gist of the cummincation, and that communication was to stop trying to control the experience. I trusted the message, and let go of my fears.

The rest of the time in the tank (which was approximately 50 minutes) was one in which I would see the faint images in front of my eyes, fractals and geometric designs so faint I could barely see them, like stars in the sky close to the city, swirling in and around each other, until I thought I was asleep. At which point I'd try to open my eyes and realized they were already open. I continued to do this for some time, trying to a balance of letting it happen without thinking about whether or not I was asleep, and then I got my signal that my time was up. I opened the door and got into the shower, feeling like I had been woken from a great nap, just a little groggy, but feeling good, and showered.

When I got out, I felt different. I looked in the mirror and knew I was different but I couldn't remember what I looked like before I got in. I felt calmer, freer, less nervous and anxious than I had ever been. My thinking was clear and my senses refreshed. It was, all in all, a better value for the money than any drug I've ever taken.

A lot of people talk on here about getting their own. Might I suggest a session in one before you just make one? Additionally, you can simulate the environment just fine (the first tanks used regular water until the idea of salting it to float occurred!) but the negation of gravity, floating, is really the thing you're paying for. it takes approx $500 worth of salt to make water that will float a human, so putting together a tank is a bit spendier than a single session, unless you've got a store of dolomite somewhere.

Have any of you that were interested gone and tried it out? What have been your experiences? Let's "Where Are They Now" this thing.

 

sounds like a very interesting experience. i'm more intrigued to try this myself.

 

Always been interested since that Simpsons episode when Homer and Lisa visit one. This has peaked my interest. I'm incredibly stressed lately, and this is probably a good idea for me.

 

I say go for it. It was pretty much the most relaxing thing ever.

 

How much did that cost?

 

Whenever I heard the name sensory depravation chamber I always thinl of it being torture. Throw a suspected terrorist in one for 5 hours then if he dosnt tell you where the wmd's are throw him in for another 5.
after reading this though I will try it. Im sure there will be one in DC hopefully there is one in norfolk or maybe richmond. Either way I know I will have to travel an hour and a half but thats not to bad being I am always going into the city for concerts and such. Hmmm would this be a good or a bad thing for just before a rock concert

 

I'm going to have to look into locations near me,
seems like a cool experience, very interested in trying it.

 

I will be a couple miles from one on the 17th so I will try to make an appointment then.
im wondering how long before should I eat or drink.
i looked buck. There is one in manassas virginia.

 

I'd love to try one of those.

And if it went well, I'd love to take psychedelics in one of those, WITH a sitter who could see me somehow or something.....

 

I love the idea of hanging out in one of these tanks, and I'm positive that after trying once, I would want to trip for the next time.

My first scuba dive at night was a fairly similar experience (I'm guessing) - we turned our torches off and I was left to float for myself for a few minutes in total darkness, and it was spectacular. Extremely relaxing and comfortable. Also something I'd like to trip for, but slightly more risky.

 

Definitely, that would be pretty intense.

 

Very nice! I've gotta try this sometime

 

Sounds amazing, must try it!